[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 175 (Friday, September 8, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54520-54521]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-23149]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-6867-2]


Regulatory Reinvention (XL) Pilot Projects

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of availability of Draft Monitoring Plan Agreement for 
the Fort Worth, Texas XL Project.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: EPA is today requesting comments on a draft Monitoring Plan 
Agreement for Phase 1 of the Fort Worth XL Project.

DATES: The period for submission of comments on the draft Monitoring 
Plan Agreement ends on September 22, 2000.

ADDRESSES: All comments on the draft Monitoring Plan Agreement should 
be sent to: David Beck, U.S. EPA, Mail Drop 10, Research Triangle Park, 
NC 27711. Comments also may be faxed to David Beck at 919-541-2464 or 
sent via electronic mail to: [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To obtain a copy of the draft 
Monitoring Plan Agreement, contact: Adele Cardenas of EPA Region VI at 
214-665-7210 or electronically at [email protected] or David Beck 
at 919-541-5421 or electronically at [email protected]. In addition, 
project documents are located at EPA Region VI, First Interstate Bank 
Tower at Fountain Place, 1445 Ross Avenue, Suite 1200, Dallas, TX 
75202. Questions to EPA regarding the documents can be directed to 
Adele Cardenas at 214-665-7210 or David Beck at 919-541-5421. 
Additional information on Project XL, including documents referenced in 
this notice, other EPA policy documents related to Project XL, 
application information, and descriptions of existing XL projects and 
proposals, is available via the internet at ``http://www.epa.gov/
ProjectXL.''

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Project XL, announced in the Federal 
Register on May 23, 1995 (60 FR 27282), gives

[[Page 54521]]

regulated entities the opportunity to develop alternative strategies 
that will replace or modify specific regulatory requirements on the 
condition that they produce greater environmental benefits. Under the 
Fort Worth XL project, the City of Fort Worth proposes to demonstrate 
that use of an alternative demolition method on abandoned buildings 
containing asbestos will protect the public from asbestos emissions as 
well as the demolition method specified in an asbestos emission 
standard issued by EPA under section 112 of the Clean Air Act. 
Moreover, the City expects that their lower cost demolition method will 
allow them to accelerate demolitions, thereby eliminating sites 
potentially harboring illegal activities and reducing safety/health 
hazards associated with the abandoned structures. To demonstrate the 
effectiveness of their method, the City will monitor asbestos emissions 
during the demolition of a single structure in Phase 1 of the project 
and, if Phase 1 monitoring results indicate the Fort Worth method is 
equivalent to the regulatory method, two additional structures during 
Phase 2. The project entails a set number of Fort Worth method 
demolitions under a third and final phase of the project, provided the 
results of Phase 2 continue to show equivalency.
    The draft Monitoring Plan Agreement is a voluntary agreement 
developed with input from the City of Fort Worth, the Texas Department 
of Health, and EPA which lays out the protocol for capturing and 
analyzing asbestos emissions for Phase 1 of the project. The agreement 
also spells out the criteria by which the Fort Worth method can be 
shown equivalent to the Federal method, for the purposes of proceeding 
to Phase 2 of the project. The City does not require regulatory relief 
to perform the Phase 1 demolition, since the structure to be demolished 
is of a type that can be demolished under the asbestos standard using 
the Fort Worth method. To conduct phases 2 and 3 of the project, Fort 
Worth will need regulatory relief (specifically from 40 CFR part 61 
subpart M--National Emission Standard for Asbestos). The details of 
these phases will be negotiated with stakeholders and set forth in a 
Final Project Agreement (FPA). A draft of the FPA will be available for 
public comment through a future Federal Register notice.

Elizabeth A. Shaw,
Director, Office of Environmental Policy Innovation.
[FR Doc. 00-23149 Filed 9-7-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-U