1752 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 8 / Monday, January 13, 1997 / Notices

any previously applicable instructions

and requirements; train personnel to be

able to respond to a collection of

information; search data sources;

complete and review the collection of

information; and transmit or otherwise

disclose the information.

Dated: December 27, 1996.

Michael Shapiro,

Director, Office of Solid Waste.

[FR Doc. 97–746 Filed 1–10–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P

[FRL–5676–1]

Notice of Public Meeting on the

National Performance Measures

Strategy for Enforcement and

Compliance Assurance

AGENCY: Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of public meeting to

solicit suggestions for innovative,

supplemental measures of enforcement

and compliance assurance program

performance; develop a common

understanding with partners and

stakeholders about a set of national

measures and the steps necessary to

implement them (based on the state of

national compliance); and discuss how

to carry out an implementation plan to

put the new set of measures into

practice.

SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA) is announcing a public

meeting on Monday, February 3, 1997,

in Washington, D.C., which will be

devoted to the National Performance

Measures Strategy for Enforcement and

Compliance Assurance. The focus of the

meeting will be to hear presentations

and statements from a cross-section of

stakeholders about innovative

approaches to measuring enforcement

and compliance assurance program

performance.

DATES: The meeting date will take place

on Monday, February 3, 1997, from 8:30

a.m to 5:00 p.m.

ADDRESSES: The public meeting will

take place on Monday, February 3, 1997,

at the Holiday Inn Historic District

Alexandria, 625 First Street, Alexandria,

Virginia, 22314 (703–548–6300).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

James McDonald, U.S. Environmental

Protection Agency, Office of

Compliance, 401 M Street, S.W.

(2201A), Washington, D.C., 20460;

telephone (202) 564–4043, fax (202)

501–0701.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

For many years, EPA has counted

annual enforcement outputs (e.g.,

inspections conducted, number of civil

and criminal cases, penalties assessed)

as the predominant measure of

performance for the enforcement and

compliance assurance program. While

these outputs will continue to be used

as an important measure of

environmental enforcement, EPA seeks

additional measures to assess the status

and trends of regulatory compliance, as

well as environmental improvements

resulting from enforcement and

compliance assurance activities. This

need was recognized during the

enforcement reorganization in 1993, and

a commitment was made during that

process to develop additional measures.

In addition, the requirements of the

Government Performance and Results

Act (GPRA) offer an opportunity to

review and improve performance

measures.

For almost three years, the Office of

Enforcement and Compliance Assurance

(OECA) has been taking steps to

improve its performance measures for

enforcement and compliance assurance

activities. During that time, OECA: (1)

convened a Measures of Success Work

Group comprised of EPA and Regional

officials, (2) developed and

implemented a Case Conclusion Data

Sheet (CCDS) to gather new types of

information about completed cases, (3)

developed and implemented a reporting

measure for compliance assistance

activities, and (4) realigned single-media

data bases to enable reporting of

enforcement data by industry sector.

Through these steps, OECA has made

progress in developing an enhanced set

of performance measures. Specifically,

OECA is now able to supplement

traditional enforcement output

measures with other measures,

including: (1) actions taken by violators

to return to compliance, (2) quantitative

environmental impact and qualitative

environmental benefit of those actions,

(3) types, amounts, and impact of

compliance assistance activities, and (4)

industry-specific compliance rates.

These elements were fully operational

together for the first time in FY 96, and

the results of these efforts are being

compiled in a national

accomplishments report. However,

OECA recognizes further improvements

can, and should, be made with regard to

reporting the state of national

compliance and trends of environmental

enforcement and compliance.

The purpose of this notice is to reach

out for new ideas from EPA’s regulatory

partners (i.e., State, Tribal, and Local

governments) and interested

stakeholders. As described below, EPA

plans to initiate this effort with a

national meeting.

II. The National Performance Measures

Strategy

The purpose of the National

Performance Measures Strategy is to

develop and implement an enhanced set

of performance measures for the

enforcement and compliance assurance

program. The Strategy includes: (1)

soliciting new ideas from regulatory

partners and stakeholders for more

meaningful and sophisticated measures

of program performance, (2) developing

a common understanding with

regulatory partners and stakeholders

about a set of national measures and the

short- and long-term steps necessary to

implement them, and (3) carrying out an

implementation plan to put the new set

of measures into practice.

The Strategy includes the following

elements:

1. Conduct dialogue with regulatory

partners, including senior EPA

Headquarters and Regional managers,

State officials, and a Department of

Justice representative, to assist with

implementation of the Strategy

2. Hold initial public meetings to

present objectives of the Strategy and

key measurement issues and hear

presentations and statements from a

cross-section of stakeholders (by March

1, 1997)

3. Meet with sets of stakeholders

during FY 97 to discuss ideas and

proposals for improved measures and/or

conduct meetings of mixed stakeholders

in various locations (between March

and June 1997)

4. Meet with other Federal regulatory

and law enforcement agencies to learn

about new performance measurement

approaches being used in enforcement

and compliance programs (between

March and June 1997)

5. Hold a ‘‘capstone’’ conference with

a cross-section of stakeholders at the

end of the outreach process to identify

common understandings, areas of

agreement, and unresolved issues (by

mid-September 1997)

6. Develop a report of findings and an

implementation plan with a schedule

(by October 1, 1997)

7. Implement new ideas and

approaches in accordance with the

schedule.

