34480 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 116 / Tuesday, June 17, 2014 / Proposed Rules 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

40 CFR Part 52 

[EPA–R03–OAR–2014–0245; FRL–9912–23– 

Region–3] 

Approval and Promulgation of Air 

Quality Implementation Plans; 

Delaware; Amendments to Delaware’s 

Ambient Air Quality Standards 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA) proposes to approve the 

State Implementation Plan (SIP) 

revision submitted by the State of 

Delaware for the purpose of amending 

Delaware’s ambient air quality 

standards. These amendments will bring 

the regulatory standards of sulfur 

dioxide, ozone, nitrogen dioxide, lead, 

and particulate matter up to date with 

current Federal requirements. In the 

Final Rules section of this Federal 

Register, EPA is approving the State’s 

SIP submittal as a direct final rule 

without prior proposal because the 

Agency views this as a noncontroversial 

submittal and anticipates no adverse 

comments. A detailed rationale for the 

approval is set forth in the direct final 

rule. If no adverse comments are 

received in response to this action, no 

further activity is contemplated. If EPA 

receives adverse comments, the direct 

final rule will be withdrawn and all 

public comments received will be 

addressed in a subsequent final rule 

based on this proposed rule. EPA will 

not institute a second comment period. 

Any parties interested in commenting 

on this action should do so at this time. 

DATES: Comments must be received in 

writing by July 17, 2014. 

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, 

identified by Docket ID Number EPA– 

R03–OAR–2014–0245 by one of the 

following methods: 

A. www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

on-line instructions for submitting 

comments. 

B. Email: fernandez.cristina@epa.gov. 

C. Mail: EPA–R03–OAR–2014–0245, 

Cristina Fernandez, Associate Director, 

Office of Air Program Planning, 

Mailcode 3AP30, U.S. Environmental 

Protection Agency, Region III, 1650 

Arch Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 

19103. 

D. Hand Delivery: At the previouslylisted EPA Region III address. Such 

deliveries are only accepted during the 

Docket’s normal hours of operation, and 

special arrangements should be made 

for deliveries of boxed information. 

Instructions: Direct your comments to 

Docket ID No. EPA–R03–OAR–2014– 

0245. EPA’s policy is that all comments 

received will be included in the public 

docket without change, and may be 

made available online at 

www.regulations.gov, including any 

personal information provided, unless 

the comment includes information 

claimed to be Confidential Business 

Information (CBI) or other information 

whose disclosure is restricted by statute. 

Do not submit information that you 

consider to be CBI or otherwise 

protected through www.regulations.gov 

or email. The www.regulations.gov Web 

site is an ‘‘anonymous access’’ system, 

which means EPA will not know your 

identity or contact information unless 

you provide it in the body of your 

comment. If you send an email 

comment directly to EPA without going 

through www.regulations.gov, your 

email address will be automatically 

captured and included as part of the 

comment that is placed in the public 

docket and made available on the 

Internet. If you submit an electronic 

comment, EPA recommends that you 

include your name and other contact 

information in the body of your 

comment and with any disk or CD–ROM 

you submit. If EPA cannot read your 

comment due to technical difficulties 

and cannot contact you for clarification, 

EPA may not be able to consider your 

comment. Electronic files should avoid 

the use of special characters, any form 

of encryption, and be free of any defects 

or viruses. 

Docket: All documents in the 

electronic docket are listed in the 

www.regulations.gov index. Although 

listed in the index, some information is 

not publicly available, i.e., CBI 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 in www.regulations.gov or 

in hard copy during normal business 

hours at the Air Protection Division, 

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 

Region III, 1650 Arch Street, 

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103. 

Copies of the State submittal are 

available at the Delaware Department of 

Natural Resources and Environmental 

Control, 89 Kings Highway, P.O. Box 

1401, Dover, Delaware 19903. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rose 

Quinto, (215) 814–2182, or by email at 

quinto.rose@epa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: For 

further information, please see the 

information provided in the direct final 

action, with the same title, that is 

located in the ‘‘Rules and Regulations’’ 

section of this Federal Register 

publication. 

