2022-05556. National Priorities List Deletion

AGENCY:

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION:

Final rule.

SUMMARY:

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announces the deletion of one site, Beckman Instruments, from the Superfund National Priorities List (NPL). The NPL, created under 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 their 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:

The document is effective on March 22, 2022.

ADDRESSES:

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 Centers. Locations, addresses, and phone numbers-of the Regional Records Center follows.

Regional Records Center:

• Region 9 (AZ, CA, HI, NV, AS, GU, MP), email: [e-mail], 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, may not be 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, [e-mail], 415/972-3171.

• Chuck Sands, U.S. EPA Headquarters, [e-mail].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

The NPL, created under section 105 of CERCLA, as amended, is an appendix of the NCP. 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. Partial deletion of sites is in accordance with 40 CFR 300.425(e) and are consistent with the “Notice of Policy Change: Partial Deletion of Sites Listed on the National Priorities List,” 60 FR 55466, (November 1, 1995). The site to be deleted is listed in Table 1, including docket information containing reference documents with the rationale and data principally relied upon by the EPA to determine that the Superfund response is complete. 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 in this SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section, 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. As described in 40 CFR 300.425(e)(3) of the NCP, a site or portion of a site deleted from the NPL remains eligible for Fund-financed remedial action if future conditions warrant such actions.

Table 1

Site name	City/county, state	Type	Docket No.	Footnote
Beckman Instruments	Porterville, CA	Full	EPA-HQ-SFUND-2021-0485

Information concerning the sites to be deleted and partially deleted from the NPL, the proposed rule for the deletion and partial deletion of the sites, and information on receipt of public comment(s) and preparation of a Responsiveness Summary (if applicable) are included in Table 2 as follows:

Table 2

Site name	Date, proposed rule	FR citation	Public comment	Responsiveness summary	Full site deletion (full) or media/parcels/ description for partial deletion
Beckman Instruments	9/14/2021	86 FR 51045	Yes	No	Full.

For the site proposed for deletion, the closing date for comments in the proposed rule was October 14, 2021. The EPA received three public comments on the Beckman Instruments site included for deletion in this final rule. The public comments were supportive of the proposed deletion and of EPA actions. Because no adverse comment was received for this site, no Responsiveness Summary was prepared. EPA placed the comments in the docket, EPA-HQ-SFUND-2021-0485, on https://www.regulations.gov, and in the Regional repository listed in the ADDRESSES section.

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

Dated: March 9, 2022.

Dana Stalcup,

Acting Office Director, Office of Superfund Remediation and Technology Innovation.

For reasons set out in the preamble, the EPA amends 40 CFR part 300 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. 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.

Appendix B to Part 300 [Amended]

2. Amend appendix B to part 300, Table 1, by removing the entry for “CA”, “Beckman Instruments”, “Porterville”.