23256 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 81 /Tuesday, April 28, 1998 / Proposed Rules

requirement, the Agency is today

releasing EPA’s current draft of the Tier

2 study for comment. EPA will include

a summary of any comments received

on this draft when it submits the final

report to Congress.

In the draft Tier 2 Study, EPA

discusses and provides information on

each of the three areas mentioned above

but does not make a determination

about whether further emission

reductions are appropriate. EPA plans to

make such a determination by way of

later rulemaking action, to be finalized

by the end of 1999, as required by the

Act. In addition to addressing the three

issues of need, feasibility, and cost

effectiveness, the Study also discusses

several key issues related to the

development of a potential Tier 2

program and the next steps EPA is

planning.

In addition to the draft Tier 2 Study,

EPA will soon be releasing a related

document titled ‘‘EPA Staff Paper on

Gasoline Sulfur Issues.’’ Because of its

effect on catalytic converters, sulfur in

gasoline is a very important issue when

vehicle emission standards more

stringent than today’s standards are

considered. The Staff Paper discusses a

range of issues including the

interactions between sulfur in gasoline

and vehicle technology, the impact on

refinery operations of reducing gasoline

sulfur content, other fuel quality issues,

a review of fuel sulfur control programs

in other countries, and a review of

proposals that have been put forward on

this topic by key stakeholders. EPA

plans to address any comments received

on the Staff Paper as a part of any

proposed rulemaking that EPA pursues

relating to this Tier 2 emission

standards. EPA will also hold a public

meeting to discuss issues relating to

gasoline sulfur and the Gasoline Sulfur

Staff Paper (see ADDRESSES above).

Dated: April, 23, 1998.

Richard D. Wilson,

Acting Assistant Administrator for Air and

Radiation.

[FR Doc. 98–11266 Filed 4–27–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

AGENCY

40 CFR Part 272

[FRL–6001–1]

Hazardous Waste Management

Program: Final Authorization and

Incorporation by Reference of State

Hazardous Waste Management

Program for New Mexico

AGENCY: Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

SUMMARY: EPA proposes to incorporate

by reference EPA’s approval of the New

Mexico Environment Department’s

(NMED) RCRA Cluster IV hazardous

waste program and to approve its

revisions to that program submitted by

the State of New Mexico. In the final

rules section of this Federal Register,

the EPA is approving the State’s request

as a immediate final rule without prior

proposal because USEPA views this

action as noncontroversial and

anticipates no adverse comments. A

detailed rationale for approving the

State’s request is set forth in the

immediate final rule. If no adverse

written comments are received in

response to that immediate final rule, no

further activity is contemplated in

relation to this proposed rule. If EPA

receives adverse written comments, a

second Federal Register document will

be published before the time the

immediate final rule takes effect. The

second document may withdraw the

immediate final rule or identify the

issues raised, respond to the comments

and affirm that the immediate final rule

will take effect as scheduled. Any

parties interested in commenting on this

action should do so at this time.

DATES: Written comments on this

proposed rule must be received on or

before May 28, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Written comments may be

mailed to Alima Patterson, Region 6

Authorization Coordinator, Grants and

Authorization Section (6PD–G),

Multimedia Planning and Permitting

Division, at the address listed below.

Copies of the materials submitted by

NMED may be examined during normal

business hours at the following

locations: EPA Region 6 Library, 12th

Floor, Wells Fargo Bank Tower at

Fountain Place, 1445 Ross Avenue,

Dallas, Texas 75202–2733, Phone

number: (214) 665–6444. New Mexico

Environment Department, 1190, St

Francis Drive, Sante Fe, New Mexico

87502. Phone number: (505) 827–1558.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Alima Patterson (214) 665–8533.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: For

additional information see the

immediate final rule published in the

rules section of this Federal Register.

Dated: March 19, 1998.

Lynda F. Carroll,

Acting Deputy Regional Administrator,

Region 6.

[FR Doc. 98–11279 Filed 4–27–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

AGENCY

40 CFR Part 300

[FRL–6003–7]

National Oil and Hazardous

Substances Pollution Contingency

Plan; National Priorities List

AGENCY: Environmental Protection

Agency.

ACTION: Notice of intent to delete the

Pine Bend Sanitary Landfill Site from

the National Priorities List; request for

comments.

SUMMARY: The United States

Environmental Protection Agency (U.S.

