32058 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 99 / Monday, May 22, 2000 / Proposed Rules

Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 60604,

(312) 353–8328

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: For

additional information, see the Direct

Final rule which is located in the Rules

section of this Federal Register. Copies

of the request and the EPA’s analysis are

available for inspection at the above

address. (Please telephone Christos

Panos at (312) 353–8328 before visiting

the Region 5 Office.)

Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.

Dated: April 27, 2000.

David A. Ullrich,

Acting Regional Administrator, Region 5.

[FR Doc. 00–12643 Filed 5–19–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

AGENCY

40 CFR Part 300

[FRL–6702–5]

National Oil and Hazardous

Substances Pollution Contingency

Plan; National Priorities List

AGENCY: Environmental Protection

Agency.

ACTION: Notice of intent to delete the

Schofield Army Barracks site from the

National Priorities List.

SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA) Region 9 announces the

intent to delete the Schofield Army

Barracks site (‘‘the site’’) from the

National Priorities List (NPL) and

requests public comment on this

proposed action. The NPL constitutes

appendix B of 40 CFR part 300 which

is the National Oil and Hazardous

Substances Pollution Contingency Plan

(NCP), which EPA promulgated

pursuant to section 105 of the

Comprehensive Environmental

Response, Compensation and Liability

Act (CERCLA) of 1980, as amended.

EPA and the State of Hawaii Department

of Health have determined that the

remedial action for the site has been

successfully executed.

DATES: Comments concerning the

proposed deletion of the Site from the

NPL may be submitted on or before June

21, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed

to: Mark Ripperda, USEPA Region 9, 75

Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, CA

94105, Mail Code SFD–8–3.

Comprehensive information on this

site is available through the Region 9

public docket which is available for

viewing by appointment only.

Appointments for copies of the

background information from the

Regional public docket should be

directed to the EPA Region 9 docket

office at the following address:

Superfund Records Center, USEPA

Region 9, 75 Hawthorne Street, San

Francisco, CA 94105.

The deletion docket is also available

at the following locations on Oahu:

Wahiawa Public Library, 820 California

Avenue, Wahiawa, Hawaii 96786; and

Directorate of Public Works,

Environmental Division, Bldg 105, 3rd

Floor, Wheeler Army Airfield, Hawaii.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Mark Ripperda, USEPA Region 9, 75

Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, CA

94105, Mail Code SFD–8–3; phone (415)

744–2408.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Table of Contents

I. Introduction

II. NPL Deletion Criteria

III. Deletion Procedures

IV. Basis of Intended Site Deletion

I. Introduction

The U.S. EPA Region IX announces its

intent to delete the Schofield Army

Barracks site in Honolulu County,

Hawaii, from the National Priorities List

(NPL) and requests public comment on

this proposed action. The NPL

constitutes appendix B of 40 CFR part

300 which is the National Oil and

Hazardous Substances Pollution

Contingency Plan (NCP), which EPA

promulgated pursuant to section 105 of

the Comprehensive Environmental

Response, Compensation and Liability

Act (CERCLA) of 1980, as amended.

EPA identifies sites that appear to

present a significant risk to public

health, welfare, or the environment and

maintains the NPL as the list of these

sites. EPA and the State of Hawaii

Department of Health have determined

that the remedial action for the site has

been successfully executed.

EPA will accept comments on the

proposal to delete this site for thirty (30)

days after publication of this document

in the Federal Register.

Section II of this document explains

the criteria for deleting sites from the

NPL. Section III discusses the

procedures EPA is using for this action.

Section IV discusses the Schofield Army

Barracks site and explains how the site

meets the deletion criteria.

II. NPL Deletion Criteria

Section 300.425(e)(1) of the NCP

provides that releases may be deleted

from, or recategorized on the NPL where

no further response is appropriate. In

making a determination to delete a

release from the NPL, EPA shall

consider, in consultation with the

appropriate State, whether any of the

following criteria have been met:

(i) Responsible parties or other

persons have implemented all

appropriate response actions required;

or

(ii) All appropriate Fund-financed

responses under CERCLA have been

implemented, and no further response

action by responsible parties is

appropriate; or

(iii) The Remedial Investigation has

shown that the release poses no

significant threat to public health or the

environment and, therefore, remedial

measures are not appropriate.

