[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 83 (Monday, April 29, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18744-18745]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-10502]



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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
[ATSDR-108]


Notice of the Revised Priority List of Hazardous Substances That 
Will Be the Subject of Toxicological Profiles

AGENCY: Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), U.S. 
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and 
Liability Act (CERCLA or Superfund), as amended by the Superfund 
Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA), requires that ATSDR and the 
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) revise the Priority List of 
Hazardous Substances to include additional substances most commonly 
found at facilities on the CERCLA National Priorities List (NPL). This 
announcement provides notice that the agencies have developed and are 
making available a revised CERCLA Priority List of 275 Hazardous 
Substances, based on the most recent information available to ATSDR and 
EPA. This revised priority list includes newly listed substances that 
have been determined to pose the most significant potential threat to 
human health at or around NPL hazardous waste sites. Each substance on 
the priority list is a candidate to become the subject of a 
toxicological profile prepared by ATSDR and subsequently a candidate 
for the identification of priority data needs.

ADDRESSES: Requests for a copy of the 1995 CERCLA Priority List of 
Hazardous Substances That Will Be The Subject of Toxicological Profiles 
and Support Document or comments on this notice should bear the docket 
control number ATSDR-108, and should be submitted to: ATSDR, Division 
of Toxicology, Emergency Response and Scientific Assessment Branch, 
Mail Stop E-29, 1600 Clifton Rd., NE., Atlanta, GA 30333.
    This is an informational notice only, and comments are not being 
solicited at this time. However, any comments received will be placed 
in a publicly accessible docket; therefore, please do not submit 
confidential business information.
    Electronic Availability: The 1995 Revised Priority List will be 
available as an electronic file on the Federal Bulletin Board on or 
near the day of publication in the Federal Register. By modem, dial 
(202) 512-1387 and set your parity to None, Data Bits to 8, and Stop 
Bit to 1 (N,8,1). To access the Federal Bulletin Board via Internet, 
use the telnet command to fedbbs.access.gpo.gov. This file is available 
in WordPerfect 5.1, Dbase IV, and ASCII. The top 20 substances from the 
priority list are also listed on ATSDR's Home Page on the World-Wide 
Web located at http://atsdr1.atsdr.cdc.gov:8080/atsdrhome.html.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: ATSDR, Division of Toxicology, 
Emergency Response and Scientific Assessment Branch, 1600 Clifton Rd., 
NE., Mailstop E-29, Atlanta, GA 30333, telephone (404) 639-6300.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: CERCLA establishes certain requirements for 
ATSDR and EPA with regard to hazardous substances that are most 
commonly found at facilities on the CERCLA NPL. Section 104(i)(2) of 
CERCLA, as amended [42 U.S.C. 9604(i)(2)], requires that the two 
agencies prepare a list, in order of

[[Page 18745]]

priority, of at least 100 hazardous substances that are most commonly 
found at facilities on the NPL and which, in their sole discretion, are 
determined to pose the most significant potential threat to human 
health (see 52 FR 12866, April 17, 1987). CERCLA also requires the 
agencies to revise the priority list to include 100 or more additional 
hazardous substances (see 53 FR 41280, October 20, 1988), and to 
include at least 25 additional hazardous substances in each of the 
three successive years following the 1988 revision (see 54 FR 43619, 
October 26, 1989; 55 FR 42067, October 17, 1990; 56 FR 52166, October 
17, 1991). CERCLA also requires that ATSDR and EPA shall, not less 
often than once every year thereafter, revise the list to include 
additional hazardous substances that are determined to pose the most 
significant potential threat to human health. In 1995, the agencies 
decided to alter the publication schedule of the priority list by 
moving to a 2-year publication schedule, reflecting the stability of 
this listing activity (see 60 FR 16478, March 30, 1995). As a result, 
the priority list is now on a 2-year publication schedule with a yearly 
informal review and revision. Each substance on the CERCLA Priority 
List of Hazardous Substances is a candidate to become the subject of a 
toxicological profile prepared by ATSDR and subsequently a candidate 
for the identification of priority data needs.
    The previous priority lists of hazardous substances were based on 
the most comprehensive and relevant information available when the 
lists were developed. More comprehensive sources of information on the 
frequency of occurrence and the potential for human exposure to 
substances at NPL sites became available for use in the 1991 priority 
list with the development of ATSDR's HazDat database. Additional 
information from HazDat became available for the 1995 listing activity.
    In the initial listing activities (1987-1990), new substances were 
added to the end of the list, without a comparative reranking. A notice 
announcing the intention of ATSDR and EPA to revise and rerank the 
Priority List of Hazardous Substances was published on June 27, 1991 
(56 FR 29485). In the 1995 listing activity, as in the previous three 
years, new candidate substances (substances found at three or more NPL 
sites) were assigned a toxicity/environmental score (TES) using the EPA 
Reportable Quantity methodology, and were added to the group of 
substances previously considered for the list. All substances were then 
evaluated together for consideration on the priority list.
    The approach used to generate the 1991 revised priority list was 
summarized in the ``Revised Priority List of Hazardous Substances'' (56 
FR 52166, October 17, 1991). The same approach and the same algorithm 
were used in the 1995 listing activity. As a result, more than 750 
candidate substances have been ranked to create the current list of 275 
substances.
    The additional information used in the 1995 listing activity has 
been entered into ATSDR's HazDat database since the development of the 
1993 Priority List of Hazardous Substances. As with other site-specific 
information used in the listing activity, this information has been 
collected from ATSDR public health assessments and from site file data 
packages used in the development of public health assessments. The new 
information includes more recent NPL frequency of occurrence data, 
additional concentration data, and more information on exposure or 
potential exposure to substances at NPL sites.
    At this time the list includes 275 substances that ATSDR and EPA 
have determined to pose the most significant potential threat to human 
health based on the criteria of CERCLA Section 104(i)(2) [42 U.S.C. 
9604(i)(2)]. All candidate substances have been analyzed and ranked 
with the current algorithm, and may become the subject of toxicological 
profiles in the future.
    The addition of approximately 14,000 contaminant data records to 
the HazDat database since the 1993 listing activity has allowed the 
agencies to better assess the potential for human exposure to 
substances at NPL hazardous waste sites. With these additional data, 23 
substances have been replaced on the list of 275 substances. Of the 23 
replacement substances, 12 are new candidate substances, and 11 are 
substances that were previously under consideration. These changes in 
the order of substances appearing on the CERCLA Priority List of 
Hazardous Substances will be reflected in the program activities that 
rely on the list for future direction. These changes reflect the 
dynamic nature of scientific data on substances present at NPL 
hazardous waste sites.
    This evaluation activity and announcement of a revised Priority 
List of Hazardous Substances fulfills the conditions of CERCLA Section 
104(i), as amended. ATSDR and EPA intend to publish the next revised 
list of hazardous substances in two years, with an informal review and 
revision performed in one year. These revisions will reflect changes 
and improvements in data collection and availability. Additional 
information on the existing methodology used in the development of the 
CERCLA Priority List of Hazardous Substances can be found in the 
Federal Register notices mentioned previously.

Administrative Record

    ATSDR and EPA are establishing a single administrative record 
entitled ATSDR-108 for materials pertaining to this notice. All 
materials received as a result of this notice will be included in the 
public file, which is available for inspection from 8 a.m. to 4:30 
p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal legal holidays, at the 
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, #4 Executive Park 
Drive, Suite 2400, Atlanta, Georgia (not a mailing address).

    Dated: April 22, 1996.
Claire V. Broome,
Deputy Administrator, Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.
[FR Doc. 96-10502 Filed 4-26-96; 8:45 am]
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