Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 37 / Friday, February 24, 1995 / Notices 10391

Contacts

Additional general and technical

information on this solicitation and the

grants program may be obtained by

contacting: U.S. Environmental

Protection Agency, Office of Exploratory

Research (8703), 401 M Street SW.,

Washington, DC 20460, Phone: (202)

260–7474/Fax: (202) 260–0211.

Dated: February 16, 1995.

Joseph K. Alexander,

Acting Assistant Administrator for Research

& Development.

[FR Doc. 95–4597 Filed 2–23–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P

[FRL–5161–7]

Notice of Public Meetings on Drinking

Water Issues

Notice is hereby given that the U.S.

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

is holding public meetings related to the

Agency’s drinking water program over

the next several months. Descriptions of

the subject areas for the meetings are

provided below, along with initial

meeting dates, times and locations.

Names and phone numbers of EPA

contact persons are also provided.

Additional information about a

particular subject area, as well as dates

of additional meetings, may be obtained

by calling the EPA contact person listed

for that subject area.

The purpose of the meetings is to

provide EPA with ideas, suggestions

and options either for proceeding with

specific activities related to the drinking

water program or which can serve as the

basis for strategic decisions on program

directions and resource allocations. The

intent is to provide EPA with the full

array of viewpoints, ideas and concerns

which are held by its multiplicity of

stakeholders. Summaries of the ideas

and suggestions from the public

meetings will be provided to EPA senior

managers in the drinking water program

for further consideration.

Some of the meetings will focus on

how to carry out specific activities

which the agency perceives as ripe for

action and which can be undertaken

within EPA’s existing resource

constraints. Others will be used to seek

broad input on options for prioritizing

among other possible activities within a

subject area, including suggestions for

other ways to do business. In some

cases, these two approaches will be

combined in a single meeting.

For some of the eight subject areas,

only one or two public meetings may

prove necessary. For others, such

meetings may take place more

frequently over a period of several

months. Most of the meetings will be in

Washington, D.C. Because EPA will not

be able to fund travel for any

participants, all meetings will be

teleconferenced to enable participation

by persons in other locales.

Where the Agency has chosen to

proceed with a specific activity, such as

revising the State Programs Priorities

Guidance for the Public Water Systems

Supervisory Program, we will also

solicit participation in stakeholder

forums in order to enable us to receive

additional feedback. These forums will

include the array of stakeholder

interests. Members of the public may

attend and observe the forums. As with

the public meetings, the purpose of the

forums will be to provide EPA with

individual stakeholder views rather

than to seek an opinion from the group

as a whole.

Where EPA is seeking to prioritize

among possible activities, the Agency

will convene a senior EPA management

group to review the public meeting

summaries. That group will assemble

the information and develop a program

action plan consistent with available

resources. The plan will be submitted to

the National Drinking Water Advisory

Council for its comment. Final decisions

on priorities will be made by Assistant

Administrator Robert Perciasepe. EPA

will continue to seek further stakeholder

input on how to proceed after priority

activities have been determined.

Alternatively or in addition to

attending any particular meeting,

members of the public may submit

written comments to the EPA contact

person for up to fifteen days after the

meeting. General questions about the

meeting process should be directed to

Charlene Shaw with EPA’s Office of

Ground Water and Drinking Water at

(202) 260–2285.

Subject Areas and Initial Meeting

Schedules

Regulatory Reassessment

EPA will hold a public meeting on

regulatory reassessment on March 13,

1995, from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. at the St.

James Hotel, 950 24th Street NW.,

Washington, D.C. 20037. Meetings

under this subject area will provide EPA

with stakeholder input on priorities for

regulating drinking water contaminants.

There is a wide variability among the

regulations in terms of the relative risk

reductions they will produce. Also, EPA

does not believe it has the resources to

continue working on all regulations

currently required in a timely and high

quality fashion.

In addition to discussing regulation

priorities, meeting participants may also

suggest criteria for prioritizing

rulemaking efforts. EPA will consider

comments provided by participants in

developing a prioritized list of

regulatory activities. The priority list

will be used to identify which

regulations can be developed in the near

term and which are appropriate for a

much longer time frame for

development. With this information,

EPA hopes to renegotiate current courtordered schedules and more effectively

direct federal, State and local resources.

EPA Contact: Jan Auerbach, (202) 260–

5274.

