42552 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 152 / Thursday, August 7, 1997 / Notices

1On January 9, 1996, the United States

Department of the Interior (‘‘DOI’’) granted a natural

resources damage waiver to PSWC provided that

DOI’s right to institute a claim against PSWC

regarding the injury to, destruction of, or loss of

natural resources resulting from any hazardous

substance, pollutant or contaminant not present at

the Site as of the effective date of the agreement or

resulting from the exacerbation of Existing

Contamination was preserved. Under Section 122(j)

of CERCLA, 42 U.S.C. 9622(j), DOI may grant a

covenant not to sue for natural resource damages

provided that the party agrees to take appropriate

action to protect and restore natural resources

damaged or destroyed by a release or threatened

release of a hazardous substance.

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

AGENCY

[FRL–5870–6]

Notice of Proposed Prospective

Purchaser Agreement Pursuant to the

Comprehensive Environmental

Response, Compensation and Liability

Act of 1980, as Amended by the

Superfund Amendments and

Reauthorization Act

AGENCY: Environmental Protection

Agency.

ACTION: Request for Public Comment.

SUMMARY: On July 9, 1997 the U.S.

Environmental Protection Agency

(‘‘EPA’’) entered into a Prospective

Purchaser Agreement (‘‘Agreement’’)

pursuant to the Comprehensive

Environmental Response, Compensation

and Liability Act of 1980, as amended

(‘‘CERCLA’’), 42 U.S.C. 9607 et seq., in

connection with the Raymark

(Jacksonville Road) Superfund Site (the

‘‘Site’’) located in Hatboro,

Pennsylvania. The Prospective

Purchaser Agreement was approved by

the Assistant Attorney General of the

United States Department of Justice on

November 26, 1996. On December 6,

1996, the Pennsylvania Department of

Environmental Protection (‘‘PADEP’’ or

‘‘Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’’)

signed the Agreement. The Agreement is

subject to a public comment period,

after which the United States and

PADEP may withdraw their consent to

the Agreement if comments received

disclose facts or considerations which

indicate that the Agreement is

inappropriate, improper or inadequate.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on

or before October 6, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be

addressed to the Docket Clerk, U.S.

Environmental Protection Agency,

Region III, 841 Chestnut Building,

Philadelphia, PA 19107, and should

refer to: In Re Raymark (Jacksonville

Road) Superfund Site, Hatboro Borough,

Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, U.S.

EPA Docket No. III–96–14–DC.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Yvette Hamilton-Taylor (3RC32), 215/

566–2636, U.S. Environmental

Protection Agency, 841 Chestnut Street,

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19107.

AVAILABILITY: The proposed Agreement

and additional background information

relating to the Agreement are available

for public inspection at the offices of the

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,

Region III, 841 Chestnut Building,

Philadelphia, PA 19107. A copy of the

Agreement may be obtained from

Suzanne Canning, U.S. Environmental

Protection Agency, Regional Docket

Clerk (3RC00), 841 Chestnut Building,

Philadelphia, PA 19107. Comments

should reference the ‘‘Raymark

(Jacksonville Road) Superfund Site’’

EPA Docket No. III–96–14–DC.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Notice is

hereby given of the execution of a

Prospective Purchaser Agreement

between the United States, the

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the

Philadelphia Suburban Water Company

(‘‘PSWC’’) concerning the Raymark

(Jacksonville Road) Superfund Site in

Hatboro, Pennsylvania. The Agreement

would resolve, among other things,

certain potential claims of the United

States under Sections 106 and 107 of

CERCLA, 42 U.S.C. 9606 and 9607,

against PSWC.

In late 1994, PSWC proposed to

purchase from the Hatboro Borough

Authority (‘‘Hatboro’’), located in

Hatboro, Pennsylvania, certain assets

which comprised Hatboro’s municipal

water distribution system (the

‘‘Distribution System’’ or ‘‘System’’). At

that time, the System was being used by

Hatboro to treat and distribute

groundwater to the public in its service

territory in and around Hatboro,

Pennsylvania. A portion of the System

also was being used to implement the

remedy described in EPA’s September

28, 1990, Record of Decision (‘‘ROD’’)

(Operable Units 2 and 3) for the Site.

