70678 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 228 / Monday, November 27, 2000 / Proposed Rules

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

Dated: November 14, 2000.

Mindy S. Lubber,

Regional Administrator, EPA-New England.

[FR Doc. 00–30113 Filed 11–24–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

AGENCY

40 CFR Parts 258, 260, 261, 264, 265,

266, 270, and 279

[FRL–6908–4]

Waste Management System; Testing

and Monitoring Activities; Notice of

Availability of Draft Update IVB of SW–

846

AGENCY: Environmental Protection

Agency.

ACTION: Notice of availability and

request for comment.

SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA or Agency) is providing

notice of the availability of, and requests

comment on, ‘‘Draft Update IVB’’ to the

Third Edition of the methods manual,

‘‘Test Methods for Evaluating Solid

Waste, Physical/Chemical Methods,’’

EPA publication SW–846. SW–846

contains EPA-approved sampling and

analysis methods for use under the

Resource Conservation and Recovery

Act (RCRA) Program. Draft Update IVB

contains new and revised SW–846

methods. As part of Draft Update IVB,

we are also providing references in SW–

846 to four air methods that are, or may

be in the future, used in the RCRA

regulations.

DATES: We are opening a comment

period for the limited purpose of

obtaining information and views on the

methods and chapters of Draft Update

IVB. Send your comments to reach us

on or before February 26, 2001.

ADDRESSES: If you wish to comment on

this notice, submit an original and two

copies of your comments referencing

docket number F–2000–4BTA–FFFFF

to: The RCRA Docket Information

Center, Office of Solid Waste (5305G),

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Headquarters (EPA, HQ), 1200

Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.,

Washington, DC 20460. You may also

hand deliver comments to the

Arlington, VA, address listed below.

You may also submit comments

electronically by sending electronic

mail through the Internet to: rcradocket@epamail.epa.gov. You should

identify comments in electronic format

with the docket number F–2000–4BTA–

FFFFF. Submit electronic comments as

an ASCII (text) file and avoid the use of

special characters and any form of

encryption. If you do not submit

comments electronically, we ask

prospective commenters to voluntarily

submit one additional copy of their

comments on labeled personal computer

diskettes in ASCII (text) format or a

word processing format that can be

converted to ASCII (text). It is essential

that you specify on the disk label the

word processing software and version/

edition as well as your name. This will

allow EPA to convert the comments into

one of the word processing formats

utilized by the Agency. Please use

mailing envelopes designed to

physically protect the submitted

diskettes. We emphasize that

submission of comments on diskettes is

not mandatory, nor will it result in any

advantage or disadvantage to any

commenter.

You should not submit electronically

any confidential business information

(CBI). You should instead submit an

original and two copies of the CBI under

separate cover to: RCRA CBI Document

Control Officer, Office of Solid Waste

(5305W), U.S. EPA, 1200 Pennsylvania

Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20460.

You may view the official record of

public comments and supporting

materials in the RCRA Information

Center (RIC), located at Crystal Gateway

I, First Floor, 1235 Jefferson Davis

Highway, Arlington, VA. The RIC is

open from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.,

Monday through Friday, excluding

federal holidays. To review docket

materials, you should make an

appointment by calling (703) 603–9230.

You may copy a maximum of 100 pages

from any regulatory docket at no charge.

Additional copies cost $0.15 per page.

You may also view an electronic copy

of the docket index and notice. See the

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of

this notice for information on accessing

it.

You can download a complete copy of

Draft Update IVB (pdf format) from the

Internet at http://www.epa.gov/SW–

846. A paper copy of Draft Update IVB

is also located in the docket for this

notice (see ADDRESSES above). The table

below provides sources for both paper

and electronic copies of the Third

Edition of SW–846 and all of its

updates.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For

general information, contact the RCRA

Hotline, Monday through Friday

between 9:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. EST, at

(800) 424–9346 or TDD (800) 553–7672

(hearing impaired). In the Washington,

DC, metropolitan area, call (703) 412–

9810.

