[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 16 (Friday, January 24, 2020)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 4249-4250]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-00983]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 300

[EPA-HQ-SFUND-2002-0008; FRL-10004-52-Region 8]


National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan; 
National Priorities List: Partial Deletion of the OU1 of the Libby 
Asbestos Superfund Site

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule; notice of intent.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 8 is issuing 
a Notice of Intent to Delete Operable Unit 1 (OU1), Former Export 
Plant, of the Libby Asbestos Superfund Site (Site), located in Lincoln 
County, Montana, from the National Priorities List (NPL) and requests 
public comments on this proposed action. The NPL, promulgated pursuant 
to section 105 of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, 
Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) of 1980, as amended, is an 
appendix of the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution 
Contingency Plan (NCP). The EPA and the State of Montana (State), 
through the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), have determined 
that all appropriate response actions at OU1 under CERCLA, other than 
operation and maintenance and five-year reviews (FYR), have been 
completed. However, this partial deletion does not preclude future 
actions under Superfund. This partial deletion pertains only to OU1. 
Operable Unit 2 (OU2), Former Screening Plant, was deleted from the NPL 
on April 10, 2019. Operable Unit 3 (OU3), Former Vermiculite Mine; 
Operable Unit 4 and Operable Unit 7 (OU4/OU7), Residential/Commercial 
Properties of Libby and Troy; Operable Unit 5 (OU5), Former Stimson 
Lumber Mill; Operable Unit 6 (OU6), BNSF Rail Corridor; and Operable 
Unit 8 (OU8), Highways and Roadways, are not being considered for 
deletion as part of this proposed action and will remain on the NPL.

DATES: Comments must be received by February 24, 2020.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID no. EPA-HQ-
SFUND-2002-0008 by one of the following methods:
     https://www.regulations.gov. Follow on-line 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.epa2.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets.
     Email: Dania Zinner, [email protected].
     Mail: Dania Zinner, Remedial Project Manager, U.S. EPA, 
Region 8, Mail Code 8SEM-RB, 1595 Wynkoop Street, Denver, CO 80202-
1129.
    Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID no. EPA-HQ-SFUND-
2002-0008. The EPA's policy is that all comments received will be 
included in the public docket without change and may be made available 
online at https://www.regulations.gov, including any personal 
information provided, unless the comment includes information claimed 
to be Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other information 
whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Do not submit information 
that you consider to be CBI or otherwise protected through https://www.regulations.gov or email. The https://www.regulations.gov website 
is an ``anonymous access'' system, which means EPA will not know your 
identity or contact information unless you provide it in the body of 
your comment. If you send an email comment directly to the EPA without 
going through https://www.regulations.gov, your email address will be 
automatically captured and included as part of the comment that is 
placed in the public docket and made available on the internet. If you 
submit an electronic comment, the EPA recommends that you include your 
name and other contact information in the body of your comment and with 
any disk or CD-ROM you submit. If the EPA cannot read your comment due 
to technical difficulties and cannot contact you for clarification, the 
EPA may not be able to consider your comment. Electronic files should 
avoid the use of special characters, any form of encryption, and be 
free of any defects or viruses.
    Docket: All documents in the docket are listed in the https://www.regulations.gov index. Although listed in the index, some 
information is not publicly available, e.g., CBI or other information 
whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Certain other material, such 
as copyrighted material, will be publicly available only in the hard 
copy. Publicly available docket materials are available electronically 
in http://www.regulations.gov; by calling EPA Region 8 at (303) 312-
7279 and leaving a message; and at the EPA Info Center, 108 E 9th 
Street, Libby, MT 59923, (406) 293-6194, Monday through Thursday from 
8:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dania Zinner, Remedial Project 
Manager, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 8, Mailcode SEM-
RB, 1595 Wynkoop Street, Denver, CO 80202-1129, (303) 312-7122, email 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Table of Contents

I. Introduction
II. NPL Deletion Criteria
III. Deletion Procedures
IV. Basis for Intended Partial Site Deletion

I. Introduction

    EPA Region 8 announces its intent to delete all of Operable Unit 1 
(OU1), Former Export Plant, of the Libby Asbestos Superfund Site (Site) 
from the NPL and requests public comment on this proposed action. The 
NPL constitutes appendix B of 40 CFR part 300 which is the NCP, which 
the EPA promulgated pursuant to section 105 of the CERCLA of 1980, as 
amended. The EPA maintains the NPL as those sites

[[Page 4250]]

that appear to present a significant risk to public health, welfare, or 
the environment. Sites on the NPL may be the subject of remedial 
actions financed by the Hazardous Substance Superfund (Fund). This 
partial deletion of OU1 of the Libby Asbestos Superfund Site is 
proposed in accordance with 40 CFR 300.425(e) and is consistent with 
the Notice of Policy Change: Partial Deletion of Sites Listed on the 
National Priorities List. 60 FR 55466 (Nov. 1, 1995). As described in 
Sec.  300.425(e)(3) of the NCP, a portion of a site deleted from the 
NPL remains eligible for Fund-financed remedial action if future 
conditions warrant such actions.
    The EPA will accept comments on the proposal to partially delete 
this site for thirty (30) days after publication of this document in 
the Federal Register.
    Section II of this document explains the criteria for deleting 
sites from the NPL. Section III discusses procedures that the EPA is 
using for this action. Section IV discusses where to access and review 
information that demonstrates how the deletion criteria have been met 
at OU1 of the Libby Asbestos Superfund Site.

