2018-26480. National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan; National Priorities List: Partial Deletion of the Beloit Corporation Superfund Site

AGENCY:

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION:

Final rule.

SUMMARY:

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 5 announces the partial deletion of all media at the 20-acre Former Research Center Property of the Beloit Corporation Superfund Site (Site), in Rockton, Illinois from the National Priorities List (NPL). 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 remainder of the Site will remain on the NPL and is not being considered for deletion as part of this action. EPA and the State of Illinois through the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA), have determined that all appropriate response actions under CERCLA, other than operation and maintenance, monitoring and five-year reviews, have been completed. However, the deletion of this parcel does not preclude future actions under Superfund.

DATES:

This action is effective December 7, 2018.

ADDRESSES:

EPA has established a docket for this action under Docket Identification No. EPA-HQ-SFUND-1990-0011. All documents in the docket are listed on the https://www.regulations.gov website. Although listed in the index, some information may not be 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 site information repositories. Locations, contacts, phone numbers and viewing hours are:

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 5, Superfund Records Center, 77 West Jackson Boulevard, 7th Floor South, Chicago, IL 60604, Phone: [phone], Hours: Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., excluding Federal holidays.

Talcott Free Library, 101 East Main Street, Rockton, IL 61072, Phone: [phone], Hours: Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., Wednesday and Friday 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., and Saturday 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Randolph Cano, NPL Deletion Coordinator, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 5 (SR-6J), 77 West Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, IL 60604, [phone], or via email at [e-mail].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

The portion of the Beloit Corporation (Beloit Corp.) Site to be deleted from the NPL is the Former Beloit Corp. Research Center Property, PIN 03-12-452-003, located at 1155 Prairie Hill Road, in Rockton, Illinois. A Notice of Intent for Partial Deletion for the Beloit Corp. Site was published in the Federal Register on July 16, 2018 (83 FR 32825). A Direct final rule approving the deletion was concurrently published in the Federal Register (83 FR 32798). The partial deletion was to automatically take effect on September 14, 2018, if no adverse public comments were received.

EPA was required to withdraw the Direct final rule of July 16, 2018 (83 FR 32826), effective September 14, 2018, to prevent the Direct final rule from taking effect, because EPA did not provide timely notice of the publication of the Direct final rule through publication of an advertisement in a local newspaper as required by EPA policy.

The closing date for comments on the Notice of Intent for Partial Deletion as published in the Notice was August 15, 2018. EPA informally extended the public comment period until October 15, 2018, through advertisements published in two local newspapers, The Rockton Hearld and The Rockford Register Star on September 13, 2018.

EPA received one public comment on the partial deletion. Upon review of the comment, EPA finds that the comment is not related to the rule-making, is not site-specific and, as such, is not adverse. Therefore, EPA Region 5 is proceeding with the partial deletion of the Beloit Corp. Site. EPA prepared a memorandum responding to the public comment and placed the memorandum in the docket, EPA-HQ-SFUND-1990-0011, on www.regulations.gov,, and in the local information repositories listed above.

EPA maintains the NPL as the list of sites that appear to present a significant risk to public health, welfare, or the environment. Deletion of a site 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 portions 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 waste
• Hazardous substances
• Intergovernmental relations
• Penalties
• Reporting and recordkeeping requirements
• Superfund
• Water pollution control
• Water supply

Dated: October 29, 2018.

Cathy Stepp,

Regional Administrator, Region 5.

For the reasons set out in the preamble, 40 CFR part 300 is amended as follows:

PART 300—NATIONAL OIL AND HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCES POLLUTION CONTINGENCY PLAN

1. The authority citation for part 300 continues to read as follows:

Authority: 33 U.S.C. 1321(d); 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.

2. Table 1 of Appendix B to part 300 is amended by revising the entry “IL”, “Beloit Corp.”, “Rockton” to read as follows:

Appendix B to Part 300—[Amended]

Table 1—General Superfund Section

State	Site name	City/county	Notes (a)
*         *         *         *         *         *         *
IL	Beloit Corp	Rockton	* P
*         *         *         *         *         *         *
(a) * * *
* P = Sites with partial deletion(s).