Please note that if EPA receives 

adverse comment on an amendment, 

paragraph, or section of the 

amendments to the Delaware ambient 

air quality standards, and if that 

provision may be severed from the 

remainder of the rule, EPA may adopt 

as final those provisions of the rule that 

are not the subject of an adverse 

comment. 

Dated: June 2, 2014. 

Shawn M. Garvin, 

Regional Administrator, Region III. 

[FR Doc. 2014–14028 Filed 6–16–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

40 CFR Part 312 

[EPA–HQ–SFUND–2014–0474; FRL–9911– 

81–OSWER] 

Amendment to Standards and 

Practices for All Appropriate Inquiries 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA) is proposing to amend the 

standards and practices for conducting 

all appropriate inquiries under the 

Comprehensive Environmental 

Response, Compensation and Liability 

Act (CERCLA) to remove the reference 

to ASTM International’s E1527–05 

standard practice. This 2005 standard 

practice recently was replaced with 

updated standard E1527–13 by ASTM 

International, a widely recognized 

standards development organization. 

Specifically, EPA is proposing to amend 

the ‘‘All Appropriate Inquiries Rule’’ to 

remove the reference to ASTM 

International’s E1527–05 ‘‘Standard 

Practice for Environmental Site 

Assessments: Phase I Environmental 

Site Assessment Process.’’ 

DATES: Written comments must be 

received by July 17, 2014. 

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, 

identified by Docket ID No. EPA–HQ– 

SFUND–2014–0474 by one of the 

following methods: 

• www.regulations.gov: Follow the 

on-line instructions for submitting 

comments. 

• Email: superfund.docket@epa.gov. 

• Mail: Superfund Docket, 

Environmental Protection Agency, 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS
Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 116 / Tuesday, June 17, 2014 / Proposed Rules 34481 

Mailcode: 2822T, 1200 Pennsylvania 

Ave. NW., Washington, DC 20460. 

• Hand Delivery: EPA Headquarters 

West Building, Room 3334, located at 

1301 Constitution Ave. NW., 

Washington, DC. Such deliveries are 

only accepted during the Docket’s 

normal hours of operation, and special 

arrangements should be made for 

deliveries of boxed information. The 

EPA Headquarters Public Reading Room 

hours of operation are 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 

p.m. Eastern Standard Time, Monday 

through Friday, excluding federal 

holidays. 

Instructions: Direct your comments to 

Docket ID No. EPA–HQ–SFUND–2014– 

0474. EPA’s policy is that all comments 

received will be included in the public 

docket without change and may be 

made available online at 

www.regulations.gov, including any 

personal information provided, unless 

the comment includes information 

claimed to be Confidential Business 

Information (CBI) or other information 

whose disclosure is restricted by statute. 

Do not submit information that you 

consider to be CBI or otherwise 

protected through www.regulations.gov 

or email. The www.regulations.gov Web 

site is an ‘‘anonymous access’’ system, 

which means EPA will not know your 

identity or contact information unless 

you provide it in the body of your 

comment. If you send an email 

comment directly to EPA without going 

through www.regulations.gov your email 

address will be automatically captured 

and included as part of the comment 

that is placed in the public docket and 

made available on the Internet. If you 

submit an electronic comment, EPA 

recommends that you include your 

name and other contact information in 

the body of your comment and with any 

disk or CD–ROM you submit. If EPA 

cannot read your comment due to 

technical difficulties and cannot contact 

you for clarification, EPA may not be 

able to consider your comment. 

Electronic files should avoid the use of 

special characters, any form of 

encryption, and be free of any defects or 

viruses. For additional information 

about EPA’s public docket visit the EPA 

Docket Center homepage at http://

www.epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm. 