Scientific Data Needs

EPA will hold a public meeting on

scientific data needs on March 30, 1995,

from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. at the EPA

Auditorium, 401 M Street, S.W.,

Washington, D.C. 20460. Up to date

information and quality models and

methodologies are essential to sound

regulatory and programmatic decisionmaking. They form the foundation for

the more visible Agency actions and

products. Since data collection and

analysis is resource and time intensive,

some trade-offs are inevitable. EPA will

seek input regarding identification of

the most critical needs. Meetings under

this subject area would also seek input

on other factors which may merit

consideration.

This subject area encompasses a wide

range of questions, including the

following. Within the context of

statutory goals and timetables, what

types of data should be assembled and

considered in chemical assessment?

What levels of monitoring data are

required at all stages of the contaminant

evaluation process, from selection to

actual regulatory decisions? What are

the other key data needs with respect to

regulatory impact assessment? What

should the balance be between investing

in more sophisticated cost estimate

models versus reducing uncertainty in

other areas such as health assessment?

Within the context of statutory

guidelines and available public and

private resources, do interested parties

believe surrogate indicators (such as

volumes of pesticides used) are

adequate for contaminant selection for

Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL)

development, or should public water

supply monitoring and federal reporting

of those data precede MCL

development? Beyond contaminant

selection, cost and benefit assessments

will be discussed.

This subject area also includes

discussion of data needs related to

source water protection, including

drinking water occurrence, locational

and well characteristic data which
10392 Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 37 / Friday, February 24, 1995 / Notices

would help guide development of

prevention programs. Such data would

assist in developing prevention

programs tailored to local conditions

and would enable local, State and

federal agencies to more effectively

target their activities to prevent

pollution of drinking water. EPA

Contact: Ben Smith, (202) 260–3026.

Treatment Technology

EPA will hold a public meeting to

discuss treatment technology on March

7, 1995, from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. at the

Holiday Inn Capitol, 550 C Street SW.,

Washington, D.C. 20024. Under the Safe

Drinking Water Act (SDWA) treatment

technology is important in the

establishment of National Primary

Drinking Water Standards and

determining when allowable flexibility

in the form of variances and exemptions

is appropriate. EPA is considering ways

to improve treatment technology

determinations and associated issues.

The Agency will seek input on critical

issues, including criteria for

determining best available technologies

and treatment technique requirements;

ways for EPA to promote the

development and applications of

innovative technologies; and the need

for toxicological evaluation and

certification of treatment chemical and

system component safety. EPA Contact:

Steve Clark, (202) 260–7575.

Health Assessment

EPA will hold a public meeting on

health assessment on March 14, 1995,

from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. at the Holiday

Inn Capitol, 550 C Street SW.,

Wahsington, D.C. 20024. Under this

subject area, EPA is seeking stakeholder

views on revisiting the methodology for

determining Maximum Contaminant

Level Goals (MCLGs) for drinking water,

including the Agency’s current policy of

setting zero goals for carcinogens. In

regulating drinking water contaminants

which may cause adverse health effects,

EPA sets non-enforceable MCLGs to

protect against these effects,

incorporating a margin of safety. EPA

also sets a Maximum Contaminant Level

(MCL), which is enforceable and may be

less stringent than the MCLG depending

on feasibility.

Several activities planned or ongoing

may improve the characterization of the

variability and uncertainty associated

with the risk assessment for a

contaminant. These include noncancer

risk assessment methodologies such as

the bench mark approach and

categorical regression models, revision

of the Cancer Risk Assessment

Guidelines, revision of the relative

source contribution policy, evaluation

of risk assessment methods for chemical

mixtures and development of a risk

characterization policy. EPA Contact:

Jennifer Orme-Zavaleta, (202) 260–7586.

Analytical Methods

EPA will hold a public meeting on

analytical methods in Cincinnati, Ohio.

The schedule for this meeting may be

obtained by calling Herb Brass at (513)

569–7936. This subject area

encompasses the need to set priorities

for enhancing the analytical methods

approval process and laboratory

certification program within the context

of developing and implementing

drinking water regulations. EPA is

seeking stakeholders’ suggestions for

making improvements while assuring

the comparability and quality of

measurement data. Specific issues to be

addressed include: streamlining the

drinking water methods approval

process, including the use of

performance-based methods;

approaches for standardizing the

detection and quantification of

contaminants in water: laboratory

certification; opportunities for

integrating methods across Agency

water programs; and the relationship to

methods organizations inside and

outside of the Agency. EPA Contact:

Herb Brass, (513) 569–7936.