For information on specific aspects of

this notice or the Draft Update IVB

methods, contact the Methods

Information Communication Exchange

(MICE) Service at (703) 676–4690, email address: mice@cpmx.saic.com; or

contact Barry Lesnik, Office of Solid

Waste (5307W), U.S. Environmental

Protection Agency, Ariel Rios Building,

1200 Pennsylvania Avenue,

Washington, DC 20460, (703) 308–8855,

e-mail address:

lesnik.barry@epamail.epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

SOURCES FOR SW–846, THIRD EDITION, AND ITS UPDATES

Source Available portions of SW–846

Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO),

Washington, DC 20402, (202) 512–1800.

—Paper copies of the SW–846, Thrid Edition, basic manual and of certain updates, including Final Updates, I, II, IIA, IIB, and III, and Draft

Update IVA. Subscriber must integrate the updates.

National Technical Information Service (NTIS), 5285 Port Royal Road,

Springfield, VA 22161, (703) 605–6000 or (800) 553–6847.

—Paper copy of an integrated version of SW–846, Third Edition, as

amended by Final Updates I, II, IIA, IIB, and III.

—Individual paper copies of the SW–846, Third Edition, basic manual

and of certain updates, including Updates I, II, IIA, IIB, III, IIIA, and

Draft Update IVA.

—CD–ROM of integrated version of SW–846, Third Edition, as amended by Final Updates I, II, IIA, IIB, and III (pdf and WordPerfect electronic copies).

—CD–ROM of Draft Update IVA (pdf and WordPerfect electronic copies).

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 228 / Monday, November 27, 2000 / Proposed Rules 70679

SOURCES FOR SW–846, THIRD EDITION, AND ITS UPDATES—Continued

Source Available portions of SW–846

Internet http://www.epa.gov/SW–846 ....................................................... —Integrated version of SW–846, Third Edition, as amended by Final

Updates I, II, IIA, IIB, III, and IIIA (pdf electronic copy).

—Draft Update IVA (pdf electronic copy).

—Draft Update IVB (pdf electronic copy)

How Do I Obtain Electronic Access to

this Notice

The docket index and the notice are

available on the Internet at: WWW:

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

hazwaste/test/up4ba.htm.

How Is This Notice Organized?

We list below the order of the major

sections of this notice.

I. What Is the Subject and Purpose of this

Notice?

II. How Does This Notice Relate to EPA’s

Future Methods Development Efforts?

III. How Can I Use the Methods of Draft

Update IVB?

IV. What Does Draft Update IVB Contain?

I. What Is the Subject and Purpose of

this Notice?

We are announcing the availability of,

and requesting public comment on,

Draft Update IVB to ‘‘Test Methods for

Evaluating Solid Waste, Physical/

Chemical Methods,’’ EPA Publication

SW–846. SW–846 contains the

analytical and test methods that we

have evaluated and found to be among

those acceptable for monitoring

conducted in support of subtitle C of the

Resource Conservation and Recovery

Act (RCRA), as amended.

We change the content of SW–846

over time as new information and data

are developed. We continually review

advances in analytical instrumentation

and techniques and periodically

incorporate such advances into SW–846

as method updates. These updates

support changes in the regulatory

program and improve method

performance and cost effectiveness. We

add new SW–846 methods to the

manual, and replace existing methods

with revised versions of the same

methods to reflect the advances and

new techniques. To date, we have

finalized Updates I, II, IIA, IIB, III, and

IIIA to the SW–846 manual. We

proposed and finalized these updates as

part of a rulemaking.

We are now developing the next

update to SW–846. On May 8, 1998, we

published a notice of availability for

Draft Update IVA in the Federal

Register (see 63 FR 25430–25438). We

then began developing Draft Update IVB

to the manual. As we finished the

methods, we posted them on our

Internet site at http://www.epa.gov/SW–

846. Today, with this notice, and as

requested in the Senate Committee

Report No. 106–410 regarding EPA’s

2001 appropriations bill, we are

publishing and requesting comment on

Draft Update IVB, as published on the

Internet and found in the docket to this

notice.

II. How Does This Notice Relate to

EPA’s Future Methods Development

Efforts?