EPA) Region 5 announces its intent to

delete the Pine Bend Sanitary Landfill

(the Site) from the National Priorities

List (NPL) and requests public comment

on this action. The NPL constitutes

Appendix B of 40 CFR part 300 which

is the National Oil and Hazardous

Substances Pollution Contingency Plan

(NCP), which U.S. EPA promulgated

pursuant to Section 105 of the

Comprehensive Environmental

Response, Compensation, and Liability

Act of 1980 (CERCLA) as amended. This

action is being taken by U.S. EPA,

because it has been determined that all

Fund-financed responses under

CERCLA have been implemented and

U.S. EPA, in consultation with the State

of Minnesota, has determined that no

further CERCLA response is

appropriate. Moreover, U.S. EPA and

the State have determined that remedial

activities conducted at the Site to date

have been protective of public health,

welfare, and the environment.

DATES: Comments concerning the

proposed deletion of the Site from the

NPL may be submitted on or before May

28, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed to

Gladys Beard, Associate Remedial

Project Manager, Superfund Division,

U.S. EPA, Region 5, 77 W. Jackson Blvd.

(SR–6J), Chicago, IL 60604.

Comprehensive information on the site

is available at U.S. EPA’s Region 5 office
Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 81 /Tuesday, April 28, 1998 / Proposed Rules 23257

and at the local information repository

located at: Dakota County Library

System, Wescott Branch, 1340 Wescott

Road, Eagan, MN 55123. Requests for

copies of documents should be directed

to the Region 5 Docket Office. The

address and phone number for the

Regional Docket Officer is Jan

Pfundheller (H–7J), U.S. EPA, Region 5,

77 W. Jackson Blvd., Chicago, IL 60604,

(312) 353–5821.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Gladys Beard (SR–6J), Associate

Remedial Project Manager, Superfund

Division, U.S. EPA, Region 5, 77 W.

Jackson Blvd., Chicago, IL 60604, (312)

886–7253 or Don Deblasio (P–19J),

Office of Public Affairs, U.S. EPA,

Region 5, 77 W. Jackson Blvd., Chicago,

IL 60604, (312) 886–4360.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Table of Contents

I. Introduction

II. NPL Deletion Criteria

III. Deletion Procedures

IV. Site Background

V. Basis for Site Deletion Proposal

I. Introduction

The U.S. Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA) Region 5 announces its

intent to delete the Pine Bend Sanitary

Landfill Site from the National Priorities

List (NPL), which constitutes Appendix

B of the National Oil and Hazardous

Substances Pollution Contingency Plan

(NCP), and requests comments on the

proposed deletion. The 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 those sites. Sites on the NPL

may be the subject of remedial actions

financed by the Potentially Responsible

Parties or the Hazardous Substance

Superfund Response Trust Fund (Fund).

Pursuant to § 300.425(e)(3) of the NCP,

any site deleted from the NPL remains

eligible for Fund-financed remedial

actions if the conditions at the Site

warrant such action.

The U.S. EPA will accept comments

on this proposal for thirty (30) days after

publication of this document in the

Federal Register.

Section II of this notice explains the

criteria for deleting sites from the NPL.

Section III discusses procedures that

EPA is using for this action. Section IV

discusses the history of this site. Section

V explains how the Site meets the

deletion criteria.

Deletion of sites from the NPL does

not itself create, alter, or revoke any

individual’s rights or obligations.

Furthermore, deletion from the NPL

does not in any way alter U.S. EPA’s

right to take enforcement actions, as

appropriate. The NPL is designed

primarily for informational purposes

and to assist in Agency management.

II. NPL Deletion Criteria

The NCP establishes the criteria that

the Agency uses to delete Sites from the

NPL. In accordance with 40 CFR

300.425(e), sites may be deleted from

the NPL where no further response is

appropriate. In making this

determination, U.S. EPA will consider,

in consultation with the 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.

III. Deletion Procedures

Upon determination that at least one

of the criteria described in 40 CFR

300.425(e) has been met, U.S. EPA may

formally begin deletion procedures once

the State has concurred. This Federal

Register notice, and a concurrent notice

in the local newspaper in the vicinity of

the Site, announce the initiation of a 30-

day comment period. The public is

asked to comment on U.S. EPA’s

intention to delete the Site from the

NPL. All critical documents needed to

evaluate U.S. EPA’s decision are

included in the information repository

and the deletion docket.

Upon completion of the public

comment period, the U.S. EPA Regional

Office will prepare a Responsiveness

Summary to evaluate and address each

significant comment and any significant

new data submitted during the comment

period. The public is welcome to

contact the U.S. EPA Region V Office to

obtain a copy of this responsiveness

summary. If U.S. EPA then determines

the deletion from the NPL is

appropriate, final notice of deletion will

be published in the Federal Register.

