2016-02599. National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan; National Priorities List: Partial Deletion of the California Gulch Superfund Site

AGENCY:

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION:

Proposed rule; notice of intent.

SUMMARY:

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 8 is issuing a Notice of Intent to Delete the Operable Unit 1 (OU1) Yak Tunnel/Water Treatment Plant; and Operable Unit 3 (OU3), Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad Company (D&RGW) Slag Piles/Railroad Easement/Railroad Yard, of the California Gulch Superfund Site (Site), located in Lake County, Colorado, 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 Colorado, through the Colorado Department of Public Health and the Environment, have determined that all appropriate response actions at OU1 and OU3 under CERCLA, other than operation, maintenance, and five-year reviews, have been completed. However, this deletion does not preclude future actions under Superfund.

DATES:

Comments must be received by March 10, 2016.

ADDRESSES:

Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID no. EPA-HQ-SFUND-1983-0002, by mail to Linda Kiefer, Remedial Project Manager, Environmental Protection Agency, Region 8, Mail Code 8EPR-SR, 1595 Wynkoop Street, Denver, CO 80202-1129. Comments may also be submitted electronically or through hand delivery/courier by following the detailed instructions in the ADDRESSES section of the direct final rule located in the rules section of this Federal Register.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Linda Kiefer, Remedial Project Manager, Environmental Protection Agency, Region 8, Mail Code 8EPR-SR, 1595 Wynkoop Street, Denver, CO 80202-1129, [phone], email: [e-mail].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

In the “Rules and Regulations” Section of today's Federal Register, we are publishing a direct final Notice of Partial Deletion for all of OU1 and OU3 of the California Gulch Superfund Site without prior Notice of Intent for Partial Deletion because EPA views this as a noncontroversial revision and anticipates no adverse comment. We have explained our reasons for this partial deletion in the preamble to the direct final Notice of Partial Deletion, and those reasons are incorporated herein. If we receive no adverse comment(s) on this partial deletion action, we will not take further action on this Notice of Intent for Partial Deletion. If we receive adverse comment(s), we will withdraw the direct final Notice of Partial Deletion and it will not take effect. We will, as appropriate, address all public comments in a subsequent final Notice of Partial Deletion based on this Notice of Intent for Partial Deletion. We will not institute a second comment period on this Notice of Intent for Partial Deletion. Any parties interested in commenting must do so at this time.

For additional information, see the direct final Notice of Partial Deletion which is located in the Rules section of this Federal Register.

This partial deletion pertains to all of OU1 and OU3. Operable Unit 2 (OU2), Malta Gulch Tailing Impoundments and Lower Malta Gulch Fluvial Tailing; Operable Unit 4 (OU4) Upper California Gulch; Operable Unit 5 (OU5), ASARCO Smelters/Slag/Mill Sites; Operable Unit 7 (OU7), Apache Tailing Impoundment; Operable Unit 8 (OU8), Lower California Gulch; Operable Unit 9 (OU9), Residential Populated Areas; and Operable Unit 10 (OU10), Oregon Gulch, were previously deleted from the NPL. Operable Unit 6 (OU6), Starr Ditch/Stray Horse Gulch/Lower Evans Gulch/Penrose Mine Waste Pile; Operable Unit 11 (OU11), Arkansas River Floodplain; and Operable Unit 12 (OU12), Site-wide Surface and Groundwater Quality, are not being considered for deletion as part of this action and will remain on the NPL.

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. 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: January 15, 2016.

Shaun L. McGrath,

Regional Administrator, Region 8.