Docket: All documents in the docket 

are listed in the www.regulations.gov 

index. Certain types of information 

claimed as CBI, and other information 

whose disclosure is restricted by statute, 

will not be available for public viewing 

in EPA’s electronic public docket. EPA’s 

policy is that copyrighted material, such 

as ASTM International’s E1527–13 

‘‘Standard Practice for Environmental 

Site Assessments: Phase I 

Environmental Site Assessment 

Process’’ will not be placed in EPA’s 

electronic public docket but will be 

publicly available only in printed form 

in the official public docket. Publicly 

available docket materials are available 

either electronically in 

www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at 

the HQ EPA Docket Center, EPA/DC, 

EPA West, Room 3334, 1301 

Constitution Ave. NW., Washington, 

DC. The Public Reading Room at this 

docket facility is open from 8:30 a.m. to 

4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, 

excluding Federal holidays. The 

telephone number for the Public 

Reading Room is (202) 566–1744, and 

the telephone number for the Superfund 

Docket is (202) 566–9744. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

general information, contact the 

CERCLA Call Center at 800–424–9346 or 

TDD 800–553–7672 (hearing impaired). 

In the Washington, DC metropolitan 

area, call 703–412–9810 or TDD 703– 

412–3323. For more detailed 

information on specific aspects of this 

rule, contact Patricia Overmeyer, Office 

of Brownfields and Land Revitalization 

(5105T), U.S. Environmental Protection 

Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue 

NW., Washington, DC 20460–0002, 202– 

566–2774, overmeyer.patricia@epa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Regulated Entities 

The EPA is proposing to remove the 

reference to the 2005 ASTM standard in 

the All Appropriate Inquiries Rule at 40 

CFR part 312. In November 2013, ASTM 

International replaced its 2005 standard 

(ASTM E1527–05 ‘‘Standard Practice for 

Environmental Site Assessments: Phase 

I Environmental Site Assessment 

Process’’) with an updated standard, 

ASTM E1527–13 ‘‘Standard Practice for 

Environmental Site Assessments: Phase 

I Environmental Site Assessment 

Process.’’ The updated 2013 standard is 

a currently recognized industry 

consensus-based standard to conduct all 

appropriate inquiries under CERCLA. In 

December 2013, EPA published a final 

rule indicating that parties who 

purchase potentially contaminated 

properties may use the ASTM E1527–13 

standard practice when conducting all 

appropriate inquiries pursuant to 

CERCLA. Today’s proposed rule does 

not propose changes to the standards 

and practices included in the All 

Appropriate Inquiries Rule. Any party 

who wants to conduct all appropriate 

inquiries under CERCLA may follow the 

standards and procedures set forth in 

the All Appropriate Inquiries Rule at 40 

CFR part 312 (70 FR 66070) or use the 

new ASTM E1527–13 standard. 

Parties potentially affected by this 

action are those who perform all 

appropriate inquiries, including public 

and private parties who intend to claim 

protection from CERCLA liability as 

bona fide prospective purchasers, 

contiguous property owners, or 

innocent landowners. In addition, any 

party conducting a site characterization 

or assessment on a property with a 

brownfields grant awarded under 

CERCLA section 104(k)(2)(B)(ii) may be 

affected by today’s action. This includes 

state, local and tribal governments that 

receive brownfields site assessment 

grants. A summary of the potentially 

affected industry sectors (by North 

American Industry Classification 

System (NAICS) codes) is displayed in 

the table below. 

Industry 

category NAICS Code 

Real Estate ... 531 

Insurance ...... 52412 

Banking/Real 

Estate 

Credit ......... 52292 

Environmental 

Consulting 

Services .... 54162 

State, Local 

and Tribal 

Government 926110, 925120 

Federal Government ..... 925120, 921190, 924120 

The list of potentially affected parties 

in the above table may not be 

exhaustive. Our aim is to provide a 

guide for readers regarding those 

entities that EPA is aware potentially 

could be affected by this action. 

However, this action may affect other 

parties not listed in the table and EPA 

welcomes comments on this issue. 