IV. Site Background

The Pine Bend Sanitary Landfill

(PBSL) site is located in northeast

Dakota County, on the periphery of the

Minneapolis/St. Paul metropolitan area,

in Sections 33, Township 27 North,

Range 22 West, City of Inver Grove

Heights, Minnesota. PBSL encompasses

approximately 255 acres and is an open,

operating, solid waste facility which

accepts municipal solid waste and

nonhazardous industrial waste. The

PBSL was first issued a permit (SW–

045) to operate by the Minnesota

Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) on

September 7, 1971. Pine Bend Landfill,

Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of

Browning Ferris Industries, is the owner

and permittee of the PBSL.

PBSL was added to the NPL on June

10, 1986. It is also on the Minnesota

Permanent List of Priorities. Its

inclusion on the NPL was the result of

finding Volatile Organic Compounds in

ground water emanating from the Site.

U.S. EPA and MPCA concluded that a

plume of contamination from the

landfill was moving through the

surficial aquifer and discharging to the

Mississippi River through springs in the

river bottom.

Crosby American Demolition Landfill

(CADL) is located immediately north of

the PBSL. Because a plume of

contamination from the CADL has

comingled with a plume of

contamination from PBSL east of their

common border, the MPCA has

considered the two landfills as one site.

U.S. EPA, however, has for

administrative purposes treated the two

landfills as two sites, one of which—

PBSL—is on the NPL; the other—

CADL—is not.

By agreement with U.S. EPA, MPCA

has been the lead agency for the PBSL

site. Under MPCA’s direction and

oversight, Pine Bend Landfill, Inc.

conducted a number of response

activities, including the following: a

Remedial Investigation (RI) (1986),

additional RI activities (1987), a pump

test (1989–90), preparation of a

Preliminary Alternatives Report (1989),

interim groundwater monitoring (1988–

1994), preparation of a final RI report in

August 1991 and an MPCA approved

Detailed Analysis Report in November

1994.

On September 30, 1991, MPCA and

U.S. EPA signed a Record of Decision

(ROD) for Operable Unit 1—the first

phase of a permanent remedy for the

Site. The ROD called for the extension

of the existing City of Inver Grove

Heights municipal water supply, the

connection of impacted or potentially

impacted residents to the municipal

water supply, and the permanent

sealing of residential water supply wells

in the impacted area. The work under

this operable unit was completed in

November 1994.

V. Basis for Site Deletion Proposal

In September, 1995, MPCA and U.S.

EPA signed a ROD calling for no further

action at the Site. There are two reasons
23258 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 81 /Tuesday, April 28, 1998 / Proposed Rules

for the no-action decision. First, further

action to control the source of

contamination (installation of a landfill

cover, clay liner, leachate collection

system, etc.) and to address

contaminated ground water would be

conducted under the facility’s operating

permit, such that no further action

under CERCLA would be necessary.

Second, completion of Operable Unit 1,

under which residents in the area were

connected to a municipal water supply,

reduced the risk posed by contaminated

ground water.

U.S. EPA is now proposing to delete

PBSL from the NPL for one of the same

reasons that it signed a no-action ROD

in 1995: work that might otherwise be

required under CERCLA will be

accomplished under the facility’s RCRA

permit. The Site is an active Treatment,

Storage, and Disposal facility, owned

and operated by Browning Ferris

Industries (‘‘BFI’’). BFI clearly has the

resources to conduct the work required.

In accordance with the operating permit

issued by MPCA, BFI placed a final

cover on portions of the landfill that are

filled to final elevation, installed a

combustible gas collection system,

installed a clay liner and leachate

collection system in an expansion area,

and installed a surface drainage control

system. Under the terms of an Amended

Order issued by MPCA on October 23,

1990, BFI will monitor ground water in

accordance with the Minnesota Solid

Waste Landfill Compliance Program.

A five-year review pursuant to

OSWER Directive 9355.7–02 ‘‘Structure

and Components of Five-Year Reviews’’)

will be conducted at the Site. The FiveYear review is scheduled for December

1999.

EPA, with concurrence from the State

of Minnesota, has determined that all

appropriate Fund-financed responses

under CERCLA at the Pine Bend

Sanitary Site have been completed, and

no further CERCLA response actions by

responsible parties are appropriate in

order to provide protection of human

health and environment. Therefore, EPA

proposes to delete the Site from the

NPL.