III. Agenda/Focus Topics for Public

Meeting

EPA is interested in hearing and

considering ideas from regulatory

partners and a wide range of
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 8 / Monday, January 13, 1997 / Notices 1753

stakeholders regarding the state of

compliance and additional ways to

measure the performance of EPA’s

enforcement and compliance assurance

program. EPA accepts the idea that its

current approach of counting annual

enforcement outputs needs to be

supplemented by other approaches that

measure improvements in

environmental quality and the state of

compliance. As such, the Agency wants

to focus the outreach effort on

identifying and implementing new

approaches rather than on the

limitations of its current approach.

Stakeholders and regulatory partners

are asked to focus on the following

issues of special interest to EPA:

1. What innovative approaches are

being used (or could be used) by other

environmental agencies, other

regulatory agencies, and law

enforcement agencies to measure the

effects of their enforcement and

compliance assurance programs?

2. What innovative approaches are

being used by regulated facilities,

companies, or trade groups and

associations to measure the effect of

their efforts to achieve and maintain

compliance and protect the

environment?

3. What can EPA use to measure the

impact of its enforcement and

compliance assurance program in lowincome/ minority population

communities?

4. How can EPA measure industry

performance in complying with

environmental laws and regulations?

5. How can EPA measure the

deterrent effect of its enforcementrelated activities, including conducting

inspections, taking enforcement actions,

and publicizing those actions?

6. How can EPA measure the impact

of compliance assistance activities and

compliance incentives, such as its audit

and self-disclosure policy?

IV. Information for Participants

Stakeholders and Tribal, State, and

Local entities are encouraged to offer

ideas and proposals through submission

of written comments, participation in

the public meeting organized by EPA, or

both. Persons interested in speaking,

presenting information, or otherwise

expressing comments at this meeting

should send or fax their name,

affiliation, phone number, topic, and a

brief statement describing their

presentation to Michelle Angelich,

Science Applications International

Corporation, 1710 Goodridge Drive, MS

1–11–8, McLean, Virginia, 22102;

telephone 703–821–4432, fax 703–903–

1373 by January 24, 1997. Persons

wishing to submit pre-filed testimony

may also send or fax such material to

Ms. Angelich. Speakers will be notified

of their time slots or panel assignments

once the final format is determined.

This meeting will be open to the public

as space permits, and a transcript of the

proceedings will be prepared.

Dated: January 7, 1997.

Steven A. Herman,

Assistant Administrator, Office of

Enforcement and Compliance Assurance.

[FR Doc. 97–745 Filed 1–10–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P

[FRL–5675–6]

Science Advisory Board; Notification

of Public Advisory Committee Meeting

Pursuant to the Federal Advisory

Committee Act, Public Law 92–463,

notice is hereby given that the Human

Exposure and Health Subcommittee

(HEHS) of the Science Advisory Board’s

(SAB) Integrated Risk Project will hold

a public teleconference on Wednesday,

January 29, 1997, from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00

p.m. (Eastern Standard Time). The

teleconference will be hosted in the

SAB Conference Room 2103 of the Mall,

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Headquarters Building at 401 M Street

SW, Washington, DC 20460. For easy

access, members of the public should

use the EPA entrance next to the

Safeway.

Purpose of the Meeting—The main

purpose of the meeting is plan future

directions and activities for the

Subcommittee, particularly on the topic

of the feasibility of producing a ranking

of human health risks. The

Subcommittee’s activities are part of an

SAB project to update the 1990 SAB

report, Reducing Risk: Setting Priorities

and Strategies for Environmental

Protection.

A limited number of telephone lines

will be available for use by members of

the public.

For Further Information—Members of

the public desiring additional

information concerning the

teleconference or who wish to submit

comments should contact Mr. Samuel

Rondberg, Designated Federal Officer

for the HEHS, Science Advisory Board

(1400), U.S. EPA, 401 M Street, SW,

Washington, DC 20460; by telephone at

(202)260–2559; by fax at (202) 260–7118

or via the INTERNET at:

rondberg.sam@epamail.epa.gov. After

January 16, 1996, copies of the draft

meeting agenda will be available from

Ms. Mary Winston at (202) 260–8414, by

fax at (202) 260–7118, and by

INTERNET at:

winston.mary@epamail.epa.gov.

Information regarding how to access the

teleconference is available by contacting

Ms. Winston at the above numbers.

Members of the public who wish to

make a brief oral presentation to the

Committee must contact Mr. Rondberg

in writing by letter, by fax, or by

INTERNET (at INTERNET address

above) no later than 12 noon (Eastern

Standard Time) Thursday, January 23,

1997, in order to be included on the

Agenda. The request should identify the

name of the individual who will make

the presentation and an outline of the

issues to be addressed. Oral comments

will be limited to five minutes per

person.

Dated: January 13, 1997.

Donald G. Barnes,

Staff Director, Science Advisory Board.

[FR Doc. 97–747 Filed 1–10–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P

[FRL 5674–5]

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: Notice; request for public

comment.

SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that a

proposed prospective purchaser

agreement associated with the MRM

Superfund Site, located in Sikeston,

Missouri, was executed by the Agency

on November 26, 1996, and concurred

upon by the United States Department

of Justice on November 18, 1996. This

agreement is subject to final approval

after the comment period. The

Prospective Purchaser Agreement would

resolve certain potential EPA claims

under the Comprehensive

Environmental Response, Compensation

and Liability Act of 1980, as amended

by the Superfund Amendments and

Reauthorization Act of 1996

(‘‘CERCLA’’), against North Ridge

Homes, Inc., the prospective purchaser

(‘‘the purchaser’’).

The settlement would require the

purchaser to pay the EPA the sum of

$20,000, within thirty days after the

date upon which Settling Respondent

acquires title to the Property. The

purchaser must record a deed restriction

prohibiting use of the Property for

residential purposes or for any purpose

that could reasonably be expected to

attract children, including, but not