Content of Today’s Proposed Rule 

I. Regulated Entities 

II. Statutory Authority 

III. Background 

IV. Overview of Today’s Action 

V. Effective Date of Final Action 

VI. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews 

II. Statutory Authority 

This proposed rule, which proposes 

to amend the All Appropriate Inquiries 

Rule at 40 CFR part 312 setting Federal 

standards for the conduct of ‘‘all 

appropriate inquiries,’’ is authorized 

under section 101(35)(B) of CERCLA (42 

U.S.C. 9601), as amended by the Small 

Business Liability Relief and 

Brownfields Revitalization Act of 2002. 

III. Background 

On January 11, 2002, President Bush 

signed the Small Business Liability 

Relief and Brownfields Revitalization 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS
34482 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 116 / Tuesday, June 17, 2014 / Proposed Rules 

Act, Public Law 107–118 (‘‘the 

Brownfields Amendments’’), which 

amended CERCLA. In general, the 

Brownfields Amendments provide 

funds to assess and clean up 

brownfields sites; clarify CERCLA 

liability provisions related to certain 

purchasers of contaminated properties; 

and provide funding to enhance state 

and tribal cleanup programs. Subtitle B 

of the Brownfields Amendments revises 

some of the provisions of CERCLA 

section 101(35) and limits CERCLA 

liability under Section 107 (42 U.S.C. 

9607) for bona fide prospective 

purchasers and contiguous property 

owners, in addition to clarifying the 

requirements necessary to establish the 

innocent landowner defense under 

CERCLA. The Brownfields Amendments 

provide that parties purchasing 

potentially contaminated property must 

undertake ‘‘all appropriate inquiries’’ 

into prior ownership and use of the 

property at issue prior to purchase in 

order to qualify for protection from 

CERCLA liability. 

The Brownfields Amendments also 

require EPA to develop regulations 

establishing standards and practices for 

conducting all appropriate inquiries. On 

November 1, 2005, EPA promulgated 

regulations that set standards and 

practices for all appropriate inquiries 

(70 FR 66070). In that rule, EPA 

referenced the ASTM E1527–05 

‘‘Standard Practice for Environmental 

Site Assessments: Phase I 

Environmental Site Assessment 

Process’’ and authorized its use to 

comply with the rule. On December 23, 

2008, EPA amended the rule to 

recognize another ASTM International 

standard as compliant with the rule, 

ASTM E2247–08 ‘‘Standard Practice for 

Environmental Site Assessments: Phase 

I Environmental Site Assessment 

Process for Forestland or Rural 

Property’’ (73 FR 78716). 

In November 2013, ASTM 

International published ASTM E1527– 

13, ‘‘Standard Practice for 

Environmental Site Assessments: Phase 

I Environmental Site Assessment 

Process.’’ In early 2013, at ASTM 

International’s request, EPA reviewed 

this standard and determined that a 

party’s use of the standard would be 

compliant with the All Appropriate 

Inquiries Rule. 

On December 30, 2013, EPA 

published a final rule which provided 

that persons conducting all appropriate 

inquiries may use the procedures 

included in ASTM E1527–13 to comply 

with the All Appropriate Inquiries Rule 

(78 FR 79319). In the final rule, EPA 

indicated that it intended to publish a 

proposed rule to amend the All 

Appropriate Inquiries Rule to remove 

the reference to ASTM E1527–05 Phase 

I Environmental Site Assessment 

Standard. 

With today’s action, EPA is proposing 

to amend the All Appropriate Inquiries 

Rule to remove the reference to the 

historical 2005 ASTM standard (ASTM 

E1527–05). EPA is retaining the 

reference to the recently revised ASTM 

standard, E1527–13. 

IV. Overview of Today’s Action 

EPA is proposing to amend the All 

Appropriate Inquiries Rule at 40 CFR 

312 to remove the reference to ASTM 

International’s E1527–05 ‘‘Standard 

Practice for Environmental Site 

Assessments: Phase I Environmental 

Site Assessment Process.’’ In November 

2013, ASTM International designated 

this standard an ‘‘historical standard’’ 

and replaced it with the updated ASTM 

E1527–13 ‘‘Standard Practice for 

Environmental Site Assessments: Phase 

I Environmental Site Assessment 

Process.’’ 

