[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 110 (Thursday, June 8, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30303-30304]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-14046]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
[ATSDR-93]
Notice of Intent To Revise the Public Health Assessment Process
AGENCY: Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR),
Public Health Service (PHS), Department of Health and Human Services
(HHS).
ACTION: Notice of intent to revise ATSDR's public health assessment
process.
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SUMMARY: This notice announces proposed revisions in ATSDR's current
public health assessment process. The revisions are intended to: (1)
Produce earlier, more targeted evaluations that can be more effectively
integrated into the Superfund Program and; (2) incorporate
administrative improvements in ATSDR's Superfund mandates.
This process will begin through a pilot program, which includes an
initial appraisal of the impact of program changes by July 30, 1995.
The purpose of this pilot is to allow us to effect the planned changes
over time, while receiving valuable feedback from all stakeholders,
including the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), State and local
environmental and health departments and communities. (The term
``EPA,'' when used to designate the lead Federal remediation agency,
applies to respective Federal agencies operating Federal Superfund
facilities). An ongoing evaluation of the success of the revised public
health assessment process and progress/success of the pilot is
essential to the design of the program.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Robert C. Williams, P.E., D.E.E.,
Director, Division of Health Assessment and Consultation, Agency for
Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, 1600 Clifton Road, NE., Mailstop
E-32, Atlanta Georgia 30333, telephone (404) 639-0610 or FAX 639-0654.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 104(i)(6)(A) of the Comprehensive
Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980
(CERCLA), as amended [42 U.S.C. 9604(i)(6)(A)], requires ATSDR to
conduct health assessments of sites on or proposed for inclusion on the
National Priorities List established by the Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA). In addition, section 104(i)(6)(B) of CERCLA provides that
any person or group of persons may submit evidence of a release of or
exposure to a hazardous substance to ATSDR and request ATSDR to perform
a health assessment. Further, section 3019(b) of the Resource
Conservation and Recovery Act of 1984 (RCRA), as amended [42 U.S.C.
6939a] provides that when, in the judgment of the U.S. EPA or a State,
a landfill or surface impoundment poses a substantial potential risk to
human health, the EPA or State may request ATSDR to perform a health
assessment.
Under the revised process, neither the definition nor the purpose
of public health assessments will change. The purposes of health
assessments, as defined by CERCLA, are to assist in determining whether
actions should be taken to reduce human exposure to hazardous
substances from a facility and whether additional information on human
exposure and associated health risks is needed. ATSDR's public health
assessments are evaluations of data and information on the release of
hazardous substances into the environment in order to assess any
current or future impact on public health, develop health advisories or
other recommendations, and identify studies or actions needed to
evaluate and mitigate or prevent human health effects. These purposes
will not change.
Although ATSDR will continue to perform public health assessments,
as set out in the legislation, we plan to initiate a phased approach to
conducting them. This means that ATSDR may provide input to the EPA,
States, and communities at any point in the Superfund process, thus
allowing for the possible production of several site-related documents
or reports. Those documents could then be utilized by the EPA or State
and local health departments as they make decisions (e.g., early
actions) related to particular sites. This would ensure that public
health perspectives are considered at critical points in the process.
Key phases in the revised process, which are designed to coincide
with the EPA's site evaluation and remediation process under Superfund,
will include one or more of the following:
(1) Site Assessment Activities, which could include performing site
visits, [[Page 30304]] evaluating preliminary environmental
characterization data, releasing initial findings and public health
decisions, and initializing community involvement and education
efforts;
(2) Sampling Strategies, which could include participating in the
design of multiple media sampling and analysis plans that assist in
identifying human exposure pathways;
(3) Community Health Outreach, such as initiating early community
contact, designing the public health agenda, developing sampling and
analysis strategies to help define human exposure levels, and
collaborating with decision-makers regarding on- and off-site
remediation strategies for characterizing environmental contamination;
(4) Public Health Evaluation, which includes the comparison of
existing morbidity and mortality data on diseases that may be
associated with the observed levels of exposure. Also included are
exposure investigations, which involve gathering and analyzing site-
specific information, to determine if human populations have been
exposed to hazardous substances, and release of comprehensive findings
from evaluations;
(5) Public Health Actions, which could be short-term, including
providing health professional education, medical intervention, and
health studies; or long-term actions, which could include providing
surveillance, medical monitoring, and registries;
(6) Remediation and Site Closure Planning, which could include
providing a public health analysis of environmental monitoring plans,
evaluating final sampling data, and releasing comprehensive public
health findings regarding efficacy of cleanup efforts in mitigating or
reducing human exposure; and
(7) Customer Satisfaction Evaluations to confirm the effectiveness
of activities through reader/customer surveys, pilot projects,
questionnaires, and community meetings.
Greater participation of communities and remediation decisionmakers
will be fundamental to the implementation of the revised process, and
interaction with stakeholders will be an integral part in each of the
activities noted above. Community involvement will be emphasized
throughout ATSDR's activities. In particular, efforts to facilitate
community outreach will be undertaken through actions such as increased
use of Public Availability Sessions, poster sessions, direct contact
with community groups, focus group workshops for team-building,
distribution of Community Notices and Fact Sheets, and establishing
Community Assistance Panels. In addition, ATSDR will continue to
provide independent peer-review of a sample of our public health
assessments.
Dated: June 1, 1995.
Claire V. Broome,
Deputy Administrator, Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.
[FR Doc. 95-14046 Filed 6-7-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4163-70-P