II. NPL Deletion Criteria

    The NCP establishes the criteria that EPA uses to delete sites from 
the NPL. In accordance with 40 CFR 300.425(e), sites may be deleted 
from the NPL where no further response is appropriate. In making such a 
determination pursuant to 40 CFR 300.425(e), the EPA will consider, in 
consultation with the State, whether any of the following criteria have 
been met:
    i. Responsible parties or other persons have implemented all 
appropriate response actions required;
    ii. All appropriate Fund-financed response under CERCLA has been 
implemented, and no further response action by responsible parties is 
appropriate; or
    iii. The remedial investigation has shown that the release poses no 
significant threat to public health or the environment and, therefore, 
the taking of remedial measures in not appropriate.
    Pursuant to CERCLA section 121(c) and the NCP, the EPA conducts 
five-year reviews to ensure the continued protectiveness of remedial 
actions where hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants remain 
at a site above levels that allow for unlimited use and unrestricted 
exposure. The EPA conducts such five-year reviews even if a site is 
deleted from the NPL. The EPA may initiate further action to ensure 
continued protectiveness at a deleted site if new information becomes 
available that indicates it is appropriate. Whenever there is a 
significant release from a site deleted from the NPL, the deleted site 
may be restored to the NPL without application of the hazard ranking 
system.

III. Deletion Procedures

    The following procedures apply to deletion of OU1 of the Libby 
Asbestos Superfund Site:
    (1) The EPA consulted with the State before developing this Notice 
of Intent for Partial Deletion.
    (2) The EPA has provided the State 30 working days for review of 
this document prior to its publication in the Federal Register.
    (3) In accordance with the criteria discussed above, EPA has 
determined that no further response is appropriate;
    (4) The State of Montana, through the DEQ, has concurred with 
deletion of OU1 of the Libby Asbestos Superfund Site, from the NPL.
    (5) Concurrently with the publication of this Notice of Intent for 
Partial Deletion in the Federal Register, notices are being published 
in the Western News, the Kootenai Valley Record, and The Montanian. The 
newspaper notices announce the 30-day public comment period concerning 
the Notice of Intent for Partial Deletion of the Site from the NPL.
    (6) The EPA placed copies of documents supporting the proposed 
partial deletion in the deletion docket, made these items available for 
public inspection, and copying at the Site information repositories 
identified above.
    If comments are received within the 30-day comment period on this 
document, the EPA will evaluate and respond to the comments before 
making a final decision to delete OU1. If necessary, the EPA will 
prepare a Responsiveness Summary to address any significant public 
comments received. After the public comment period, if the EPA 
determines it is still appropriate to delete OU1 of the Libby Asbestos 
Superfund Site, the Regional Administrator will publish a final Notice 
of Partial Deletion in the Federal Register. Public notices, public 
submissions and copies of the Responsiveness Summary, if prepared, will 
be made available to interested parties and included in the site 
information repositories listed above.
    Deletion of a portion of a site from the NPL does not itself 
create, alter, or revoke any individual's rights or obligations. 
Deletion of a portion of a site from the NPL does not in any way alter 
the EPA's right to take enforcement actions, as appropriate. The NPL is 
designed primarily for informational purposes and to assist EPA 
management. Section 300.425(e)(3) of the NCP states that the deletion 
of a site from the NPL does not preclude eligibility for future 
response actions, should future conditions warrant such actions.

IV. Basis for Intended Partial Site Deletion

    The EPA placed copies of documents supporting the proposed partial 
deletion in the deletion docket. The material provides explanation of 
EPA's rationale for the partial deletion and demonstrates how it meets 
the deletion criteria. This information is made available for public 
inspection in the dockets identified above.

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 300

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

    Authority: 33 U.S.C. 1321(c)(2); 42 U.S.C. 9601-9657; E.O. 
13626, 77 FR 56749, 3 CFR, 2013 Comp., p. 306; E.O. 12777, 56 FR 
54757, 3 CFR, 1991 Comp., p. 351; E.O. 12580, 52 FR 2923, 3 CFR, 
1987 Comp., p. 193.

    Dated: December 9, 2019.
Gregory E. Sopkin,
Regional Administrator, EPA Region 8.
[FR Doc. 2020-00983 Filed 1-23-20; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6560-50-P