Even if a site is deleted from the NPL,

where hazardous substances, pollutants,

or contaminants remain at the site above

levels that allow for unlimited use and

unrestricted exposure, EPA’s policy is

that a subsequent review of the site will

be conducted at least every five years

after the initiation of the remedial action

at the site to ensure that the site remains

protective of public health and the

environment. If new information

becomes available which indicates a

need for further action, EPA may initiate

additional remedial actions. Whenever

there is a significant release from a site

deleted from the NPL, the site may be

restored to the NPL without application

of the Hazard Ranking System.

In the case of Schofield Army

Barracks, the selected remedy is

protective of human health and the

environment. The Army will maintain

the landfill cover and the water

treatment system, and will perform

long-term groundwater monitoring. The

first five-year review will be conducted

by EPA, the State of Hawaii Department

of Health (HDOH), and the Army in the

year 2002. Reviews will be conducted

every five years thereafter.

III. Deletion Procedure

The following procedures were used

for the intended deletion of this site: (1)

All appropriate response under CERCLA

has been implemented and no further

action by EPA or the Army is

appropriate; (2) HDOH has concurred

with the proposed deletion decision; (3)

a notice has been published in the local

newspapers and has been distributed to

appropriate federal, state, and local

officials and other interested parties

announcing the commencement of a 30-

day public comment period on EPA’s

Notice of Intent to Delete; and (4) all

relevant documents have been made

available in the local site information

repositories.

Deletion of the site from the NPL does

not itself create, alter, or revoke any

individual’s rights or obligations. The

NPL is designed primarily for

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 99 / Monday, May 22, 2000 / Proposed Rules 32059

informational purposes and to assist

Agency management. Section

300.425(e)(3) of the NCP states that the

deletion of a site from the NPL does not

preclude eligibility for future response

actions.

EPA’s Regional Office will accept and

evaluate public comments on EPA’s

Notice of Intent to Delete before making

a final decision to delete. If necessary,

the Agency will prepare a

Responsiveness Summary to address

any significant public comments

received.

A deletion occurs when the Regional

Administrator places a final Notice of

Deletion in the Federal Register.

Generally, the NPL will reflect deletions

in the final update following the Notice.

Public notices and copies of the

Responsiveness Summary will be made

available to local residents by the

Regional Office.

IV. Basis of Intended Site Deletion

The following site summary provides

the Agency’s rationale for the proposal

to delete this site from the NPL.

Site Background and History

Schofield Barracks was established in

1908 to provide a base for the Army’s

defense of Pearl Harbor and the entire

Island of Oahu. Initial construction of

the post occurred between 1909 and

1917.

Schofield Barracks is headquarters for

the 25th Infantry Division and 45th

Support Group, and currently houses

approximately 21,000 individuals.

General operations performed at

Schofield Barracks include

administration, training, and small-scale

industrial operations (vehicle repair and

maintenance, weapons refinishing,

laundering, electrical equipment

service, sewage treatment, and

municipal activities).

Schofield Barracks is in the northcentral plateau of the Island of Oahu in

the State of Hawaii. Schofield Barracks

encompasses a total area of

approximately 27.7 square miles and is

divided into two sections, the East

Range and the Main Post. Wheeler Army

Airfield lies between the two Schofield

Barracks sections. The town of Wahiawa

is immediately north of the East Range.

The town of Mililani is approximately 2

miles south of the East Range.

The recent history of reported

groundwater contamination at Schofield

Barracks began in April 1985, when the

Army informed the Hawaii Department

of Health (HDOH) that the industrial

solvent trichloro-ethylene (TCE) was

detected in wells supplying drinking

water to Schofield Barracks at a

concentration of approximately 30 parts

per billion (ppb). In response to the

detection of TCE in the water-supply

wells, the Army installed an air-stripper

treatment system in 1986 to remove TCE

from the drinking water.

Schofield Barracks was placed on the

NPL in September 1990 because of the

risk posed to human health by the TCE

contamination in a major drinking water

aquifer. The Remedial Investigation

identified two distinct plumes of TCE at

Schofield; one originating from the onbase landfill and a larger plume

originating in the East Range, several

miles up-gradient from Schofield’s

municipal water supply wells. The East

Range is a mountainous area marked by

numerous deep ravines and heavy

tropical vegetation. A distinct source

was not found, though the general area

of the source was defined by the

monitoring well network and

concentrations within the plume. The

risk assessment concluded that the only

risk to human health and the

environment at Schofield under

CERCLA was posed by the

contaminated groundwater.

