63148 Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 209 / Friday, October 29, 2004 / Notices 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

[FRL–7831–4] 

Eighth Meeting of the World Trade 

Center Expert Technical Review Panel 

To Continue Evaluation on Issues 

Relating to Impacts of the Collapse of 

the World Trade Center Towers

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of meeting.

SUMMARY: The World Trade Center 

Expert Technical Review Panel (or WTC 

Expert Panel) will hold its eighth 

meeting intended to provide for greater 

input on ongoing efforts to monitor the 

situation for New York residents and 

workers impacted by the collapse of the 

World Trade Center (WTC). The panel 

members will help guide the EPA’s use 

of the available exposure and health 

surveillance databases and registries to 

characterize any remaining exposures 

and risks, identify unmet public health 

needs, and recommend any steps to 

further minimize the risks associated 

with the aftermath of the WTC attacks. 

The panel will meet several times over 

the course of approximately two years. 

These panel meetings will be open to 

the public, except where the public 

interest requires otherwise. Information 

on the panel meeting agendas, 

documents (except where the public 

interest requires otherwise), and public 

registration to attend the meetings will 

be available from an Internet Web site. 

EPA has established an official public 

docket for this action under Docket ID 

No. ORD–2004–0003.

DATES: The eighth meeting of the WTC 

Expert Panel will be held on November 

15, 2004, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., eastern 

standard time. On-site registration will 

begin at 8:30 a.m.

ADDRESSES: The WTC Expert Panel 

meeting will be held at St. John’s 

University, Saval Auditorium, 101 

Murray Street (between Greenwich 

Street and West Side Highway), New 

York City (Manhattan). The auditorium 

is located on the second floor of the 

building and is handicap accessible. A 

government-issued identification (e.g., 

driver’s license) is required for entry.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

meeting information, registration and 

logistics, please see the panel’s Web site 

http://www.epa.gov/wtc/panel or 

contact ERG at (781) 674–7374. The 

meeting agenda and logistical 

information will be posted on the Web 

site and will also be available in hard 

copy. For further information regarding 

the WTC Expert Panel, contact Ms. Lisa 

Matthews, EPA Office of the Science 

Advisor, telephone (202) 564–6669 or email: matthews.lisa@epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. WTC Expert Panel Meeting 

Information 

Eastern Research Group, Inc., (ERG), 

an EPA contractor, will coordinate the 

WTC Expert Panel meeting. To attend 

the panel meeting as an observer, please 

register by visiting the Web site at:

http://www.epa.gov/wtc/panel. You may 

also register for the meeting by calling 

ERG’s conference registration line 

between the hours of 9 a.m. and 5:30 

p.m. EST at (781) 674–7374 or toll free 

at 1–800–803–2833, or by faxing a 

registration request to (781) 674–2906 

(include full address and contact 

information). Pre-registration is strongly 

recommended as space is limited, and 

registrations are accepted on a firstcome, first-served basis. The deadline 

for pre-registration is November 10, 

2004. Registrations will continue to be 

accepted after this date, including onsite registration, if space allows. There 

will be a limited time at the meeting for 

oral comments from the public. Oral 

comments will be limited to five (5) 

minutes each. If you wish to make a 

statement during the observer comment 

period, please check the appropriate box 

when you register at the web site. Please 

bring a copy of your comments to the 

meeting for the record or submit them 

electronically via e-mail to 

meetings@erg.com, subject line: WTC. 

II. Background Information 

Immediately following the September 

11, 2001, terrorist attack on New York 

City’s World Trade Center, many federal 

agencies, including the EPA, were 

called upon to focus their technical and 

scientific expertise on the national 

emergency. EPA, other federal agencies, 

New York City and New York State 

public health and environmental 

authorities focused on numerous 

cleanup, dust collection and ambient air 

monitoring activities to ameliorate and 

better understand the human health 

impacts of the disaster. Detailed 

information concerning the 

environmental monitoring activities that 

were conducted as part of this response 

is available at the EPA Response to 9–

11 Web site at&thnsp;http://

www.epa.gov/wtc/.

In addition to environmental 

monitoring, EPA efforts also included 

toxicity testing of the dust, as well as 

the development of a human exposure 

and health risk assessment. This risk 

assessment document, Exposure and 

Human Health Evaluation of Airborne 

Pollution from the World Trade Center 

Disaster, is available on the Web at 

www.epa.gov/ncea/wtc.htm). Numerous 

additional studies by other Federal and 

State agencies, universities and other 

organizations have documented impacts 

to both the outdoor and indoor 

environments and to human health.