Today’s proposed action would not 

prevent parties from continuing to use 

other standards, methods, or customary 

business practices for conducting all 

appropriate inquiries, so long as they 

comply with the standards and 

procedures set forth in the All 

Appropriate Inquiries Rule. Instead, 

today’s proposed action removes the 

reference to a standard that ASTM 

International no longer recognizes as 

current and that it no longer represents 

as reflecting its current consensus-based 

standard. 

EPA is proposing this action because 

the Agency wants to reduce any 

confusion associated with the regulatory 

reference to a historical standard that is 

no longer recognized by its own 

promulgating organization as meeting 

its standards for good customary 

business practice. In addition, we 

believe that today’s proposed action 

would promote the use of the standard 

currently recognized by ASTM 

International as the consensus-based, 

good customary business standard. 

For properties acquired between 

November 1, 2005 and the effective date 

of this proposed action, should it be 

finalized, the 2005 ASTM standard 

(ASTM E1527–05) complies with the 

All Appropriate Inquiries Rule as it was 

in effect at the time the property was 

acquired. 

EPA’s proposed action includes no 

proposed changes to the All 

Appropriate Inquiries Rule other than to 

remove a reference to the historical 

ASTM E1527–05 standard. It does not 

impact the reference to the recently 

revised ASTM standard, E1527–13 in 

the All Appropriate Inquiries Rule. 

EPA seeks comments on today’s 

proposed action. EPA is not seeking 

comments on the standards and 

practices included in the All 

Appropriate Inquiries Rule published at 

40 CFR 312, nor on the references to any 

other standards included in 40 CFR 

312.11. 

V. Effective Date of Final Action 

Today’s action is a proposed rule. The 

Agency is seeking comment on the 

proposal to remove the current reference 

to the ASTM E1527–05 Phase I 

Environmental Site Assessment 

Standard in the All Appropriate 

Inquiries Rule. After considering all 

public comments received in response 

to the proposed action, EPA may 

publish a final rule that will result in 

the removal of the current reference to 

the ASTM E1527–05 standard. The EPA 

anticipates that some parties, at the time 

that EPA publishes a final rule to 

remove the reference to the ASTM 

E1527–05 standard, may still be using 

the historical standard to comply with 

the provisions of all appropriate 

inquiries. Therefore, the Agency 

anticipates providing for a delayed 

effective date of the final action to 

provide parties with an adequate 

opportunity to complete AAI 

investigations that may be ongoing and 

to become familiar with the updated 

industry standard (ASTM E1527–13). 

EPA proposes an effective date for 

removing the reference to ASTM E1527– 

05 in the AAI rule as one year after the 

publication of the final rule. EPA is 

soliciting comments on the proposal to 

delay the effective date of a final rule 

removing the reference to the ASTM 

E1527–05 standard for one year 

following publication of the final rule. 

VI. Statutory and Executive Order 

Reviews 

A. Executive Order 12866: Regulatory 

Planning and Review 

This proposed action is not a 

‘‘significant regulatory action’’ under 

Executive Order (EO) 12866 (58 FR 

51735, October 4, 1993), and is therefore 

not subject to review under Executive 

Orders 12866 and 13563 (76 FR 3821, 

January 21, 2011). 

B. Paperwork Reduction Act 

This proposed action will not impose 

an information collection burden under 

the provisions of the Paperwork 

Reduction Act, 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq. 

Burden is defined at 5 CFR 1320.3(b). 

The current regulation does not have an 

information collection burden and 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS
Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 116 / Tuesday, June 17, 2014 / Proposed Rules 34483 

today’s action’s only change to the 

regulation is to delete the reference to a 

historical standard that recently was 

replaced with an updated version of the 

standard. A final rule referencing the 

updated version of the standard was 

published by EPA on December 30, 

2013 (78 FR 79319). 