Source Water Protection

EPA will hold a public meeting on

source water protection on March 23,

1995, from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. at the

Holiday Inn Capitol, 550 C Street, S.W.,

Washington, D.C. 20024. This subject

area is to address preparations for an

EPA-sponsored National Source Water

Protection Workshop in 1996 which

will provide communities with tools

and information to enable them to

protect their sources of drinking water.

The teleworkshop will be targeted to

communities which have delineated

their source water protection areas and

carried out source identification and

will assist such communities in moving

to source management. EPA is seeking

to work with States, communities,

interest groups and business leaders,

including from the agricultural

community, to maximize participation

in the teleworkshop.

This subject area will also address the

development of source water protection

approaches for communities which rely

on surface water and the development

of a new consumer information

provision to inform ratepayers about

local water quality and source water

protection. EPA Contact: Bob Barles,

(202) 260–7077.

Small Systems Capacity Building

EPA will hold a public meeting on

small systems capacity building on

March 29, 1995, from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m.

at the Holiday Inn Capitol, 550 C Street,

S.W., Washington, D.C. 20024. This

subject area is to address options and

priorities for building small system

capacity, including the areas of

management and operations,

technology, and financing. EPA will be

seeking suggestions on how best to

focus and follow-up on current

activities relative to voluntary State

viability program development and

small systems restructuring. EPA will

also be seeking ideas and viewpoints on

issues associated with technical

assistance and training for small

systems, as well as how best to identify

and promote use of appropriate small

systems technologies. Contact: Peter

Shanaghan, (202) 260–5813.

Focusing and Improving

Implementation

EPA will hold a public meeting on

focusing and improving implementation

on March 6, 1995, from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m.

at the St. James Hotel, 950 24th Street,

N.W., Washington, D.C. 20037. This

subject area encompasses several topics,

as follows. EPA is generally seeking

stakeholder views on which of these or

other implementation activities the

Agency should undertake. Where the

Agency plans to carry out a particular

activity, as in reviewing the State

Drinking Water Program Priorities

Guidance, stakeholder views on

appropriate approaches will be sought.

Review of State Drinking Water

Program Priorities Guidance

Recognizing the limited resources that

States have to keep pace with expanding

federal drinking water program

requirements, EPA issued guidance in

June 1992 to focus EPA and State

resources on the highest priorities first

and allow States time to build resources

in order to fully implement the program.

The priority scheme was to be effective

between 1993 and 1998, during which

time States are expected to aggressively

develop adequate funding to oversee the

entire Public Water Supply Supervision

(PWSS) program. The guidance does not

change or defer statutory or regulatory

requirements for EPA, State agencies or

public water systems. States have used

the guidance successfully in addressing

their most important implementation,

enforcement and resource challenges.

EPA believes that it is time to reexamine this guidance, based upon the

experience gained over the past two

years, and determine if any changes are
Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 37 / Friday, February 24, 1995 / Notices 10393

needed to more appropriately focus

resources on the highest risks first. We

also need to determine how to include

new requirements in the priority

scheme. EPA Contact: Connie Bosma,

(202) 260–5526.

Revising Chemical Monitoring

Requirements and Defining Source

Water Protection as Best Available

Technology

Public water systems are required to

monitor for 66 different inorganic (e.g.,

mercury), synthetic organic (e.g.,

atrazine) and volatile organic

compounds (e.g., benzene) found in

drinking water. Costs to collect and

analyze these chemicals can be several

thousands of dollars per year, which can

be beyond the resource capacities for

small systems. Several statutory

(Chafee-Lautenberg Amendment) and

regulatory (e.g., grandfathering data,

compositing, State-approved waivers)

provisions have provided flexibility to

systems to reduce or forego monitoring

for at least some chemicals. EPA

believes it would be appropriate to

consider other revisions to chemical

monitoring requirements by, for

example, targeting systems at risk of

contamination, targeting vulnerable

time periods and allowing States greater

flexibility to integrate source water

protection efforts. EPA also believes it

might be useful to consider regulatory

changes to allow water systems to use

source water protection as an alternative

form of treatment for certain

contaminants under limited conditions,

provided such an alternative provides

equivalent health protection. EPA

Contact: Mike Muse, (202) 260–3874.