We are releasing Draft Update IVB in

a notice of availability for informational

purposes. We are making these EPAreviewed methods and revised chapters

available to the public early, for

guidance purposes. The methods can be

used in all applications for which the

use of SW–846 methods is not

mandatory and for which they are

effective. We believe that Draft Update

IVB will be valuable to the public as

guidance because it makes new

analytical technologies and improved

procedures available for use. This

approach will allow the regulated

community and others an opportunity

to participate early in the method

review process with the submittal of

comments on the draft methods. As we

also explained regarding the release of

Draft Update IVA in its notice of

availability, we are not at this time

formally proposing to revise SW–846 by

adding Update IVB, or to incorporate

the update in the RCRA regulations for

required uses.

In addition, we expect to change our

approach to releasing most SW–846

updates in the future. The notice for

Draft Update IVA (see 63 FR 25430–

25438) explains in detail the reasons for

this change. To summarize, we continue

to implement a performance-based

measurement system (PBMS) in the

RCRA program. As part of this effort, we

are developing a proposed rule to

remove unnecessary required uses of

SW–846 methods from the RCRA

regulations. If this rule is finalized, we

will generally only require the use of a

particular method when it is referenced

specifically in a regulation. Examples of

such a requirement include the SW–846

methods specified in the RCRA

regulations to determine whether a

waste exhibits a hazardous waste

characteristic (see 40 CFR part 261,

subpart C). Several other RCRA

regulations generally require the use of

only SW–846 methods, but do not

define regulatory parameters. In these

cases, we plan to propose revisions to

those regulations whereby another

acceptable method may be used,

provided it uses reliable techniques that

are accepted as such by the scientific

community and provided that it can be

demonstrated to be appropriate for its

intended use, i.e., it meets the data

quality objectives (DQOs) or

measurement quality objectives (MQOs)

of the specific project.

If the future proposed rule to remove

unnecessary required uses is finalized,

we will use rulemaking for only those

updates to SW–846 which include

methods that are specifically required

by our regulations. Rulemaking to revise

or add required methods will remain

necessary because the required use of

those specific methods will continue.

We will publish all other future SW–846

updates as guidance. In this manner, we

will make most new and revised

methods for RCRA-related monitoring

available to the public in a faster and

more efficient manner. We will still

follow Agency guidelines to ensure that

SW–846 methods are scientifically

sound, including the peer review of

method documents as necessary. We

will also continue to request public

comment on methods through Federal

Register notices prior to their

incorporation into SW–846.

III. How Can I Use the Methods of Draft

Update IVB?

Although the Draft Update IVB

methods passed our Technical

Workgroup review, you cannot use the

methods of Draft Update IVB for

compliance with the regulations that

require the use of SW–846 methods.

However, there are other sampling and

analysis requirements in 40 CFR parts

260 through 270 that do not specify the

use of SW–846 methods and in those

cases you may use any reliable

analytical method, including the

methods found in Draft Updates IVA

and IVB. We recommend that you

consult with the appropriate regulating

entity before using these methods to

comply with a regulation.

70680 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 228 / Monday, November 27, 2000 / Proposed Rules

IV. What Does Draft Update IVB

Contain?

Draft Update IVB contains revised and

new documents for SW–846, each of

which is dated ‘‘November 2000’’ in its

footer. Tables 1 through 3 list the

documents found in Draft Update IVB.

Table 1 provides a listing of the

fifteen revised SW–846 methods and

seven revised chapters or other SW–846

documents found in Draft Update IVB.

We request public comment on all

revised sections identified by Table 1.

We are interested in comments from the

public on the identified sections and

chapters because some or all of their

text represents significant revisions

from the promulgated version of the

document currently in the Third Edition

of SW–846, as amended by Updates I

through IIIA. (Note: Unless otherwise

indicated as former sections, the section

numbers in Table 1 refer to the section

numbers in the Draft Update IVB

version of the method.) Significant

revisions include text deletions,

additions, or other revisions that change

a method’s procedure or the intent or

meaning of the text. Significant

revisions do not include typographical

or grammatical corrections, table

reformatting (where the information is

not changed), logical outgrowths of

other revisions (e.g., the renumbering of

sections to account for the addition of

a new section), or other edits that are

not substantive changes to text intent or

the analytical procedure (e.g., the

replacement of ‘‘Teflon’’ with

‘‘PTFE’’). Nonsignificant revisions also

include the movement of otherwise

unchanged information to another

appropriate location in the method. We

will, however, consider comments on

the reordering of otherwise unchanged

information in future revisions of Draft

Update IVB.