Dated: April 7, 1998.

Michelle D. Jordan,

Acting Regional Administrator, U.S. EPA,

Region V.

[FR Doc. 98–10978 Filed 4–27–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS

COMMISSION

47 CFR Part 54

[DA 98–715]

Common Carrier Bureau Seeks

Comment on Proposals To Revise the

Methodology for Determining

Universal Service Support

AGENCY: Federal Communications

Commission.

ACTION: Notice; seeking comment on

proposals in rulemaking proceeding.

SUMMARY: In this Public Notice, the

Common Carrier Bureau (Bureau)

describes certain proposals by outside

parties to alter the methodology for

determining high cost universal service

support based on forward-looking

economic costs. Some parties have filed

petitions for reconsideration or judicial

appeals of the methodology announced

in the May 8, 1997 Universal Service

Order and the Commission has

committed to complete the

reconsideration of its methodology

before it is implemented for non-rural

carriers. This Public Notice seeks

additional proposals to modify the

methodology, as well as comment on

the existing proposals.

DATES: Comment date for filing

additional proposals is April 27, 1998,

comments are due May 15, 1998, and

reply comments are due May 29, 1998.

ADDRESSES: One original and five copies

of all filings must be sent to Magalie

Roman Salas, Secretary, Federal

Communications Commission, 1919 M

Street, N.W., Room 222, Washington,

D.C. 20554. Parties must also send

copies to the individuals listed on the

attached Service List and to the

Commission’s copy contractor,

International Transcription Service,

Inc., 1231 20th Street, N.W.,

Washington, D.C. 20554.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Chuck Keller at (202) 418–7380 or

<ckeller@fcc.gov>.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In the

Universal Service Order, Federal State

Joint Board on Universal Service, Report

& Order, CC Docket No. 96–45, 12 FCC

Rcd 8776 (1997), 62 FR 32862 (June 17,

1997), as corrected by Federal State

Joint Board on Universal Service, CC

Docket 96–45, Errata, FCC 97–157

(released June 4, 1997), appeal pending,

Texas Office of Public Utility Counsel v.

FCC, No. 97–60421 (5th Cir. filed June

25, 1997), the Commission adopted a

four-step methodology for determining

the appropriate level of federal

universal service support that non-rural

carriers will receive beginning January

1, 1999. As part of that methodology,

the Commission determined that the

federal fund will provide at least 25

percent of the total support necessary

for non-rural carriers (25/75 decision).

The Commission also concluded that

rural carriers will receive support based

on forward-looking costs no sooner than

January 1, 2001. Several parties have set

forth proposals to modify the

Commission’s approach to determining

support for non-rural and rural carriers.

Some of these proposals were presented

in the Commission’s proceeding to

prepare a Report to Congress on

Universal Service, required by statute,

Departments of Congress, Justice, and

State, the Judiciary, and Related

Agencies Appropriations Act, 1988,

Pub. L. 105–119, 111 Stat. 2440, 2521–

2522, § 623. Federal-State Joint Board on

Universal Service, Report to Congress,

CC Docket No. 96–45, FCC 98–67,

(released April 10, 1998) (Report to

Congress), and, in particular, in the en

banc hearing on universal service issues

held on March 6, 1998. In this Public

Notice, we seek to augment the record

by encouraging interested parties to

submit additional proposals for

modifying the Commission’s

methodology, or updates to those on the

record, by April 27, 1998. Comments

from interested parties on these

proposals are due on May 15, 1998, and

reply comments are due on May 29,

1998. In the Report to Congress, the

Commission states that, prior to

implementing the Commission’s

methodology for determining high cost

support for non-rural carriers, the

Commission will complete a

reconsideration of its 25/75 decision

and of the method of distributing high

cost support. Report to Congress at para.

224. The Commission also states that it

will continue to work closely on these

issues with the state members of the

Federal-State Joint Board on Universal

Service (Joint Board), including holding

an en banc hearing with participation

by the Joint Board Commissioners. See

Report to Congress at paras. 224, 228,

231.

Background

In the Universal Service Order and the

accompanying Access Charge Reform

Order, Access Charge Reform, Price Cap

Performance Review for Local Exchange

Carriers, Transport Rate Structure and

Pricing and End User Common Line

Charges, CC Docket Nos. 96–262, 94–1,

91–213, and 95–72, First Report and

Order, 62 FR 31868 (June 11, 1997), 12

FCC Rcd 15982 (1997) (Access Charge

Reform Order); Order on

Reconsideration, 62 FR 40460 (July 29,