While these monitoring and 

assessment activities were ongoing and 

the cleanup at Ground Zero itself was 

occurring, EPA began planning for a 

program to clean and monitor 

residential apartments. From June until 

December 2002, residents impacted by 

WTC dust and debris in an area of about 

1 mile by 1 mile south of Canal Street 

were eligible to request either federallyfunded cleaning and monitoring for 

airborne asbestos or monitoring of their 

residences. The cleanup continued into 

the summer of 2003 by which time the 

EPA had cleaned and monitored 3,400 

apartments and monitored 800 

apartments. Detailed information on this 

portion of the EPA response is also 

available at http://www.epa.gov/wtc/. 

A critical component of 

understanding long-term human health 

impacts is the establishment of health 

registries. The WTC Health Registry is a 

comprehensive and confidential health 

survey of those most directly exposed to 

the contamination resulting from the 

collapse of the WTC towers. It is 

intended to give health professionals a 

better picture of the health 

consequences of 9/11. It was established 

by the Agency for Toxic Substances and 

Disease Registry (ATSDR) and the New 

York City Department of Health and 

Mental Hygiene (NYCDHMH) in 

cooperation with a number of academic 

institutions, public agencies and 

community groups. Detailed 

information about the registry can be 

obtained from the registry Web site at: 

http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/html/wtc/

index.html. 

In order to obtain individual advice 

on the effectiveness of these programs, 

unmet needs and data gaps, the EPA has 

convened a technical panel of experts 

who have been involved with WTC 

assessment activities. Dr. Paul Gilman, 

EPA Science Advisor, serves as Chair of 

the panel, and Dr. Paul Lioy, Professor 

of Environmental and Community 

Medicine at the Environmental and 

Occupational Health Sciences Institute 

of the Robert Wood Johnson Medical 

School–UMDNJ and Rutgers University, 

serves as Vice Chair. A full list of the 

panel members, a charge statement and 

operating principles for the panel are 

available from the panel Web site listed 

above. Panel meetings typically will be 

one- or two-day meetings, and they will 

occur over the course of approximately 

a two-year period. Panel members will 

Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 209 / Friday, October 29, 2004 / Notices 63149

provide individual advice on issues the 

panel addresses. These meetings will 

occur in New York City and nearby 

locations. All of the meetings will be 

announced on the Web site and by a 

Federal Register Notice, and they will 

be open to the public for attendance and 

brief oral comments. 

The focus of the eighth meeting of the 

WTC Expert Panel is to hear comments 

from panel members and the public on 

the External Review Draft entitled, Draft 

Proposed Sampling Program to 

Determine Extent of World Trade Center 

Impacts to the Indoor Environment 

(EPA/600/R–04/169A). The document 

was published in the Federal Register

on October 21, 2004 (69 FR 61838) for 

a 30-day public comment period. The 

document is also available on the panel 

Web site identified earlier at: http://

www.epa.gov/wtc/panel. Written 

comments on the draft sampling 

proposal should be submitted to the 

EPA by November 19, 2004. Please 

follow the detailed instructions as 

provided in the October 21, 2004 

Federal Register Notice for submitting 

written comments. EPA will consider all 

comments in revising the document. At 

the November 15 panel meeting, panel 

members will be asked to provide their 

individual views regarding gaps on 

potential health effects and additional 

health studies that they have identified. 

Further information on meetings of the 

WTC Expert Panel can be found at the 

panel Web site. 

III. How To Get Information on EDOCKET 

EPA has established an official public 

docket for this action under Docket ID 

No. ORD–2004–0003. The official public 

docket consists of the documents 

specifically referenced in this action, 

any public comments received, and 

other information related to this action. 

Although a part of the official docket, 

the public docket does not include 

Confidential Business Information (CBI) 

or other information whose disclosure is 

restricted by statute. The official public 

docket is the collection of materials that 

is available for public viewing at the 

Office of Environmental Information 

(OEI) Docket in the Headquarters EPA 

Docket Center, (EPA/DC) EPA West 

Building, Room B102, 1301 Constitution 

Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20460. 

The EPA Docket Center Public Reading 

Room is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 

p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding 

legal holidays. The telephone number 

for the Public Reading Room is (202) 

566–1744, and the telephone number for 

the OEI Docket is (202) 566–1752; 

facsimile: (202) 566–1753; or e-mail: 

ORD.Docket@epa.gov. 

