[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 102 (Wednesday, May 28, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30613-30614]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-12262]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry


Notice of the Revised Priority List of Hazardous Substances That 
Will Be Candidates for 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. 
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).
    Address for Printed Copy: Requests for a printed copy of the 2013 
Priority List of Hazardous Substances and Support Document, including 
the CEP report, should be submitted to Ms. Nickolette Roney, Division 
of Toxicology and Human Health Sciences, ATSDR, Mail Stop F-57, 1600 
Clifton Road, NE., Atlanta, GA 30333.
    Electronic Availability: The 2013 Priority List of Hazardous 
Substances and Support Document are posted on ATSDR's Web site located 
at www.atsdr.cdc.gov/SPL. The CEP Report is posted at 
www.atsdr.cdc.gov/CEP.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Nickolette Roney, Division of 
Toxicology and Human Health Sciences, ATSDR, 1600 Clifton Road NE., 
Mail Stop F-57, Atlanta, GA 30333, telephone 800-232-4636.
    This is an informational notice only; comments are not being 
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. 
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 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 2011 substance priority list, 
additional site specific information has been collected. The new 
information may include more recent NPL frequency-of-occurrence data, 
additional environmental media concentration data, and more information 
on exposure to substances at NPL sites. Using these additional data, 
one substance has been replaced on the list of 275 substances since the 
2011 publication. 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 guiding future activities. Using 
the current algorithm, a total of 848 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.
    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

[[Page 30614]]

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 ATSDR 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 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: May 21, 2014.
Sascha Chaney,
Acting Director, Office of Policy Planning and Evaluation, National 
Center for Environmental Health/Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease 
Registry.
[FR Doc. 2014-12262 Filed 5-27-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4163-70-P