Because the property in issue was

impacted by groundwater

contamination, PSWC was concerned

that, under certain circumstances,

buying the property could subject PSWC

to liability under CERCLA or under the

Resource Conservation and Recovery

Act (‘‘RCRA’’). Concurrent with PSWC’s

proposal to Hatboro to acquire the

System, it requested that EPA and

PADEP enter into a prospective

purchaser agreement. In March 1995,

EPA, PADEP and PSWC began

negotiations which resulted in an

agreement in principle being reached in

the early part of October 1996.

Under the proposed Agreement,

PSWC agreed to pay $60,000 to the

United States to cover the costs

associated with the monitoring and

sampling of three Hatboro wells which

are currently being used to implement

the ground water remedy described in

EPA’s ROD for Operable Units 2 and 3.

PSWC also agreed to operate, maintain,

monitor, and convert to monitoring

wells certain drinking water wells it

proposed to purchase from Hatboro. The

estimated cost of this activity is $40,000.

Additionally, PSWC agreed to provide

to EPA unrestricted access to these

wells, to exercise due care to protect the

public health and safety at the Site and

not to interfere with remedial activities

currently being implemented in

connection with the System and at the

Site. In exchange for these commitments

from PSWC, the United States agreed to

grant a limited Covenant Not to Sue to

PSWC and to its successors in interest

and assigns for CERCLA or RCRA

liability arising from existing

contamination contained within the

System or for the recovery of natural

resource damages pursuant to Sections

106, 107(a), 107(f), 113(f) or 113(g)(2) of

CERCLA, 42 U.S.C. 9606, 9607(a),

9607(f), 9613(f) or 9613(g)(2).1

Under the proposed Agreement,

PSWC also agreed to pay PADEP

$12,000, a portion of which will be used

to defray its costs of performing certain

future obligations with respect to the

remedy currently being implemented at

the Site. In exchange for this payment,

PADEP agreed to grant a limited

Covenant Not to Sue to PSWC and to its

successors in interest and assigns for

liability arising from existing

contamination contained within the

System and a natural resources damage

waiver pursuant to Section 507 of the

Hazardous Substances Cleanup Act, 35

P.S.§ 6020.507.

PSWC signed the Agreement on

October 22, 1996. However, on October

31, 1996, prior to execution of the

Agreement by EPA and PADEP, a Bill of

Sale and Assignment was executed by

and between Hatboro and PSWC in

which Hatboro transferred to PSWC title

to the System. As a consequence, PSWC

became the owner of the System prior

to execution of the Agreement by EPA

and PADEP. The Regional

Administrator of EPA Region III has

determined that PSWC’s acquisition of

the System prior to execution of the

Agreement by EPA and PADEP should

not alter the rights, obligations and

covenants previously agreed to in

principle by the parties to the

Agreement. The Regional Administrator

has determined further that it continues

to be in the public interest to proceed

with the execution of the Agreement.
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 152 / Thursday, August 7, 1997 / Notices 42553

EPA will accept written comments

relating to this Agreement for sixty (60)

days from the date of publication of this

Notice. As noted above, the United

States and PADEP may withdraw their

consent to the Agreement if comments

received during this period disclose

facts or considerations which indicate

that the Agreement is inappropriate,

improper or inadequate. In addition,

pursuant to Section 7003(d) of the Solid

Waste Disposal Act, 42 U.S.C. 6973(d),

any person may request a public

meeting in the area affected by the

Agreement. EPA’s response to any

comments received will be available for

public inspection at the offices of the

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,

Region III, 841 Chestnut Building,

Philadelphia, PA 19107.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Yvette Hamilton-Taylor (3RC32), Senior

Assistant Regional Counsel, U.S.

Environmental Protection Agency, 841

Chestnut Building, Philadelphia, PA

19107, (215) 566–2636.

Dated: July 18, 1997.

Thomas Voltaggio,

Acting Regional Administrator, U.S.

Environmental Protection Agency, Region III.

[FR Doc. 97–20825 Filed 8–6–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

AGENCY

[FRL–5871–5]

Extension of Comment Period for

Waste Minimization Software and

Documents

AGENCY: Environmental Protection

Agency.

ACTION: Extension of comment period

for a draft software package and other

draft documents pertaining to priorities

for waste minimization.

SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA) is extending the comment

period for a draft software package and

other draft documents pertaining to

priorities for waste minimization. The

notice of availability for these materials

appeared in the Federal Register on

June 23, 1997 (62 FR 33868). This

extension is necessary to allow

commenters time to review additional

materials placed in the docket after the

comment period began and to provide

adequate opportunity for commenters to

fully evaluate and prepare comments on

the draft software package and other

draft documents.