As indicated in Table 1, some of the

revised methods were also in Draft

Update IVA (documents dated January

1998). Based on further review, we

revised those documents and are

releasing them again as part of Draft

Update IVB. You should replace your

Draft Update IVA versions with the

Draft Update IVB versions. These

documents include the Table of

Contents, Chapters Two through Five,

and Methods 3535A, 3545A, 8081B,

8082A, 8141B, and 8321B (see Table 1

for the titles of these methods).

Table 2 provides a listing of the

twelve new SW–846 methods found in

Draft Update IVB. EPA is interested in

comments on the content of all sections

or parts of the new methods. Finally,

Table 3 identifies the four air methods

for which we are providing references in

SW–846 as part of Draft Update IVB.

These one-page references for each

method indicate how one may obtain a

copy of the method. We want to provide

this information in SW–846, for the

convenience of the user, because the

methods are referred to by the RCRA

regulations.

TABLE 1.—REVISED METHODS AND CHAPTERS OF SW–846 DRAFT UPDATE IVB

Method No. Method or chapter title Sections or parts open for comment

Table of Contents* .................................. All parts.

Chapter Two* .......................................... All parts.

Chapter Three* ....................................... All parts.

Chapter Four* ......................................... All parts.

Chapter Five* .......................................... All parts.

Chapter Six ............................................. All parts.

Chapter Ten ............................................ All parts.

3500C ................. Organic Extraction and Sample Preparation.1.2; 5.4.1; 5.5; 5.6; 7.1; 7.9; 7.10; 7.11; 8.2.4.7; 8.3.1; 9.2; Table 1.

3535A* ................ Solid-Phase Extraction (SPE) ................. 1.1; 1.5; 4.3.2; 4.3.3; 4.4; 4.17; 5.5.7; 5.5.8; 7.0–7.11 (including all subsections);

8.1–8.5; 10.0 Refs. 3–7; Table 1.

3545A* ................ Pressurized Fluid Extraction (PFE) ........ 1.3; 1.5; 2.1; 2.2; 2.3; 3.3; 3.4; 5.3.4; 5.4; 5.5; 5.6.2; 5.6.3; 5.7; 5.7.4; 5.7.6;

5.7.7; 7.1; 7.1.3; 7.1.5; 7.1.6; 7.2; 7.2.1–7.2.3; 7.3; 7.5; 7.6; 7.9.1–7.9.3;

7.12.1; 7.12.2; 8.4; 8.5; 9.4; 9.5; 10.0 Refs. 3 and 4.

3550C ................. Ultrasonic Extraction ............................... 1.4; 1.5; 1.6; 1.7; 5.4; 7.0; 7.3; 7.3.6; 7.4.2; 7.4.3; 7.4.5; 7.4.9; 7.5; 7.5.1–7.5.5;

7.6; 7.6.1–7.6.2.2; 8.3; Table 2.

3620C ................. Florisil Cleanup ....................................... 1.5; 5.6.3.7; 5.10; 5.11; 5.12.

6010C ................. Inductively Coupled Plasma-Atomic

Emission Spectrometry.

All parts.

8015C ................. Nonhalogenated Organics by GC/FID .... 1.2; 1.2.1; 1.2.3; 1.4; 2.2; 2.6; 2.7; 2.9; 2.10; 4.2; 4.2.5; 5.8.8; 7.1; 7.1.1.2; 7.1.3;

7.2.6; 9.1; 9.2; 9.4; 9.5; 10.0 Refs. 7 and 8; Table 8; Table 9.

