[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 213 (Thursday, November 3, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 68193-68194]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-28477]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry

[ATSDR-271]


Notice of the Revised Priority List of Hazardous Substances That 
Will Be the Subject of Toxicological Profiles

AGENCY: Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), 
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and 
Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA or Superfund), as amended by the 
Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986 (SARA), requires 
that ATSDR and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) prepare a 
Priority List of Hazardous Substances commonly found at facilities on 
the CERCLA National Priorities List (NPL). The Priority List of 
Hazardous Substances includes substances that have been determined to 
be of greatest public health concern to persons at or near NPL sites. 
CERCLA as amended also requires that the Priority List of Hazardous 
Substances be revised periodically.
    This announcement provides notice that a revised Priority List of 
275 Hazardous Substances has been developed and is now available for 
download. CERCLA as amended also requires ATSDR to prepare and to 
periodically revise toxicological profiles on hazardous substances 
included in the priority list. Thus, each priority list substance is a 
potential toxicological profile subject, as well as a candidate for 
identification of priority data needs.
    In addition to the Priority List of Hazardous Substances, ATSDR has 
developed a Completed Exposure Pathway Site Count Report. This report 
lists the number of sites or events at which ATSDR is involved and 
wherein a substance has been found in a completed exposure pathway 
(CEP).

ADDRESSES: Requests for a printed copy of the 2011 Priority List of 
Hazardous Substances That Will Be the Subject of Toxicological Profiles 
and Support Document, including the CEP report should be submitted to 
Ms. Nickolette Roney, Division of Toxicology and Environmental 
Medicine, ATSDR, Mail Stop F-62, 1600 Clifton Road NE., Atlanta, GA 
30333.
    Electronic Availability: The 2011 Priority List of Hazardous 
Substances and Support Document is posted on ATSDR's Web site located 
at http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/SPL. The CEP Report is also posted at 
http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/CEP.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Nickolette Roney, Division of 
Toxicology and Environmental Medicine, ATSDR, 1600 Clifton Road NE., 
Mail Stop F-62, Atlanta, GA 30333, telephone (800) 232-4636, ET.
    This is an informational notice only; no comments are solicited at 
this time.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: CERCLA establishes certain requirements for 
ATSDR and EPA with regard to hazardous substances most commonly found 
at facilities on the CERCLA NPL. Section 104(i)(2)(A) of CERCLA, as 
amended,\1\ requires that ATSDR and EPA prepare a list, in order of 
priority, of at least 100 hazardous substances most commonly found at 
facilities on the NPL and which, in the agencies' sole discretion, pose 
the most significant potential threats to human health (see also 52 FR 
12866, April 17, 1987). CERCLA section 104(i)(2)(B) \2\ also requires 
the agencies to revise the priority list to include 100 or more 
additional hazardous substances (see also 53 FR 41280, October 20, 
1988), and to include at least 25 additional hazardous substances in 
each of the three successive years following the 1988 revision (see 54 
FR 43615, October 26, 1989; 55 FR 42067, October 17, 1990; and 56 FR 
52166, October 17, 1991). CERCLA section 104(i)(2)(B) further requires 
ATSDR and EPA at least annually to revise the list to include any 
additional hazardous substances that have been determined to pose the 
most significant potential threat to human health.
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    \1\ 42 U.S.C. 9604(i)(2)(A).
    \2\ 42 U.S.C. 9604(i)(2)(B).
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    In 1995, the agencies, recognizing the stability of this listing 
activity, altered the priority list publication schedule (60 FR 16478, 
March 30, 1995). As a result, the substance priority list is now on a 
2-year publication schedule, with annual informal review and revision. 
However, after the publication of the 2007 substance priority list, 
ATSDR transitioned to a new science database. This transition caused a 
delay in the publication of the revised priority list. Thus, the 2011 
priority list is the first publication of the list since the 2007 
priority list. Each substance on the Priority List of Hazardous 
Substances is a potential subject of a toxicological profile prepared 
by ATSDR and, subsequently, a candidate for the identification of 
priority data needs.
    The ranking of substances on the priority list is based on an 
algorithm

[[Page 68194]]

that consists of three criteria, weighted equally and combined to 
result in the total score. The three criteria are: (1) Frequency of 
occurrence at NPL sites; (2) toxicity; and (3) potential for human 
exposure. The site-specific information used to develop the priority 
list has been collected from ATSDR public health assessments and from 
site-file data packages used to develop the public health assessments. 
Since the development of the 2007 substance priority list, additional 
site specific information has been collected. The new information may 
include more recent NPL frequency-of-occurrence data, additional 
concentration data, and more information on exposure to substances at 
NPL sites. Using these additional data, seven substances have been 
replaced on the list of 275 substances since the 2007 publication; the 
replacement substances were previously under consideration. Changes in 
the order of substances appearing on the Priority List of Hazardous 
Substances will be reflected in program activities that rely on the 
list for future direction. Using the current algorithm, a total of 847 
candidate substances have been analyzed and ranked. Of these 
candidates, the 275 substances on the priority list may in the future 
become the subject of toxicological profiles.
    In two years ATSDR intends to publish the next revised list of 
hazardous substances, with an informal review and revision performed in 
one year. These revisions will reflect changes and improvements in data 
collection and availability. Additional information on the existing 
methodology used in the development of the Priority List of Hazardous 
Substances can be found in the Support Document and in the above-
referenced Federal Register notices.
    In addition to the revised priority list, ATSDR is also releasing a 
revised Completed Exposure Pathway Site Count Report. A completed 
exposure pathway (CEP) links a contaminant source to a receptor 
population. The CEP ranking is similar to a subcomponent of the 
substance priority list algorithm's potential-for-human-exposure 
component. The CEP ranking is based on a site frequency count and thus 
lists the number of sites at which a substance has been found in a CEP. 
This information is derived from ATSDR public health assessments and 
from health consultations. The CEP report therefore focuses on 
documented exposure, and lists hazardous substances according to 
exposure frequency.
    The substances in the CEP report are similar to those in the 
Priority List of Hazardous Substances. However, some substances in the 
CEP report have a very low toxicity (e.g., sodium) and as a result are 
not included in the substance priority list. Since the substance 
priority list uses toxicity, frequency of occurrence, and potential for 
human exposure to determine its priority substances, other low-toxicity 
substances will not appear on the list and, consequently, will not 
become subjects of toxicological profiles.
    In addition, because CERCLA mandates the preparation of the 
Priority List of Hazardous Substances, that list only incorporates data 
from CERCLA NPL sites. The CEP report, on the other hand, uses data 
from all ATSDR-activity sites at which a CEP has been detected.

    Dated: October 28, 2011.
Ken Rose,
Director, Office of Policy Planning and Evaluation, National Center for 
Environmental Health/Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.
[FR Doc. 2011-28477 Filed 11-2-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4163-70-P