Other Revisions to Strengthen

Enforcement and Implementation

Recognizing the limited resources in

the drinking water program, EPA is

interested in hearing ideas to further

strengthen the public health protection

provided by the SDWA and the

regulations while at the same time

streamlining the program. These

activities could take the form of

outreach, technical assistance and

capacity building, or use of authorities

provided under other environmental

statutes. For example, some potential

activities in this area might include the

production of special health

notifications for serious drinking water

contamination, particularly for sensitive

subpopulations; additional joint State/

EPA efforts to develop State capacity to

implement and enforce the drinking

water program; and streamlining and

strengthening EPA’s ability to collect

information from drinking water

systems (particularly in cases where

contamination is suspected or where a

system is required to monitor on a

greatly reduced basis). The activities in

this area would be designed to ensure

greater public health protection and

would link to the actions being

proposed in other areas (e.g., regulatory

realignment, review of priority guidance

and greater emphasis on source water

protection.) EPA Contact: Bob Blanco,

(202) 260–5522.

Dated: February 21, 1995.

Peter L. Cook,

Deputy Director, Office of Ground Water and

Drinking Water.

[FR Doc. 95–4598 Filed 2–23–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560–50–M

[FRL–5156–6]

Administrative Settlement Pursuant to

Section 122(h) of the Comprehensive

Environmental Response,

Compensation and Liability Act of 1980

(CERCLA), as Amended, 42 U.S.C.

9622(h), Resource Services, Inc. Site,

Springfield, Missouri

AGENCY: Environmental Protection

Agency.

ACTION: Notice; request for public

comment.

SUMMARY: In accordance with Section

122(i) of the Comprehensive

Environmental Response, Compensation

and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA), as

amended by the Superfund

Amendments and Reauthorization Act

of 1986 (SARA), notice is hereby given

that an administrative cost recovery

settlement concerning the Resource

Services, Inc. Site (‘‘the Site’’) located in

Springfield, Missouri, was entered into

by the Environmental Protection Agency

(‘‘the Agency’’) on December 22, 1994.

The settlement resolves certain Agency

claims under section 107 of CERCLA

against the Settling Parties who are

named in an attachment to the

settlement which is available at EPA

Region 7 at the address shown below.

The settlement requires the Settling

Parties to pay $50,000.00 to the

Hazardous Substance Superfund toward

past response costs incurred in relation

to the Site.

For thirty (30) days following the date

of the publication of this notice, the

Agency will accept written comments

relating to the settlement. The Agency’s

response to any comments received will

be available for public inspection at the

EPA Region 7 Office, located at 726

Minnesota Avenue in Kansas City,

Kansas 66101.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on

or before March 27, 1995.

ADDRESSES: The settlement and

additional background information

relating to the settlement are available

for public inspection during weekday

business hours at the EPA Region 7

Office at 726 Minnesota Avenue in

Kansas City, Kansas 66101. A copy of

the settlement may be obtained from

Venessa Cobbs, Regional Docket Clerk,

EPA Region 7, 726 Minnesota Avenue,

Kansas City, Kansas 66101, telephone:

(913) 551–7630.

Comments on the settlement should

reference the Resource Services, Inc.

Site, in Springfield, Missouri, and EPA

Docket No. VII–92–F–0015 and should

be addressed to Ms. Cobbs at the

address above.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms.

Sarah Toevs Sullivan, Associate

Regional Counsel, EPA Region 7, Office

of Regional Counsel, 726 Minnesota

Avenue, Kansas City, Kansas 66101,

telephone: (913) 551–7010.

Dated: February 7, 1995.

Delores Platt,

Acting Regional Administrator, Region 7.

[FR Doc. 95–4294 Filed 2–23–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560–50–M

FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM

Oconomowoc Bancshares, Inc.;

Formation of, Acquisition by, or

Merger of Bank Holding Companies

The company listed in this notice has

applied for the Board’s approval under

section 3 of the Bank Holding Company

Act (12 U.S.C. 1842) and § 225.14 of the

Board’s Regulation Y (12 CFR 225.14) to

become a bank holding company or to

acquire a bank or bank holding

company. The factors that are

considered in acting on the applications

are set forth in section 3(c) of the Act

(12 U.S.C. 1842(c)).

The application is available for

immediate inspection at the Federal

Reserve Bank indicated. Once the

application has been accepted for

processing, it will also be available for

inspection at the offices of the Board of

Governors. Interested persons may

express their views in writing to the

Reserve Bank indicated for that

application or to the offices of the Board

of Governors. Any comment on an

application that requests a hearing must

include a statement of why a written

presentation would not suffice in lieu of

a hearing, identifying specifically any

questions of fact that are in dispute and

summarizing the evidence that would

be presented at a hearing.