An electronic version of the public 

docket is available through EPA’s 

electronic public docket and comment 

system, EPA Dockets. You may use EPA 

Dockets at http://www.epa.gov/edocket/

to submit or view public comments, 

access the index listing of the contents 

of the official public docket, and to 

access those documents in the public 

docket that are available electronically. 

Once in the system, select ‘‘search,’’

then key in the appropriate docket 

identification number.

Dated: October 25, 2004. 

Paul Gilman, 

EPA Science Advisor and Assistant 

Administrator for Research and Development.

[FR Doc. 04–24245 Filed 10–28–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

[FRL–7829–1] 

Proposed Administrative Settlement 

Pursuant to the Comprehensive 

Environmental Response, 

Compensation and Liability Act 

(‘‘CERCLA’’); Pacific Sound Resources 

(PSR); West Seattle, WA

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency.

ACTION: Request for public comment.

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

Comprehensive Environmental 

Response, Compensation and Liability 

Act of 1980, as amended (‘‘CERCLA’’), 

42 U.S.C. 9601, et seq., as amended, 

notice is hereby given that the 

Environmental Protection Agency 

(‘‘EPA’’), the State of Washington 

Department of Natural Resources 

(‘‘DNR’’) and the state of Washington 

(‘‘State’’) have negotiated a proposed 

Administrative Settlement 

(‘‘Agreement’’) pursuant to CERCLA, 

with respect to the Pacific Sound 

Resources (‘‘PSR’’) Superfund Site in 

West Seattle, Washington (‘‘Site’’). 

The Site was listed on the Superfund 

National Priorities List (‘‘NPL’’) in 1994. 

Wood treating operations at the Site 

date from the early 1900s to 1994, under 

successive operators. Hazardous 

substances, primarily wood treating 

chemicals, were released at or from the 

Site. As a result, EPA has undertaken 

response actions under CERCLA, and 

will undertake response actions in the 

future, many of which have been or will 

be funded by PSR as a responsible party 

pursuant to a 1994 PSR Consent Decree. 

Outstanding EPA costs are 

approximately $3.5 million. Projected 

future remedial costs are estimated at 

approximately $8 million for remaining 

sediment remedial action, some or all of 

which may be funded by the PSR 

Decree. EPA estimates that the total 

response costs incurred and to be 

incurred at or in connection with the is 

approximately $45 million. 

The Settling Parties’ liability for the 

Site arises in most significant part from 

releases from three storage tanks on a 

small portion of the Site (approximately 

2.3 acres of filled state-owned aquatic 

lands within the approximately 25-acre 

Site) leased to PSR by DNR. EPA has 

determined that these releases 

contributed a minor portion of the total 

of hazardous substances at the Site. The 

processing areas of the Site, including 

the transfer table pit and wood-treating 

retorts, were and are on PSR property 

and were where most releases occurred. 

DNR also leased submerged aquatic 

lands owned by the State to PSR on 

which PSR floated treated wood 

products which released comparatively 

small amounts of hazardous substances 

to water and sediment in Elliott Bay. 

In September 2002, PSR and the Port 

of Seattle jointly sued the Settling 

Parties and other potentially responsible 

parties in contribution in the Superior 

Court for the State of Washington under 

the Model Toxics Control Act 

(‘‘MTCA’’), RCW 70.105D et seq. In May 

2004, the Settling Parties conditionally 

agreed to settle these MTCA claims for 

$4.75 million to be divided equally 

between the MTCA Plaintiffs. EPA 

stands as the sole beneficiary pursuant 

to the PSR Consent Decree of the 

settlement proceeds which would go to 

PSR. This MTCA claims settlement is 

conditioned on this proposed 

Agreement resolving the outstanding 

CERCLA claims by EPA against the 

Settling Parties. 

By this proposed Agreement, Settling 

Parties shall provide EPA with a 

maximum of 250,000 cubic yards of 

clean sediment (from navigation 

dredging of the Snohomish, Swinomish, 

or other rivers of the state of 

Washington) necessary for the sediment 

remedial action at the Site. Further, EPA 

has designed the sediment remedy for 

the Site to meet a 100-year earthquake 

or other disaster contingency, and has 

agreed that if such remedy failure 

occurs, it will be addressed by EPA 

rather than by an Agency or 

instrumentality of the state. Toward this 

end, DNR shall also provide such 

quantity of clean sediment as EPA may 

require, not to exceed a maximum of 

250,000 cubic yards, to address such a 

remedy failure contingency, subject to 

sediment availability. Settling Parties 

also agree that EPA may install, 

maintain and monitor the remedial