Response Actions

Overall, the remedial investigations

and feasibility studies evaluated

possible actions for four areas of the

site: Operable Unit 1 (OU1) included the

10 most likely sources of the TCE

contamination. Operable Unit 2 (OU2)

included the groundwater plumes.

Operable Unit 3 (OU3) included 34

additional possible sources of surface

and subsurface contamination. Operable

Unit 4 (OU4) included the Former

Schofield Barracks Sanitary Landfill.

OU1 and OU3

The Record of Decision (ROD) for

OU1, the most likely source areas, was

signed by EPA on January 24, 1996. The

ROD for OU3, the other possible source

areas, was signed by EPA on November

8, 1996. Both RODs selected no action

for these operable units because the

remedial investigations showed that

those areas were not currently sources

of contamination to the groundwater.

The remedial investigations produced

no evidence that any of the sites in

operable units 1 or 3 were originally

sources of groundwater contamination.

None of the sites in operable units 1 and

3 posed unacceptable risks to human

health or the environment.

OU2

This operable unit consists of

groundwater under Schofield Barracks

that is contaminated with TCE. The

Army, EPA and HDOH considered

whether this contamination could be

remedied within the aquifer or treated at

the wellhead prior to the water being

distributed for public use. The

objectives for remediation are reducing

risks to human health and the

environment and satisfying applicable

or relevant and appropriate

requirements (ARARs). EPA determined

that the federal drinking water

standards, known as maximum

contaminant levels (MCLs), are relevant

and appropriate requirements within

the aquifer. However, EPA may waive

an ARAR where a selected remedy

protects human health and the

environment and it is technically

impracticable to satisfy the requirement.

Remediation within the aquifer can be

pursued either through natural

attenuation or with some type of active

treatment. While natural attenuation

appears effective at confining the plume

to its current configuration, the

concentrations of TCE within the plume

are decreasing too slowly for it to be

considered a viable remedy. Active

treatment of the groundwater is not

practicable because of the

hydrogeological conditions at the site.

The depth to the water table is over 500

feet, the aquifer is composed of

fractured volcanic rock, the aquifer is

over 1000 feet thick, and approximately

120 million gallons of groundwater flow

through the aquifer per day. Because of

these conditions, the Army, EPA and

HDOH concluded that treating the

groundwater to achieve the MCL for

TCE within the aquifer is technically

impracticable. Therefore, EPA granted a

technical impracticability (TI) waiver to

this ARAR for OU2. However, the final

remedy is fully protective of human

health and the environment because the

water will be treated before being

distributed for public use.

The ROD for OU2, the groundwater

aquifer, was signed by EPA on February

7, 1997. The selected remedy included

the following actions:

• Continued treatment of

contaminants in the Schofield Barracks

Water Supply Wells by air stripping at

the wellhead;

• The Army must consult with EPA

and DOH prior to abandoning the water

supply wells, because production at

these wells may help to control plume

migration;

• The Army must conduct semiannual sampling and analysis of water

supply wells, agricultural wells and

monitoring wells in the region;

• The Army prepared plans to

implement the contingency of wellhead

treatment on water supply wells

throughout the region. The Army will be

required to install treatment systems on

any wells that are impacted by the

plume from Schofield Barracks above

32060 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 99 / Monday, May 22, 2000 / Proposed Rules

one-half the maximum contaminant

level (MCL) as established under the

Safe Drinking Water Act;

• The Army must upgrade the

treatment system or pay any

incremental costs caused by

contamination from Schofield Barracks

at wells that already have a treatment

system in place;

• Conduct five year reviews with the

State of Hawaii and EPA.

The following actions were taken to

implement the remedy decision for

OU2:

• The Army installed air-stripper

treatment units on their four

contaminated municipal water supply

wells at Schofield and will continue to

operate the treatment system as long as

contaminants in the influent water are

above maximum contaminant levels

(MCLs) specified in the Safe Drinking

Water Act.

• The Army has sampled drinking

water wells, agricultural wells and

monitoring wells semi-annually

throughout the central plateau area of

Oahu since 1993 and will continue to

do so until such time as the Army, EPA

and HDOH agree that contaminant

levels throughout the plume are below

action levels.

• The groundwater contaminant

plume appears to be confined by a

system of dike impoundments and

natural attenuation. The EPA, HDOH

and the Army believe that it will not

impact any additional down-gradient

wells. Therefore, the contingency

remedy for additional wellhead

treatment is not expected to be needed.

