[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 117 (Tuesday, June 20, 2017)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 28040-28041]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-12839]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 312

[EPA-HQ-OLEM-2016-0786; FRL-9958-46-OLEM]


Amendment to Standards and Practices for All Appropriate 
Inquiries Under CERCLA

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: EPA is proposing to amend the Standards and Practices for All 
Appropriate Inquiries to update an existing reference to a standard 
practice recently made available by ASTM International, a widely 
recognized standards development organization. Specifically, EPA is 
proposing to amend the All Appropriate Inquiries Rule to reference ASTM 
International's E2247-16 ``Standard Practice for Environmental Site 
Assessments: Phase I Environmental Site Assessment Process for 
Forestland or Rural Property'' and allow for its use to satisfy the 
statutory requirements for conducting all appropriate inquiries under 
the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability 
Act (CERCLA). In the ``Rules and Regulations'' section of this Federal 
Register, EPA is amending the All Appropriate Inquiries Rule to 
reference the ASTM E2247-16 Standard as a direct final rule without a 
prior proposed rule. If we receive no adverse comment, we will not take 
further action on this proposed rule.

DATES: Written comments must be received by July 20, 2017.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-
OLEM-2016-0786 at http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online 
instructions for submitting comments. Once submitted, comments cannot 
be edited or removed from Regulations.gov. The EPA may publish any 
comment received to its public docket. Do not submit electronically any 
information you consider to be Confidential Business Information (CBI) 
or other information whose disclosure is restricted by statute. 
Multimedia submissions (audio, video, etc.) must be accompanied by a 
written comment. The written comment is considered the official comment 
and should include discussion of all points you wish to make. The EPA 
will generally not consider comments or comment contents located 
outside of the primary submission (i.e. on the web, cloud, or other 
file sharing system). For additional submission methods, the full EPA 
public comment policy, information about CBI or multimedia submissions, 
and general guidance on making effective comments, please visit https://www.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For general information, contact the 
CERCLA Call Center at 800-424-9346 or TDD 800-553-7672 (hearing 
impaired). In the Washington, DC metropolitan

[[Page 28041]]

area, call 703-412-9810 or TDD 703-412-3323. For more detailed 
information on specific aspects of this rule, contact Patricia 
Overmeyer, Office of Brownfields and Land Revitalization (5105T), U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., 
Washington, DC 20460-0002, 202-566-2774, or [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Why is EPA using this proposed rule?

    This document proposes an amendment to 40 Code of Federal 
Regulations (CFR) part 312. In the ``Rules and Regulations'' section of 
this Federal Register, EPA is making these changes as a direct final 
rule without a prior proposed rule because we view this as a 
noncontroversial action and anticipate no adverse comment. We have 
explained our reasons for this action, including our reasons for the 
specific amendment, in the preamble to the direct final rule. 
Additionally, the amendment to the regulatory text for this proposed 
rule can also be found in the direct final rule. If we receive no 
adverse comment on any of the changes we are promulgating today, we 
will not take further action on this proposed rule. If, however, we 
receive such comment, we will publish a timely withdrawal in the 
Federal Register informing the public that this amendment will not take 
effect, and the reason for such withdrawal. We do not intend to 
institute a second comment period on this action. Any parties 
interested in commenting must do so at this time. EPA will address 
public comments in any subsequent final rule. For further information, 
please see the information provided in the ADDRESSES section of this 
document.

II. Does this action apply to me?

    The discussion of the potentially affected entities by this 
proposed rule can be found in the preamble to the direct final rule.

III. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

    For a complete discussion of all the administrative requirements 
applicable to this action, see the direct final rule in the ``Rules and 
Regulations'' section of this Federal Register.

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 312

    Environmental Protection, Administrative practice and procedure, 
Hazardous substances, Intergovernmental relations, Reporting and 
recordkeeping requirements, Superfund.

    Dated: June 12, 2017.
Barry N. Breen,
Acting Assistant Administrator, Office of Land and Emergency 
Management.
[FR Doc. 2017-12839 Filed 6-19-17; 8:45 am]
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