[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 82 (Friday, April 27, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 21140-21141]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-10515]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-6970-7]


Regulatory Reinvention (XL) Pilot Projects

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of availability of the City of Columbus Project XL for 
Communities final project agreement and related documents.

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SUMMARY: EPA is announcing the signing of the Project XL for 
Communities (XLC) Final Project Agreement (FPA) for the City of 
Columbus, Ohio.

DATES: The FPA was signed on September 26, 2000.

ADDRESSES: To obtain a copy of the Final Project Agreement, Fact Sheet, 
or public comments received, contact: Miguel Del Toral, 312-886-5253, 
US EPA Region 5, Water Division, WD-15J, 77 West Jackson Blvd, Chicago, 
Illinois 60604-3507 ([email protected]) or Kristina Heinemann, US 
EPA, Office of Environmental Policy Innovation, 1807, 1200 Pennsylvania 
Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460 ([email protected]). The 
documents are also available via the internet at the following 
location: http://www.epa.gov/ProjectXL/Columbus/index.htm. In addition, 
public files on the project are located at the EPA Regional Office in 
Chicago. Questions to EPA regarding the documents can be directed to 
Miguel Del Toral at (312) 886-5253 or Kristina Heinemann at (202) 260-
5355. Additional information on Project XL, and Project XL for 
Communities including documents referenced in this notice, other EPA 
policy documents related to Project XL, Regional and Headquarters 
contacts, application information and descriptions of existing XL 
projects and proposals are available via the Internet at http://www.epa.gov/ProjectXL.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Final Project Agreement is a voluntary 
agreement developed by the City of Columbus (the project sponsor), the 
State of Ohio (the Ohio Department of Health and the Ohio Environmental 
Protection Agency), project stakeholders, and US EPA. Project XL and 
Project XLC, announced in the Federal Register on May 23, 1995 (60 FR 
27282) and November 1, 1995 (60 FR 55569) respectively give regulated 
sources the opportunity to develop alternative strategies that will 
replace or modify specific regulatory requirements on the condition 
that they produce

[[Page 21141]]

greater environmental benefits. The legal implementing mechanism to be 
used in this project is described in the project's FPA.
    On July 27, 2000, EPA announced the availability of the draft FPA 
in the Federal Register (65 FR 46166) and requested comments. As a 
result of that announcement, EPA received one comment from the National 
Rural Water Association. The comment and EPA's response to it are 
available from the contacts listed in the ADDRESSES section and on the 
Project XL website at http://www.epa.gov/ProjectXL/Columbus/index.htm. 
No other comments were received.
    The City of Columbus XLC project will test a potentially more 
effective means of addressing health concerns from lead through the 
Lead Safe Columbus Program (LSCP), a program run by the Columbus 
Departments of Health and Trade and Development, and through closer 
coordination between the City, the State of Ohio and US EPA on drinking 
water treatment issues. Through this XLC Project, the US EPA will 
suspend the Lead Service Line sampling and replacement provisions of 
the Lead and Copper Rule promulgated under the Safe Drinking Water Act 
(see 40 CFR 141.84) for up to three years beginning if and when the 
City exceeds the Lead Action Level, provided this occurs within six 
years of making a drinking water treatment change. In exchange for this 
regulatory flexibility, the Columbus Division of Water has committed to 
contributing $300,000 a year for 15 years to the LSCP. The LSCP 
provides free blood testing, public education, medical intervention for 
lead-poisoned children, and grants and loans for lead abatement to 
residents of Columbus in high-risk areas. The LSCP targets an area 
consisting of twenty-five high-risk census tracts within ten zip codes 
in older, predominantly low-income, minority neighborhoods in Columbus, 
where 84% of all elevated blood lead levels in the City were found.

    Dated: April 19, 2001.
Elizabeth A. Shaw,
Director, Office of Environmental Policy Innovation.
[FR Doc. 01-10515 Filed 4-26-01; 8:45 am]
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