[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 13 (Tuesday, January 21, 2003)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 2699-2700]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-958]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 300

[FRL-7435-2]


National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan; 
National Priorities List

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.

ACTION: Notice of partial deletion of the Rocky Mountain Arsenal 
National Priorities List Site from the National Priorities List.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 8 announces 
the deletion of the Western Tier Parcel of the Rocky Mountain Arsenal 
National Priorities List (RMA/NPL) Site from the National Priorities 
List (NPL). The NPL constitutes appendix B of 40 CFR part 300, which is 
the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan 
(NCP), which EPA promulgated pursuant to section 105 of the 
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act 
(CERCLA), as amended. EPA and the State of Colorado, through the 
Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE), have 
determined that the Western Tier Parcel of the RMA/NPL Site poses no 
significant threat to public health or the environment and, therefore, 
no further remedial measures pursuant to CERCLA are appropriate. This 
partial deletion pertains only to the Western Tier Parcel of the RMA/
NPL Site and does not include the other portions of the Site, which 
will remain on the NPL.

EFFECTIVE DATE: January 21, 2003.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Laura Williams, Remedial Project 
Manager (8EPR-F), U.S. EPA, Region 8, 999 18th Street, Suite 300, 
Denver, Colorado 80202-2466, (303) 312-6660. Information on the RMA/NPL 
Site as well as the Deletion Docket and the Responsiveness Summary for 
this partial deletion are available at EPA's Region 8 Superfund Records 
Center in Denver, Colorado. Documents are available for viewing by 
appointment from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday excluding 
holidays by calling (303) 312-6473. The Administrative Record for the 
RMA/NPL Site, which includes the Deletion Docket and Responsiveness 
Summary for the partial deletion of the Western Tier Parcel, is 
maintained at the Joint Administrative Records Document Facility, Rocky 
Mountain Arsenal, Building 129, Room 2024, Commerce City, Colorado 
80022-1748, (303) 289-0362. Documents are available for viewing from 12 
p.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday or by appointment.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The RMA/NPL Site is located approximately 
ten miles northeast of downtown Denver, Colorado and is comprised of 
two operable units (OU), the On-Post and Off-Post. The On-Post OU is 
encompassed by the boundaries of the Rocky Mountain Arsenal proper and 
occupies 27 square miles. The Off-Post OU addresses contamination north 
and northwest of the RMA proper boundaries. The Western Tier Parcel 
consists of 940 acres on the western perimeter of the On-Post OU of the 
RMA/NPL Site along Quebec Street in Commerce City, Colorado. The NPL 
partial deletion pertains only to the Western Tier Parcel which is a 
small portion of the On-Post OU. The Off-Post OU and the rest of the 
On-Post OU will remain on the NPL.
    On October 2, 1998, EPA published a Notice of Intent for Partial 
Deletion (NOIDp) in the Federal Register (63 FR 53005) and local 
newspapers which proposed to delete the Western Tier Parcel from the 
RMA/NPL Site. Comments received during the public comment period 
primarily focused on the potential future placement of a child daycare 
facility at the Parcel and reiterated previous concerns that RMA, and 
hence the Western Tier Parcel, might be contaminated with dioxins. 
Based upon consideration of these concerns, EPA postponed action on the 
partial deletion until additional soil sampling and analysis of the 
Western Tier Parcel could be conducted.
    The additional soil studies have been completed and, taken together 
with previous site-wide risk studies, address the community concerns 
regarding any future child daycare facility and potential dioxin 
contamination. These studies include the (1) Confirmation Soil Sampling 
Risk Report (EPA 2002a), (2) Denver Front Range Soil Dioxin Study, 
which consists of four separate studies including one specific to the 
Parcel (EPA 2001), (3) Section 9 Borrow Area Report (PMRMA 2000), and 
(4) Site Reconnaissance Report (EPA 2002b). Additional studies and 
reports developed include (1) Surface Flux Chamber Testing (CDPHE 
1998), (2)

[[Page 2700]]

Geophysical Survey on Section 9 (PMRMA 2000), (3) Vapor Pathway 
Analysis (EPA 1998), (4) Assessment of Residual Ecological Risk Report 
(PMRMA 2002), and (5) Potential Ordnance/Explosives and Recovered 
Chemical Warfare Materiel (OE/RCWM) Hazards Report (PMRMA 2002).
    EPA proposed the partial deletion of the Western Tier Parcel on 
September 23, 2002, by publishing a second NOIDp in the Federal 
Register (67 FR 59487). Comments received during the public comment 
period, which ended November 22, 2002, were primarily focused on how 
potential contamination or munitions would be addressed if found during 
development of the Parcel. EPA also received nine letters of support 
for proceeding with the partial deletion.
    In our Responsiveness Summary, EPA explained that the Tri-County 
Health Department (TCHD) is coordinating with Commerce City, the most 
likely purchaser of the Parcel, to provide personnel who will be 
available to brief contractors about the RMA/NPL Site history before 
any activity begins on the Parcel. As the local regulatory agency 
overseeing remediation of the RMA/NPL Site, TCHD has direct knowledge 
of the possible construction hazards associated with RMA lands. If any 
unusual material, stained soil, unusual objects, or odors are 
discovered, TCHD may call upon local Emergency Response resources 
(including Fire, Law Enforcement, and the bomb squad) or Army 
technicians to assist in identifying the nature of the anomaly.
    The nine entities who support the partial deletion cite the 
thoroughness of investigations conducted by EPA, the U.S. Army, and 
CDPHE to ensure the Parcel is fully protective of public health and the 
environment. EPA agrees that the numerous studies conducted for the 
Parcel demonstrate that the Parcel does not present a threat to the 
environment or human health and it is appropriate to delete the Western 
Tier Parcel from the RMA/NPL Site.
    EPA identifies sites that appear to present a significant risk to 
public health, welfare, or the environment and maintains the NPL as the 
list of those sites. Any site deleted from the NPL remains eligible for 
Fund-financed actions in the unlikely event that conditions at the site 
warrant such action. Section 300.425(e)(3) of the NCP states that Fund-
financed actions may be taken at sites deleted from the NPL. Deletion 
of a site from the NPL does not affect responsible party liability or 
impede Agency efforts to recover costs associated with response 
efforts.

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 300 Lists of Subjects

    Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Chemicals, 
Hazardous substances, Hazardous waste, Intergovernmental relations, 
Penalties, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Superfund, Water 
pollution control, Water supply.

    Dated: January 8, 2003.
Robert E. Roberts,
Regional Administrator, Region 8.

PART 300--[AMENDED]

    1. The authority citation for part 300 continues to read as 
follows:

    Authority: 33 U.S.C. 1321(c)(2); 42 U.S.C. 9601-9657; E.O. 
12777, 56 FR 54757, 3CFR 1991 Comp., p. 351; E.O. 12580, 52 FR 2923, 
3CFR1987 Comp., p. 193.

Appendix B--[Amended]

    2. Table 2 of appendix B to part 300 is amended by revising the 
entry for ``Rocky Mountain Arsenal (USARMY)'' by adding a note ``P'' so 
that it reads as follows:

Appendix B to Part 300--National Priorities List

                  Table 2.--Federal Facilities Section
------------------------------------------------------------------------
     State             Site name          City/County       Notes (a)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
                              * * * * * * *
CO.............  Rocky Mountain         Adams County...  P
                  Arsenal (USARMY).
 
                             * * * * * * *
------------------------------------------------------------------------
(a) * * *
 
* * * * * * *
P=Sites with partial deletion(s).

[FR Doc. 03-958 Filed 1-17-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6561-07-P