• Institutional controls have been

implemented that will restrict the

placement of new drinking water wells

into the contaminant plume. The

Honolulu Board of Water Supply

controls the installation of drinking

water wells via a permit process. They

will require the installation of wellhead

treatment, paid for by the Army, on any

wells that are drilled into the plume

area.

OU4

The ROD for OU4, the landfill, was

signed by EPA on September 26, 1996.

The selected remedy included the

following actions:

• Access restrictions and site security

to limit human exposure to the landfill

contents, prevent trespassing, and

protect the integrity of the cap;

• Semi-annual ground water

monitoring to monitor the effectiveness

of the landfill site cap and determine

groundwater flow directions in the

vicinity of the landfill;

• Regrade the existing landfill cover;

• Remove Guinea grass from the

existing cover and revegetate to improve

future cap maintenance;

• Perform long-term maintenance of

the landfill cover;

• Maintain existing passive landfill

gas venting; and

• Install additional gas monitoring

points at the perimeter of the landfill.

The following actions were taken to

implement the remedy decision for

OU4:

• The Army installed chain-link fence

around the perimeter of the accessible

portions of the landfill as an access

restriction and has installed signs

warning of potential health risks. The

Former Landfill is part of a military

installation that has a guard stationed at

the entrances to monitor access to the

installation 24 hours per day.

• The Army completed regrading the

cover, installing nine new multi-level

gas probes, stabilizing the sideslopes,

and replacing and improving the

vegetative cover in June 1998.

• The Army has conducted semiannual groundwater monitoring and

quarterly gas probe monitoring since the

completion of the remedial action in

June 1998. The groundwater monitoring

is conducted as part of the OU2 work

and it shows that the groundwater

plume around the landfill is stable and

at low levels of TCE concentration. The

gas probe monitoring typically detects

methane in four out of the 27 gas probe

sampling points. The highest detection

during the February 2000 monitoring

event was 0.2 percent, which is well

below the acceptable limit of 5 percent.

On July 21, 1998, the Army, EPA and

HDOH, conducted a final inspection

and determined that the remedial action

had been successfully executed for all

OUs. EPA reclassified Schofield

Barracks to construction complete status

in September 1998.

Operation and Maintenance

The Army is responsible for

conducting long-term maintenance and

upkeep of the landfill cover and for

monitoring landfill gas, groundwater,

and drinking water wells, in accordance

with the approved Long-Term

Operation, Maintenance and Monitoring

Plans for OUs 2 and 4.

Five Year Reviews

CERCLA requires a five-year review of

all sites with hazardous substances

remaining above the health-based levels

for unrestricted use of the site. Since the

cleanup of the site utilized containment

of hazardous materials within the

landfill and wellhead treatment for

drinking water, the five-year review

process will be used to ensure that

human health and the environment

remain protected in the future. The first

five-year review is scheduled for the

year 2002.

Community Involvement

The Army published its final

Community Relations Plan on January

31, 1997, after interviews with local

residents and officials. An information

repository was established at the

Wahiawa Public Library and all reports

and fact sheets were sent to the

repository as they were completed.

The Army conducted public meetings

prior to completing each of the four

Records of Decision, and the public had

no negative comments about any of the

actions at Schofield.

Applicable Deletion Criteria and State

Concurrence

EPA has determined that all

appropriate responses under CERCLA at

Schofield Army Barracks have been

completed, and that no further CERCLA

response is appropriate to protect

human health and the environment. The

Hawaii Department of Health concurred

with the proposed deletion of the site

from the NPL in a letter dated March 13,

2000. Therefore, EPA proposes to delete

the site from the NPL. Documents

supporting this action are available from

the docket at the Region 9 office and in

the Army’s docket on Oahu.

Dated: April 25, 2000.

Felicia Marcus,

Regional Administrator, Region IX.

[FR Doc. 00–12520 Filed 5–19–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND

HUMAN SERVICES

Office of Inspector General

42 CFR Part 1001

RIN 0991–AB05

Medicare and State Health Care

Programs: Fraud and Abuse;

Ambulance Restocking Safe Harbor

Under the Anti-Kickback Statute

AGENCY: Office of Inspector General

(OIG), HHS.

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking.

SUMMARY: This proposed rule would set

forth a new safe harbor, as authorized

under section 14 of the Medicare and

Medicaid Patient and Program

Protection Act of 1987, to protect certain

arrangements involving hospitals that

replenish drugs and medical supplies

used by ambulance providers when