[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 135 (Tuesday, July 14, 2020)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 42341-42343]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-14137]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 300

[EPA-HQ-SFUND-1986-005; FRL-10010-01-Region 10]


National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan; 
National Priorities List: Deletion of the Northside Landfill Superfund 
Site

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule; notice of intent.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 10 is issuing 
a Notice of Intent to Delete Northside Landfill Superfund Site (Site), 
located in Spokane, Spokane County, Washington, 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 Washington, through the Department of Ecology, have determined 
that all appropriate response actions under CERCLA, other than 
operation and maintenance and five-year reviews, have been completed. 
However, this deletion does not preclude future actions under 
Superfund.

DATES: Comments must be received by August 13, 2020.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID no. EPA-HQ-
SFUND-1986-0005, 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://www2.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets.
     Email: Jeremy Jennings, Remedial Project Manager, at 
[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 https://www.regulations.gov.
    Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID no. EPA-HQ-SFUND-
1986-0005. 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 EPA without 
going through https://

[[Page 42342]]

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. 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 https://www.regulations.gov.
    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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jeremy Jennings, Remedial Project 
Manager, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 10, 1200 Sixth 
Avenue, Suite 155, 12-D12-1, Seattle, WA 98101, (206)553-2724, email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Table of Contents

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

I. Introduction

    EPA Region 10 announces its intent to delete the Northside Landfill 
Superfund Site from the National Priorities List (NPL) and requests 
public comment on this proposed action. The NPL constitutes appendix B 
of 40 CFR part 300 which is the National Oil and Hazardous Substances 
Pollution Contingency Plan (NCP), which EPA promulgated pursuant to 
section 105 of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation 
and Liability Act (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.
    EPA will accept comments on the proposal to delete this site for 
thirty (30) days after publication of this document in the Federal 
Register.
    Section II of this preamble explains the criteria for deleting 
sites from the NPL. Section III of this preamble discusses procedures 
that EPA is using for this action. Section IV of this preamble 
discusses where to access and review information that demonstrates how 
the deletion criteria have been met at the Northside Landfill 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), 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 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 the Site:
    (1) EPA consulted with the State before developing this Notice of 
Intent to Delete.
    (2) EPA has provided the state 30 working days for review of this 
action prior to publication of it today
    (3) In accordance with the criteria discussed above, EPA has 
determined that no further response is appropriate;
    (4) The State of Washington, through the Department of Ecology, has 
concurred with deletion of the Site from the NPL.
    (5) Concurrently with the publication of this Notice of Intent to 
Delete in the Federal Register, a notice is being published in a major 
local newspaper, The Spokesman Review. The newspaper notice announces 
the 30-day public comment period concerning the Notice of Intent to 
Delete the site from the NPL.
    (6) The EPA placed copies of documents supporting the proposed 
deletion in the deletion docket and made these items available for 
public inspection and copying at the Site information repositories 
identified above.
    If comments are received within the 30-day public comment period on 
this action, EPA will evaluate and respond appropriately to the 
comments before making a final decision to delete. 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 the Site, the Regional Administrator 
will publish a final Notice of 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 
site information repositories listed above.
    Deletion of a site from the NPL does not itself create, alter, or 
revoke any individual's rights or obligations. Deletion 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)

[[Page 42343]]

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 Site Deletion

    The EPA placed copies of documents supporting the proposed deletion 
in the deletion docket. The material provides explanation of EPA's 
rationale for the deletion and demonstrates how it 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 waste, Hazardous substances, Intergovernmental relations, 
Penalties, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Superfund, Water 
pollution control, Water supply.

    Authority: 33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.

    Dated: June 25, 2020.
Christopher Hladick,
Regional Administrator, Region 10.
[FR Doc. 2020-14137 Filed 7-13-20; 8:45 am]
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