[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 121 (Tuesday, June 23, 2020)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 37615-37617]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-12793]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 300
[EPA-HQ-SFUND-1989-0008; FRL-10010-39-Region 5]
National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan;
National Priorities List: Partial Deletion of the Southeast Rockford
Groundwater Contamination Superfund Site
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Proposed rule; notification of intent.
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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 5 is issuing
a Notification of Intent to Delete Source Area 4 of Operable Unit 3
(OU3) of the Southeast Rockford Groundwater Contamination Superfund
Site located in Rockford, Illinois, 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 Illinois, through the
Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA), have determined that
all appropriate response actions under CERCLA have been completed for
Source Area 4. However, this deletion does not preclude future actions
under Superfund.
DATES: Comments must be received by July 23, 2020.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-
SFUND-1989-0008, by one of the following methods:
https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the on-line instructions for
submitting comments. Once submitted, comments cannot be edited or
removed from Regulations.gov. 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. 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.
Email: [email protected].
Written comments submitted by mail are temporarily suspended and no
hand deliveries will be accepted. We encourage the public to submit
comments via email or at https://www.regulations.gov.
Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID no. EPA-HQ-SFUND-
1989-0008. 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
[[Page 37616]]
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 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, 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 EPA cannot read your
comment due to technical difficulties and cannot contact you for
clarification, 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, Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-SFUND-1989-0008.
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 hard copy. Publicly
available docket materials are available electronically at https://www.regulations.gov, Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-SFUND-1989-0008 and at
https://www.epa.gov/superfund/southeast-rockford-groundwater or you may
contact the person identified in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
section for additional availability information.
The EPA is temporarily suspending its Docket Center and Regional
Records Centers for public visitors to reduce the risk of transmitting
COVID-19. In addition, many site information repositories are closed
and information in these repositories, including the deletion docket,
has not been updated with hardcopy or electronic media. For further
information and updates on EPA Docket Center services, please visit us
online at https://www.epa.gov/dockets.
The EPA continues to carefully and continuously monitor information
from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), local area
health departments, and our Federal partners so that we can respond
rapidly as conditions change regarding COVID-19.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Karen Cibulskis, NPL Deletion
Coordinator, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 5, at (312)
886-1843 or via email at [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 5 announces its intent to delete Source Area 4 of OU3 of
the Southeast Rockford Groundwater Contamination Superfund Site (SERGWC
Site or 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 EPA promulgated pursuant to Section 105 of CERCLA of 1980,
as amended. EPA maintains the NPL as the list of sites 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). As described in
40 CFR 300.425(e)(3) of the NCP, sites deleted from the NPL remain
eligible for Fund-financed remedial actions if future conditions
warrant such actions. The other portions of the SERGWC Site, including
Operable Unit 1--Municipal Water Supply, Operable Unit 2--Groundwater,
and the other source areas in OU3, are not being considered for
deletion as part of this action and will remain on the NPL.
EPA will accept comments on its proposal to delete Source Area 4 of
OU3 of the SERGWC Site from the NPL 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 of this document discusses the
procedures that EPA is using for this action. Section IV of this
document discusses where to access and review information that
demonstrates how the deletion criteria have been met for Source Area 4
of OU3 of the SERGWC 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, or portions
thereof, may be deleted from the NPL where no further response is
appropriate. In making such a determination pursuant to 40 CFR
300.425(e), 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 is not appropriate.
Pursuant to CERCLA Section 121(c) and the NCP, 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. EPA conducts such five-year reviews even if a site or a
portion of a site is deleted from the NPL. 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 Source Area 4 of OU3
of the SERGWC Site from the NPL:
(1) EPA consulted with the State of Illinois prior to developing
this Notification of Intent for Partial Deletion.
(2) EPA has provided the State thirty (30) working days for review
of this notification prior to publication of it today.
(3) In accordance with the criteria discussed above, EPA has
determined that no further response is appropriate for Source Area 4 of
OU3 of the SERGWC Site.
(4) The State of Illinois, through the IEPA, concurred with
deletion of Source Area 4 of OU3 of the SERGWC Site from the NPL on May
8, 2020.
(5) Concurrently with the publication of this Notification of
Intent for Partial Deletion in the Federal Register, an announcement of
the availability of the Notification of Intent for Partial Deletion is
being published in a major local newspaper, the Rockford Register Star.
The newspaper notice announces the 30-day public comment period
concerning the Notification of Intent for Partial Deletion of the
SERGWC Site from the NPL.
[[Page 37617]]
(6) EPA placed copies of documents supporting the proposed partial
deletion in the deletion docket and made these items available for
public inspection and copying at https://www.regulations.gov, Docket ID
No. EPA-HQ-SFUND-1989-0008 and at https://www.epa.gov/superfund/southeast-rockford-groundwater.
If comments are received within the 30-day public comment period on
this document, EPA will evaluate and respond appropriately to the
comments before making a final decision to delete Source Area 4 of OU3
of the SERGWC Site from the NPL. If necessary, EPA will prepare a
Responsiveness Summary to address any significant public comments
received. After the public comment period, if EPA determines it is
still appropriate to delete Source Area 4 of OU3 of the SERGWC Site
from the NPL, the EPA will publish a final Notification 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 in the docket 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
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 or a portion 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 a Site-Specific Justification for the
Partial Deletion of Source Area 4 from the National Priorities List and
other 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 Source Area 4 of OU3 of
the SERGWC Site meets the deletion criteria. This information is made
available for public inspection in the docket 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. 1251 et seq.; 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: June 9, 2020.
Kurt Thiede,
Regional Administrator, Region 5.
[FR Doc. 2020-12793 Filed 6-22-20; 8:45 am]
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