C. Regulatory Flexibility Act 

The Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) 

generally requires an agency to prepare 

a regulatory flexibility analysis for any 

rule subject to notice and comment 

rulemaking requirements under the 

Administrative Procedure Act or any 

other statute; unless the agency certifies 

that the rule will not have a significant 

economic impact on a substantial 

number of small entities. Small entities 

include small business, small 

organizations, and small governmental 

jurisdictions. 

Today’s proposed action does not 

change the current regulatory status quo 

and does not impose any regulatory 

requirements. After considering the 

economic impacts of today’s proposed 

rule on small entities, I certify that this 

action will not have a significant 

economic impact on a substantial 

number of small entities. 

D. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act 

This proposed action contains no 

Federal mandates under the provisions 

of Title II of the Unfunded Mandates 

Reform Act of 1995 (UMRA), 2 U.S.C. 

1531–1538 for state, local, or tribal 

governments or the private sector. This 

proposed action imposes no enforceable 

duty on any state, local or tribal 

governments or the private sector. This 

proposed action merely removes a 

reference to a historical voluntary 

consensus standard. The proposed 

action imposes no new regulatory 

requirements and will result in no 

additional burden to any entity. 

Therefore, this action is not subject to 

the requirements of sections 202 or 205 

of UMRA. 

As stated above, this proposed rule 

also is not subject to the requirements 

of section 203 of UMRA because it 

contains no new regulatory 

requirements that might significantly or 

uniquely affect small governments. 

E. Executive Order 13132: Federalism 

This proposed action does not have 

federalism implications. Today’s 

proposed action will not substantially 

change the current regulation; it merely 

removes a reference to a historical 

voluntary consensus standard. It will 

not have substantial direct effects on the 

states, on the relationship between the 

national government and the states, or 

on the distribution of power and 

responsibilities among the various 

levels of government, as specified in EO 

13132. Thus, EO 13132 does not apply 

to this rule. 

In the spirit of EO 13132, and 

consistent with EPA policy to promote 

communication between EPA and state 

and local governments, EPA specifically 

solicits comment on this proposed 

action from state and local officials. 

F. Executive Order 13175: Consultation 

and Coordination With Indian Tribal 

Governments 

This proposed action does not have 

tribal implications, as specified in EO 

13175 (65 FR 67249, November 9, 2000). 

This proposed action merely removes a 

reference to a historical voluntary 

consensus standard. Today’s proposed 

action does not change any current 

regulatory requirements and therefore 

will not impose any impacts upon tribal 

entities. Thus, EO 13175 does not apply 

to this action. 

G. Executive Order 13045: Protection of 

Children From Environmental Health 

Risks and Safety Risks 

EPA interprets EO 13045 (62 FR 

19885, April 23, 1997) as applying only 

to those regulatory actions that concern 

health or safety risks, such that the 

analysis required under section 5–501 of 

the EO has the potential to influence the 

regulation. This proposed action is not 

subject to EO 13045 because it does not 

establish an environmental standard 

intended to mitigate health or safety 

risks. 

H. Executive Order 13211: Actions 

Concerning Regulations That 

Significantly Affect Energy Supply, 

Distribution, or Use 

This proposed action is not subject to 

EO 13211 (66 FR 28355, May 22, 2001), 

because it is not a significant regulatory 

action under EO 12866. 

I. National Technology Transfer and 

Advancement Act 

Section 12(d) of the National 

Technology Transfer and Advancement 

Act of 1995 (NTTAA), Public Law 104– 

113, 12(d) (15 U.S.C. 272 note) directs 

EPA to use voluntary consensus 

standards in its regulatory activities 

unless to do so would be inconsistent 

with applicable law or otherwise 

impractical. Voluntary consensus 

standards are technical standards (e.g., 

materials specifications, test methods, 

sampling procedures, and business 

practices) that are developed or adopted 

by voluntary consensus standards 

bodies. The NTTAA directs EPA to 

provide Congress, through OMB, 

explanations when the Agency decides 

not to use available and applicable 

voluntary consensus standards. 