8041A .................. Phenols by Gas Chromatography .......... 1.4; 1.6; 3.2; 3.5; 3.6; 4.1; 4.2.3; 5.6; 7.0; 7.1.1.2; 7.1.3.2; 7.5; 7.5.1–7.5.3; 7.8;

8.5; 9.5; 10.0 Ref. 4; Tables 4 and 5.

8081B* ................ Organochlorine Pesticides by Gas Chromatography.1.8; 4.2; 5.3; 5.3.1; 5.3.2; 7.1; 7.3.1; 7.3.2; 7.4.6; 7.5.4; 7.5.9; 7.6.2; 9.1; 9.5–

9.10; 10.0 Refs. 11–15; Tables 12–21; removal of former sec. 7.7.6.

8082A* ................ Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) by

Gas Chromatography.

1.3; 1.9; 4.2; 4.2.3.3; 5.2; 5.6.3; 5.9.3; 5.10; 6.2; 7.1.1; 7.1.3; 7.5; 7.6.2.3; 7.6.2.4;

7.6.3; 7.6.6; 7.6.8; 7.7; 7.8.3; 8.2.1; 8.2.2; 8.3; 8.3.1–8.3.3; 8.5; 9.4; 9.4.1–

9.4.3; 9.5; 9.6; 9.7; 10.0 Refs. 11–14; Tables 11–22; Figures 1–6; removal of

former secs. 7.10.4, 7.10.5, 8.3.1.1, and 8.3.1.2.

8141B* ................ Organophosphorus Compounds by Gas

Chromatography.

1.1; 1.6; 1.7; 2.1.1; 2.1.2; 2.2; 4.2; 5.4.2; 5.4.3; 6.2; 7.1; 7.2; 7.2.1–7.2.5; 7.3;

7.3.1–7.3.3; 7.4; 7.5; 7.5.1–7.5.2; 7.7; 7.7.1–7.7.3; 7.8; 7.8.1–7.8.3; 7.9; 7.9.1–

7.9.4; 8.3; 8.3.1–8.3.3; 8.4; 8.4.1–8.4.6; 8.5; 8.6; 9.1–9.6; 10.0 Refs. 15 and

16; Tables 11–15; removal of former secs. 8.3.3.1, 8.3.3.1.1–8.3.3.1.5, 8.3.3.2,

8.7, 8.7.1–8.1.7.5.

8318A .................. N-Methyl Carbamates by High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC).1.1; 1.2; 1.3; 1.4; 2.1.1–2.1.3; 2.2; 2.3; 4.1; 4.1.4–4.1.7; 4.2–4.8.4; 7.1–7.9 (and

all subsections); 8.1–8.4 (and all subsections); 9.1; 9.3; 10.0 Ref. 7; Tables 5

and 6.

8321B* ................ Solvent-Extractable Nonvolatile Compounds by High Performance Liquid

Chromatography/Thermospray/Mass

Spectrometry (HPLC/TS/MS) or Ultraviolet (UV) Detection.

1.1; 1.5–1.9; 2.2.2; 3.11; 4.2; 4.3; 4.3.1; 4.3.2; 4.19; 5.9; 5.15; 5.16; 7.1; 7.1.3;

7.3.1; 7.3.1.7; 7.4; 7.4.1–7.4.5; 7.5; 7.5.1–7.5.4; 7.6.1; 7.8.1.1; 7.8.1.2; 7.8.2.2;

7.8.3; 7.9.4; 7.9.5; 7.10.3; 9.3–9.5; 10.0 Refs. 10 and 11; Table 2; Tables 18–

20; removal of former secs. 7.5.2.8, 8.2.4, 9.2, 9.2.1, and 9.2.2; removal of

former Tables 3, 10, 13, 14, 17, 18, and 19.

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 228 / Monday, November 27, 2000 / Proposed Rules 70681

TABLE 1.—REVISED METHODS AND CHAPTERS OF SW–846 DRAFT UPDATE IVB—Continued

Method No. Method or chapter title Sections or parts open for comment

9056A .................. Determination of Inorganic Anions by

Ion Chromatography.

All parts.

9210A .................. Potentiometric Determination of Nitrate

in Aqueous Samples with Ion-Selective Electrode.

All parts.