DATES: EPA will continue to accept

written comments on the draft software

package and other draft documents

pertaining to priorities for waste

minimization until October 7, 1997.

ADDRESSES: To obtain copies: Copies of

the software package and the documents

cited in this notice can be obtained by

calling the RCRA/Superfund/CERCLA

Hotline at (800) 424–9346, TDD (800)

553–7672 (hearing impaired), or (703)

412–9810 in the Washington, DC

metropolitan area, from 9 a.m. until 6

p.m. Eastern time.

The software package and documents

are also available in electronic format on

the Internet, and can be obtained by

accessing:

WWW: http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/

hazwaste/minimize.

FTP: ftp.epa/gov

Login: anonymous

Password: your Internet address

Files are located in /pub/gopher/

OSWRCRA.

TO SUBMIT COMMENTS: Please send an

original and two copies of comments,

referencing docket number F–97-MPCAFFFFF, to: RCRA Docket Information

Center, Office of Solid Waste (5305G),

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Headquarters (EPA, HQ), 401 M Street,

SW, Washington, DC 20460. Hand

deliveries of comments should be made

to the Arlington, VA, address listed

below. Comments may also be

submitted electronically by sending

electronic mail through the Internet to:

rcra-docket@epamail.epa.gov.

Comments in electronic format should

also be identified by the docket number

F–97–MPCA–FFFFF. All electronic

comments must be submitted as an

ASCII file avoiding the use of special

characters and any form of encryption.

Commenters should not submit

electronically any confidential business

information (CBI). An original and two

copies of CBI must be submitted under

separate cover to: RCRA CBI Document

Control Officer, Office of Solid Waste

(5305W), U.S. EPA, 401 M Street, S.W.,

Washington, DC 20460.

Public comments and supporting

materials are available for viewing in

the RCRA Information Center (RIC),

located at Crystal Gateway I, First Floor,

1235 Jefferson Davis Highway,

Arlington, VA. The RIC is open from 9

a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday,

excluding federal holidays. To review

docket materials, it is recommended

that the public make an appointment by

calling (703) 603–9230. The public may

copy a maximum of 100 pages from any

regulatory docket at no charge.

Additional copies cost $0.15/page.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For

general questions pertaining to waste

minimization, or questions pertaining to

specific aspects of this notice, contact

the RCRA/Superfund/EPCRA Hotline at

the telephone numbers cited above, or

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,

Office of Solid Waste, Waste

Minimization Branch, 401 M Street,

S.W.(5302W), Washington, DC 20460;

telephone: (703) 308–8402, fax: (703)

308–8433.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

On June 23, 1997, EPA announced the

availability of a beta-test version of a

software package which will prioritize

chemicals according to their

persistence, bioaccumulation, toxicity,

and quantity; a draft list of chemicals

derived from the software and ranked

according to persistence,

bioaccumulation, and toxicity; and a

crosswalk identifying which RCRA

waste codes are likely to contain these

chemicals. These materials have been

prepared in order to assist hazardous

waste generators, government agencies,

technical assistance centers, and others

involved in waste minimization in

making progress towards the goals of

EPA’s 1994 Waste Minimization

National Plan, which calls for a fifty

percent reduction in the presence of the

most persistent, bioaccumulative, and

toxic chemicals in hazardous wastes by

the year 2005. See 62 FR 33868 (June 23,

1997) for a more detailed explanation of

the materials which were made

available.

II. Extension of the Comment Period

EPA has received at least six written

requests to extend the comment period

by 60 days or more to allow adequate

time for commenters to fully evaluate

and prepare comments on the software

and accompanying written materials. In

requesting an extension, the requestors

generally cite the complexity of the

technical issues associated with EPA’s

screening methodology, the difficulty of

determining the sources of information

used to evaluate specific chemicals, and

the quantity of information and

materials to be reviewed. Requestors

also pointed out that certain materials

provided in the docket were incomplete

and therefore could not be reviewed at

the beginning of the comment period.

EPA has examined the materials in

the docket and has determined that two

documents, the Waste Minimization

National Plan and the Chemical Use

Clusters Scoring Methodology, were

incomplete or partially illegible. As of

July 29, 1997, EPA replaced both

documents with complete, fully legible

versions. EPA points out that Appendix

D of the Chemical Use Clusters Scoring