This action involves technical 

standards. Therefore, the requirements 

of section 12(d) of the NTTAA (15 

U.S.C. 272) apply. The NTTAA was 

signed into law on March 7, 1996 and, 

among other things, directs the National 

Institute of Standards and Technology 

(NIST) to bring together federal agencies 

as well as state and local governments 

to achieve greater reliance on voluntary 

standards and decreased dependence on 

in-house standards. It states that use of 

such standards, whenever practicable 

and appropriate, is intended to achieve 

the following goals: (a) Eliminate the 

cost to the government of developing its 

own standards and decrease the cost of 

goods procured and the burden of 

complying with agency regulation; (b) 

provide incentives and opportunities to 

establish standards that serve national 

needs; (c) encourage long-term growth 

for U.S. enterprises and promote 

efficiency and economic competition 

through harmonization of standards; 

and (d) further the policy of reliance 

upon the private sector to supply 

Government needs for goods and 

services. The Act requires that federal 

agencies adopt private sector standards, 

particularly those developed by 

standards developing organizations 

(SDOs), wherever possible in lieu of 

creating proprietary, non-consensus 

standards. 

Today’s proposed rule complies with 

the NTTAA as it allows persons 

conducting all appropriate inquiries to 

use the procedures included in the 

updated ASTM International standard 

known as Standard E1527–13 and 

entitled ‘‘Standard Practice for 

Environmental Site Assessments: Phase 

I Environmental Site Assessment 

Process to comply with the All 

Appropriate Inquiries Rule.’’ The rule 

also deletes reference to a standard that 

is no longer recognized as current by the 

standards developing organization 

responsible for its development. 

The EPA welcomes comments on this 

aspect of the proposed rulemaking. 

J. Executive Order 12898: Federal 

Actions To Address Environmental 

Justice in Minority Populations and 

Low-Income Populations 

Executive Order 12898 (59 FR 7629, 

Feb. 16, 1994), establishes federal 

executive policy on environmental 

justice. Its main provision directs 

federal agencies, to the greatest extent 

practicable and permitted by law, to 

make environmental justice part of their 

mission by identifying and addressing, 

as appropriate, disproportionately high 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS
34484 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 116 / Tuesday, June 17, 2014 / Proposed Rules 

and adverse human health or 

environmental effects of their programs, 

policies, and activities on minority 

populations and low-income 

populations in the United States. 

EPA has determined that this 

proposed rule will not have 

disproportionately high and adverse 

human health or environmental effects 

on minority or low-income populations 

because it does not affect the level of 

protection provided to human health or 

the environment. Today’s action merely 

removes a reference to a historical 

voluntary consensus standard and does 

not impose any new requirements. 

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 312 

Environmental protection, 

Administrative practice and procedure, 

Hazardous substances. 

Dated: June 6, 2014. 

Mathy Stanislaus, 

Assistant Administrator, Office of Solid Waste 

and Emergency Response. 

For the reasons set out in the 

preamble, title 40, chapter I, of the Code 

of Federal Regulations proposes to 

amend as follows: 

PART 312—INNOCENT 

LANDOWNERS, STANDARDS FOR 

CONDUCTING ALL APPROPRIATE 

INQUIRIES 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 312 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: Section 101(35)(B) of CERCLA, 

as amended, 42 U.S.C. 9601(35)(B). 

Subpart B—Definitions and References 

§ 312.11 [Amended] 

■ 2. Section 312.11 is amended by 

removing paragraph (a) and 

redesignating paragraphs (b) and (c) as 

paragraphs (a) and (b). 

[FR Doc. 2014–14032 Filed 6–16–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

40 CFR Part 766 

[EPA–HQ–OPPT–2014–0261; FRL–9911–88] 

Receipt of Request for Waiver From 

Testing 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Receipt of request for waiver 

from testing. 