Note: The documents with an asterisk (*) were also in Draft Update IVA, dated January 1998, and are being released again as part of Draft

Update IVB, with some revisions and a new date of November 2000.

TABLE 2.—NEW METHODS OF SW–846 DRAFT UPDATE IVB

Method no. Method title

1040 .......................................................................................................... Test Method for Oxidizing Solids.

1050 .......................................................................................................... Test Methods to Determine Substances Likely to Spontaneously Combust.

3546 .......................................................................................................... Microwave Extraction.

3815 .......................................................................................................... Screening Solid Samples for Volatile Organics.

4425 .......................................................................................................... Screening Extracts of Environmental Samples for Planar Organic Compounds (PAHs, PCBs, Dioxins/Furans) by a Reporter Gene on a

Human Cell Line.

8085 .......................................................................................................... Compound-Independent Elemental Quantitation of Pesticides by Gas

Chromatography with Atomic Emission Detection (GC/AED).

8095 .......................................................................................................... Explosives by Gas Chromatography.

8261 .......................................................................................................... Volatile Organic Compounds by Vacuum Distillation in Combination

with Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry (VD/GC/MS).

8510 .......................................................................................................... Colorimetric Screening Procedure for RDX and HMX in Soil.

8535 .......................................................................................................... Screening Procedure for Total Volatile Organic Halides in Water.

8540 .......................................................................................................... Pentachlorophenol (PCP) by UV-Induced Colorimetry.

9058 .......................................................................................................... Determination of Perchlorate Using Ion Chromatography with Chemical

Suppression Conductivity Detection.

TABLE 3.—METHOD REFERENCES PROVIDED BY SW–846 DRAFT UPDATE IVB

Method no. Method title

25D ........................................................................................................... Determination of the Volatile Organic Content of Waste Samples.

25E ........................................................................................................... Determination of Vapor Phase Organic Concentration in Waste Samples.

207–1 ........................................................................................................ Sampling Method for Isocyanates.

207–2 ........................................................................................................ Analysis for Isocyanates by High Performance Liquid Chromatography

(HPLC).

Dated: November 17, 2000.

Matthew Hale,

Acting Director, Office of Solid Waste.

[FR Doc. 00–30111 Filed 11–24–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560–50–U

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety

Administration

49 CFR Part 571

[Docket No. NHTSA 2000–7967; Notice 1]

RIN 2127–AG41

Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard

No. 111, ‘‘Rearview Mirrors’’; Rear

Visibility Systems

AGENCY: National Highway Traffic

Safety Administration (NHTSA),

Department of Transportation (DOT).

ACTION: Advance notice of proposed

rulemaking.

SUMMARY: On June 17, 1996, NHTSA

published a notice requesting comments

on a petition for rulemaking asking us

to require convex cross-view mirrors on

the rear of the cargo box of stepvan and

walk-in style delivery and service trucks

to allow drivers to see children behind

the trucks. In addition to reviewing the

six public comments on our notice, we

have also gathered and evaluated data to

quantify the size of this safety problem.

If off-road fatalities by vehicle type

occurred in the same proportion as onroad fatalities, an estimated 114 of these

deaths annually would involve straight

trucks over 10,000 pounds gross vehicle

weight rating (GVWR). These vehicles’

on-road backup fatality death rate per

vehicle mile traveled is eight times the

backup fatality rate of the second

highest vehicle type. In addition, we

have conducted research on the

feasibility of improving visibility to the

rear of these vehicles. This research

shows that a substantial area directly

behind straight trucks can be made

visible for the driver with rear crossview mirrors. Based on comments we

receive on this notice, we plan to

develop a proposal for a performance

requirement for straight trucks to detect

objects directly behind the vehicle to

prevent pedestrian deaths when the

vehicle backs up.

DATES: Comments must be received on

or before January 26, 2001.

ADDRESSES: Comments must refer to the

docket and notice numbers cited at the

beginning of this notice and be

submitted to: Docket Management,

Room PL–401, 400 Seventh Street, SW.,

Washington, D.C. 20590. The Docket

Section is open on weekdays from 10:00

a.m. to 5 p.m.