[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 175 (Tuesday, September 14, 2021)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 51045-51047]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-19449]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 300

[EPA-HQ-SFUND-2021-0485; FRL-8922-01-OLEM]


Proposed Deletion From the National Priorities List

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is issuing a 
proposed rule to delete the Beckman Instruments site from the National 
Priorities List (NPL) and requests public comments on this proposed 
action. The NPL, promulgated pursuant to 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, 
through its designated state agency, have determined that all 
appropriate response actions under CERCLA have been completed. However, 
this deletion does not preclude future actions under Superfund.

DATES: Comments regarding this proposed action must be submitted on or 
before October 14, 2021.

ADDRESSES: EPA has established a docket for this action under the 
Docket Identification number included in Table 1 in the Supplementary 
Information section of this document. Submit your comments, identified 
by the appropriate Docket ID number, by one of the following methods:
     https://www.regulations.gov. Follow 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 http://www2.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets.
     Email: Table 2 in the Supplementary Information section of 
this document provides an email address to submit public comments for 
the proposed deletion action.
    Instructions: Direct your comments to the Docket Identification 
number included in Table 1 in the Supplementary Information section of 
this document. 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://www.regulations.gov, your email address will be 
automatically captured and included as part of the comment

[[Page 51046]]

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: EPA has established a docket for this action under the 
Docket Identification included in Table 1 in the Supplementary 
Information section of this document. All documents in the docket are 
listed on the https://www.regulations.gov website. Although listed in 
the index, some information is not publicly available, i.e., 
Confidential Business Information or other information whose disclosure 
is restricted by statute. Certain other material, such as copyrighted 
material, is not placed on the internet and will be publicly available 
only in hard copy form. Publicly available docket materials are 
available either electronically through https://www.regulations.gov or 
in hard copy at the corresponding Regional Records Center. Location, 
address, and phone number of the Regional Records Centers follows.
    Regional Records Center:
     Region 9 (AZ, CA, HI, NV, AS, GU, MP), email: 
[email protected], 415/947-8717.
    The EPA is temporarily suspending Regional Records Centers for 
public visitors to reduce the risk of transmitting COVID-19. 
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: 
     Holly Hadlock, U.S. EPA Region 9, [email protected], 
415/972-3171.
     Chuck Sands, U.S. EPA Headquarters, [email protected], 
703/603-8857.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Table of Contents

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

I. Introduction

    EPA is issuing a proposed rule to delete the Beckman Instruments 
site from the National Priorities List (NPL) and requests public 
comments on this proposed action. The NPL constitutes Appendix B of 40 
CFR part 300 which is the NCP, which EPA created under section 105 of 
the CERCLA statute of 1980, as amended. EPA maintains the NPL as those 
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, a site deleted from 
the NPL remains eligible for Fund-financed remedial action if future 
conditions warrant such actions.
    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 of this document discusses procedures 
that EPA is using for this action. Section IV of this document 
discusses the site proposed for deletion and demonstrates how it meets 
the deletion criteria, including reference documents with the rationale 
and data principally relied upon by the EPA to determine that the 
Superfund response is complete.

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 the deletion of the site in this 
proposed rule:
    (1) EPA consulted with the respective state before developing this 
proposed action for deletion.
    (2) EPA has provided the state 30 working days for review of this 
proposed 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, through their designated state agency, has concurred 
with the proposed deletion action.
    (5) Concurrently, with the publication of this proposed action 
deletion in the Federal Register, a notice is being published in two 
major local newspapers, the Porterville Recorder, and the Noticiero 
Semanal. The newspapers announce the 30-day public comment period 
concerning the proposed action for deletion.
    (6) The EPA placed copies of documents supporting the proposed 
deletion in the deletion docket, made these items available for public 
inspection, and copying at the Regional Records Center identified 
above.
    If comments are received within the 30-day comment period on this 
document, EPA will evaluate and respond accordingly to the comments 
before making a final decision to delete the site. 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 EPA 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 included in 
the site information repositories listed above.
    Deletion of a site from the NPL does not itself create, alter, or 
revoke any

[[Page 51047]]

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) 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 Full Site or Partial Site Deletion

    The site to be deleted from the NPL, the location of the site, and 
docket number with information including reference documents with the 
rationale and data principally relied upon by the EPA to determine that 
the Superfund response is complete is specified in Table 1. The NCP 
permits activities to occur at a deleted site or that media or parcel 
of a partially deleted site, including operation and maintenance of the 
remedy, monitoring, and five-year reviews. These activities for the 
site are entered in Table 1, if applicable, under Footnote such that; 1 
= site has continued operation and maintenance of the remedy, 2 = site 
receives continued monitoring, and 3 = site five-year reviews are 
conducted.

                                                     Table 1
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            Site name               City/county, state         Type             Docket no.          Footnote
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Beckman Instruments..............  Porterville, CA.....  Full............  EPA-HQ-SFUND-2021-0  ................
                                                                            485.
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    Table 2 includes information concerning whether the full site is 
proposed for deletion from the NPL or a description of the area, media 
or Operable Units (OUs) of the NPL site proposed for partial deletion 
from the NPL, and an email address to which public comments may be 
submitted if the commenter does not comment using https://www.regulations.gov.

                                 Table 2
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                                  Full site deletion
                                   (full) or media/
            Site name                  parcels/        Email address for
                                    description for     public comments
                                   partial deletion
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Beckman Instruments.............  Full..............  [email protected].
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    EPA maintains the NPL as the list of sites that appear to present a 
significant risk to public health, welfare, or the environment. 
Deletion from the NPL does not preclude further remedial action. 
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. Deletion of a site from the NPL does not 
affect responsible party liability in the unlikely event that future 
conditions warrant further actions.

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 300

    Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Chemicals, 
Hazardous substances, Hazardous waste, Intergovernmental relations, 
Natural resources, Oil pollution, 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: September 2, 2021.
Larry Douchand,
Office Director, Office of Superfund Remediation and Technology 
Innovation.
[FR Doc. 2021-19449 Filed 9-13-21; 8:45 am]
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