SUMMARY: EPA received from Nation 

Ford Chemical (NFC) a request for a 

waiver from testing requirements 

promulgated by rule under section 4 of 

the Toxic Substances Control Act to 

ascertain whether certain specified 

chemical substances may be 

contaminated with halogenated 

dibenzodioxins (HDDs)/dibenzofurans 

(HDFs). EPA will accept comments on 

this request and will publish another 

Federal Register document on or before 

July 21, 2014, announcing its decision 

on this request. 

DATES: Comments must be received on 

or before July 17, 2014. 

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, 

identified by docket identification (ID) 

number EPA–HQ–OPPT–2014–0261, by 

one of the following methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. Follow the online 

instructions for submitting comments. 

Do not submit electronically any 

information you consider to be 

Confidential Business Information (CBI) 

or other information whose disclosure is 

restricted by statute. 

• Mail: Document Control Office 

(7407M), Office of Pollution Prevention 

and Toxics (OPPT), Environmental 

Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania 

Ave. NW., Washington, DC 20460–0001. 

• Hand Delivery: To make special 

arrangements for hand delivery or 

delivery of boxed information, please 

follow the instructions at http://

www.epa.gov/dockets/contacts.html. 

Additional instructions on 

commenting or visiting the docket, 

along with more information about 

dockets generally, is available at http:// 

www.epa.gov/dockets. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

technical information contact: Hiroshi 

Dodahara, National Program Chemicals 

Division, Office of Pollution Prevention 

and Toxics (7404T), Environmental 

Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania 

Ave. NW., Washington, DC 20460–0001; 

telephone number: (202) 566–0507; 

email address: dodahara.hiroshi@

epa.gov. 

For general information contact: The 

TSCA-Hotline, ABVI-Goodwill, 422 

South Clinton Ave., Rochester, NY 

14620; telephone number: (202) 554– 

1404; email address: TSCA-Hotline@

epa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. General Information 

A. Does this action apply to me? 

This action is directed to the public 

in general. As such, the Agency has not 

attempted to describe the specific 

entities that this action may apply to. 

Although others may be affected, this 

action applies directly to the submitter 

of the request for waiver. If you have 

any questions regarding the 

applicability of this action to a 

particular entity, consult the technical 

person listed under FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT. 

B. What should I consider as I prepare 

my comments for EPA? 

1. Submitting CBI. Do not submit this 

information to EPA through 

regulations.gov or email. Clearly mark 

the part or all of the information that 

you claim to be CBI. For CBI 

information in a disk or CD–ROM that 

you mail to EPA, mark the outside of the 

disk or CD–ROM as CBI and then 

identify electronically within the disk or 

CD–ROM the specific information that 

is claimed as CBI. In addition to one 

complete version of the comment that 

includes information claimed as CBI, a 

copy of the comment that does not 

contain the information claimed as CBI 

must be submitted for inclusion in the 

public docket. Information so marked 

will not be disclosed except in 

accordance with procedures set forth in 

40 CFR part 2. 

2. Tips for preparing your comments. 

When submitting comments, remember 

to: 

i. Identify the document by docket ID 

number and other identifying 

information (subject heading, Federal 

Register date and page number). 

ii. Follow directions. The Agency may 

ask you to respond to specific questions 

or organize comments by referencing a 

Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) part 

or section number. 

iii. Explain why you agree or disagree; 

suggest alternatives and substitute 

language for your requested changes. 

iv. Describe any assumptions and 

provide any technical information and/ 

or data that you used. 

v. If you estimate potential costs or 

burdens, explain how you arrived at 

your estimate in sufficient detail to 

allow for it to be reproduced. 

vi. Provide specific examples to 

illustrate your concerns and suggest 

alternatives. 

vii. Explain your views as clearly as 

possible, avoiding the use of profanity 

or personal threats. 

viii. Make sure to submit your 

comments by the comment period 

deadline identified. 

II. Background 

A. What action is the agency taking? 

EPA is announcing receipt of a 

request for waiver from testing from 

NFC. EPA will accept comments on this 

request on or before July 17, 2014 and 

will publish another Federal Register 

document announcing its decisions on 

this request. See 40 CFR 766.32(c). 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS