43310 Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 178 / Friday, September 15, 2017 / Rules and Regulations 

Dated: August 31, 2017. 

Barry N. Breen, 

Acting Assistant Administrator, Office of 

Land and Emergency Management. 

■ Accordingly, EPA withdraws the 

amendment to 40 CFR 312.11(a), 

published in the Federal Register on 

June 20, 2017 (82 FR 28009), as of 

September 15, 2017. 

[FR Doc. 2017–19594 Filed 9–14–17; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

40 CFR Part 312 

[EPA–HQ–OLEM–2016–0786; FRL–9967– 

46–OLEM] 

RIN 2050–AG94 

Amendment to Standards and 

Practices for All Appropriate Inquiries 

Under CERCLA 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Environmental 

Protection Agency (EPA or the agency) 

is taking final action to amend the 

Standards and Practices for All 

Appropriate Inquiries to update an 

existing reference to a standard practice 

revised by ASTM International, a 

widely recognized standards 

development organization. Specifically, 

this final rule amends the All 

Appropriate Inquiries Rule to reference 

ASTM International’s E2247–16 

‘‘Standard Practice for Environmental 

Site Assessments: Phase I 

Environmental Site Assessment Process 

for Forestland or Rural Property’’ and 

allow for its use to satisfy the statutory 

requirements for conducting all 

appropriate inquires under the 

Comprehensive Environmental 

Response, Compensation and Liability 

Act (CERCLA). 

DATES: This final rule is effective on 

March 14, 2018. 

ADDRESSES: The EPA has established a 

docket for this action under Docket ID 

No. EPA–HQ–OLEM–2016–0786. All 

documents in the docket are listed on 

the https://www.regulations.gov Web 

site. Docket materials are also available 

in hard copy at the EPA Docket Center 

Reading Room. Please see https://

www.epa.gov/dockets/epa-docketcenter-reading-room or call (202) 566– 

1744 for more information on the 

Docket Center Reading Room. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

general information, contact the 

CERCLA Call Center at 800–424–9346 or 

TDD 800–553–7672 (hearing impaired). 

In the Washington, DC metropolitan 

area, call 703–412–9810 or TDD 703– 

412–3323. For more detailed 

information on specific aspects of this 

rule, contact Patricia Overmeyer, Office 

of Brownfields and Land Revitalization 

(5105T), U.S. Environmental Protection 

Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue 

NW., Washington, DC 20460–0002, 202– 

566–2774, or overmeyer.patricia@

epa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. General Information 

A. Purpose of This Regulatory Action 

EPA is publishing this final rule to 

revise an existing reference in 40 CFR 

part 312 to include the updated version 

of a standard practice recently made 

available by ASTM International 

(E2247–16). 

B. Does this action apply to me? 

This action offers certain parties the 

option of using an available industry 

standard to conduct all appropriate 

inquiries at certain properties. Parties 

purchasing large tracts of forested land 

and parties purchasing large rural 

properties may use the ASTM E2247–16 

standard practice to comply with the all 

appropriate inquiries requirements of 

CERCLA. This rule does not require any 

entity to use this standard. Any party 

who wants to claim protection from 

liability under CERCLA may follow the 

regulatory requirements of the All 

Appropriate Inquiries Rule at 40 CFR 

part 312, use the ASTM E1527–13 

Standard Practice for Phase I 

Environmental Site Assessments to 

comply with the all appropriate 

inquiries provision of CERCLA, or use 

the standard recognized in this final 

rule, the ASTM E2247–16 standard, as 

applicable. 

Entities potentially affected by this 

action, or who may choose to use the 

newly referenced ASTM standard to 

perform all appropriate inquiries, 

include public and private parties who, 

as bona fide prospective purchasers, 

contiguous property owners, or 

innocent landowners, are purchasing 

large tracts of forested lands or large 

rural properties and intend to claim a 

limitation on CERCLA liability in 

conjunction with the property purchase. 

In addition, any entity conducting a site 

characterization or assessment on a 

property that consists of large tracts of 

forested land or a large rural property 

with a brownfields grant awarded under 

CERCLA Section104(k)(2)(B)(ii) may be 

affected by this action. This includes 

state, local and Tribal governments that 

receive brownfields site assessment 

grants. A summary of the potentially 

affected industry sectors (by North 

American Industry Classification 

System (NAICS) codes) is displayed in 

the table below. 

Industry category NAICS code 

Real Estate .................... 531 

Insurance ....................... 52412 

Banking/Real Estate 

Credit.

52292 

Environmental Consulting Services.54162 

State, Local and Tribal 

Government.

926110, 925120 

Federal Government ...... 925120, 921190, 

924120 

The list of potentially affected entities 

in the above table may not be 

exhaustive. Our aim is to provide a 

guide for readers regarding those 

entities that EPA is aware potentially 

could be affected by this action. 

However, this action may affect other 

entities not listed in the table. If you 

have questions regarding the 

applicability of this action to a 

particular entity, consult the person 

listed in the preceding section entitled 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. 

C. Statutory Authority 

This final rule amends the All 

Appropriate Inquiries Rule setting 

federal standards for the conduct of ‘‘all 

appropriate inquiries’’ at 40 CFR part 

312. The All Appropriate Inquiries Rule 

sets forth standards and practices 

necessary for fulfilling the requirements 

of CERCLA section 101(35)(B) as 

required to obtain CERCLA liability 

relief and for conducting site 

characterizations and assessments with 

the use of brownfields grants per 

CERCLA section 104(k)(2)(B)(ii). 

II. Background 

On January 11, 2002, President Bush 

signed the Small Business Liability 

Relief and Brownfields Revitalization 

Act (‘‘the Brownfields Amendments’’). 

In general, the Brownfields 

Amendments to CERCLA provide funds 

to assess and clean up brownfields sites; 

clarify CERCLA liability provisions 

related to innocent purchasers of 

contaminated properties; and provide 

funding to enhance State and Tribal 

cleanup programs. Subtitle B of the 

Brownfields Amendments revises some 

of the provisions of CERCLA section 

101(35) and limits Superfund liability 

under Section 107 for bona fide 

prospective purchasers and contiguous 

property owners, in addition to 

clarifying the requirements necessary to 

establish the innocent landowner 

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Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 178 / Friday, September 15, 2017 / Rules and Regulations 43311 

defense under CERCLA. The 

Brownfields Amendments clarified the 

requirement that parties purchasing 

potentially contaminated property 

undertake ‘‘all appropriate inquiries’’ 

into prior ownership and use of 

property prior to purchasing the 

property to qualify for protection from 

CERCLA liability. 

The Brownfields Amendments 

required EPA to develop regulations 

establishing standards and practices for 

how to conduct all appropriate 

inquiries. EPA promulgated regulations 

that set standards and practices for all 

appropriate inquiries on November 1, 

2005 (70 FR 66070). In the final 

regulation, EPA referenced, and 

recognized as compliant with the final 

rule, the ASTM E1527–05 ‘‘Standard 

Practice for Environmental Site 

Assessments: Phase I Environmental 

Site Assessment Process.’’ The 

regulation was amended in December 

2013 to recognize the revised ASTM 

E1527–13, ‘‘Standard Practice for 

Environmental Site Assessments: Phase 

I Environmental Site Assessment 

Process’’ (78 FR 79319). EPA also 

amended the All Appropriate Inquiries 

Rule in December 2008 to recognize 

another ASTM standard as compliant 

with the final rule, the ASTM E2247–08 

‘‘Standard Practice for Environmental 

Site Assessments: Phase I 

Environmental Site Assessment Process 

for Forestland or Rural Property’’ (73 FR 

78651). Therefore, the All Appropriate 

Inquiries Rule (40 CFR part 312) 

currently allows for the use of both the 

ASTM E1527–13 and the ASTM E2247– 

08 standards to conduct all appropriate 

inquiries, in lieu of following 

requirements included in the final rule. 

Note that in October 2014, EPA 

withdrew the reference to the ASTM 

E1527–05 standard from the AAI rule 

(79 FR 60087). 

Since EPA promulgated the All 

Appropriate Inquiries Rule setting 

standards and practices for the conduct 

of all appropriate inquiries, ASTM 

International published a revised Phase 

I site assessment standard for 

conducting Phase I environmental site 

assessments of large tracts of rural and 

forestland properties. This standard, 

ASTM E2247–16, ‘‘Standard Practice for 

Environmental Site Assessments: Phase 

I Environmental Site Assessment 

Process for Forestland or Rural 

Property,’’ was reviewed by EPA, in 

response to a request for its review by 

ASTM International, and determined by 

EPA to be compliant with the 

requirements of the All Appropriate 

Inquiries Rule. EPA proposed to amend 

the All Appropriate Inquiries Rule to 

recognize the updated ASTM E2247–16 

standard on June 20, 2017 (82 FR 

28040). 

III. Summary of Comments 

EPA received one comment on the 

proposed rule published June 20, 2017. 

Although the commenter generally 

supports the Agency’s proposed action, 

the commenter raised a concern 

regarding the proposed effective date of 

the action. The commenter offered that 

parties using the previous version of the 

ASTM E2247 standard (ASTM E2247– 

08) would not have sufficient time to 

transition to the new standard, given 

that EPA proposed an effective date of 

90 days following publication of a direct 

final rule, which was published on the 

same day as the proposed rule. Given 

the concern raised by the commenter, 

EPA decided to extend the effective date 

of its action in this final rule. This final 

rule will become effective 180 days 

following the publication of this final 

rule in Federal Register. The extended 

effective date will give parties using the 

ASTM E2247–08 standard sufficient 

time to transition to the new standard, 

ASTM E2247–16. The Agency notes that 

this action does not require any party to 

use the ASTM E2247–16 standard. Any 

party conducting all appropriate 

inquiries to comply with the CERCLA 

requirements at section 101(35)(B) for 

the innocent landowner defense, the 

contiguous property owner liability 

protection, or the bona fide prospective 

purchaser liability protection may 

continue to follow the provisions of the 

All Appropriate Inquiries Rule at 40 

CFR part 312, use the ASTM E1527–13 

Standard or use the ASTM E2247–16 

standard, as applicable. 

IV. What does this action do? 

This final rule amends the All 

Appropriate Inquiries Rule to allow the 

use of the recently revised ASTM 

standard, E2247–16 ‘‘Standard Practice 

for Environmental Site Assessments: 

Phase I Environmental Site Assessment 

Process for Forestland or Rural 

Property,’’ for conducting all 

appropriate inquiries, as required under 

CERCLA for establishing the innocent 

landowner defense, as well as qualifying 

for the bona fide prospective purchaser 

and contiguous property owner liability 

protections. 

Section 12(d) of the National 

Technology Transfer and Advancement 

Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104–113, section 

12(d) (15 U.S.C. 272)) directs agencies to 

use technical standards that are 

developed or adopted by voluntary 

consensus standards bodies, unless their 

use would be inconsistent with 

applicable law or otherwise 

impracticable. ASTM International is an 

internationally recognized voluntary 

consensus standard body. The ASTM 

E2247–16 ‘‘Standard Practice for 

Environmental Site Assessments: Phase 

I Environmental Site Assessment 

Process for Forestland or Rural 

Property’’ includes an environmental 

site assessment process that EPA finds 

is not inconsistent with the standards 

and practices included in the All 

Appropriate Inquiries Rule. 

With this action, EPA is establishing 

that, parties seeking liability relief 

under CERCLA’s landowner liability 

protections, as well as recipients of 

brownfields grants for conducting site 

assessments, will be considered to be in 

compliance with the requirements for 

all appropriate inquiries, as required in 

the Brownfields Amendments to 

CERCLA, if such parties satisfy the 

applicability requirements and comply 

with the procedures provided in the 

ASTM E2247–16, ‘‘Standard Practice for 

Environmental Site Assessments: Phase 

I Environmental Site Assessment 

Process for Forestland or Rural 

Property.’’ EPA made this determination 

based upon the Agency’s finding that 

the ASTM E2247–16 standard is ‘‘not 

inconsistent with,’’ and compliant with 

the All Appropriate Inquiries Rule. The 

Agency notes that this action does not 

require any party to use the ASTM 

E2247–16 standard. Any party 

conducting all appropriate inquiries to 

comply with the CERCLA requirements 

at section 101(35)(B) for the innocent 

landowner defense, the contiguous 

property owner liability protection, or 

the bona fide prospective purchaser 

liability protection may continue to 

follow the provisions of the All 

Appropriate Inquiries Rule at 40 CFR 

part 312, use the ASTM E1527–13 

Standard or use the ASTM E2247–16 

standard, as applicable. 

In taking this action, the Agency is 

allowing for the use of an additional 

recognized standard or customary 

business practice, in complying with a 

federal regulation. This action does not 

require any person to use the newly 

revised standard. This action merely 

allows for the use of ASTM 

International’s E2247–16 ‘‘Standard 

Practice for Environmental Site 

Assessments: Phase I Environmental 

Site Assessment Process for Forestland 

or Rural Property’’ for those parties 

purchasing relatively large tracts of rural 

property or forestlands who want to use 

the ASTM E2247–16 standard in lieu of 

the following specific requirements of 

the All Appropriate Inquiries Rule or 

the ASTM E1527–13 standard. 

The Agency notes that there are no 

significant differences between the 

regulatory requirements in the All 

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43312 Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 178 / Friday, September 15, 2017 / Rules and Regulations 

Appropriate Inquiries Rule and the 

standards and practices included in the 

two ASTM standards (ASTM E1527–13 

and ASTM E2247–16). To facilitate an 

understanding of the revisions to the 

ASTM E2247–08 Standard Practice for 

Environmental Site Assessments: Phase 

I Environmental Site Assessment 

Standard for Forestland or Rural 

Property, which was recognized by EPA 

as compliant with the requirements of 

the all appropriate inquiries regulation 

in 2013, and the revised ASTM E2247– 

16 Standard, which replaces the ASTM 

E2247–08 standard, EPA developed, and 

placed in the docket for this action, the 

document ‘‘Summary of Updates and 

Revisions to ASTM E2247 Standard 

Practice for Environmental Site 

Assessments: Phase I Environmental 

Site Assessment Process for Forestland 

or Rural Property.’’ Also in the docket 

for this action is the document 

‘‘Comparison of the All Appropriate 

Inquiries Regulation, the ASTM E1527– 

13 Phase I Environmental Site 

Assessment Process and the ASTM 

E2247–16 Phase I Environmental Site 

Assessment Process for Forestland or 

Rural Property Standard.’’ This 

document provides an overview of the 

similarities and slight differences 

between the AAI regulatory 

requirements and the requirements 

included in the two ASTM phase I 

environmental site assessment 

standards. 

This action includes no changes to the 

All Appropriate Inquiries Rule other 

than to update the reference in the 

regulation for the ASTM E2247 

standard. This action replaces the 

reference to the ASTM E2247–08 

‘‘Standard Practice for Environmental 

Site Assessments: Phase I 

Environmental Site Assessment Process 

for Forestland or Rural Property’’ in the 

All Appropriate Inquiries Rule with the 

updated ASTM E2247–16 standard of 

the same name. EPA’s only action with 

this final rule is recognition of the 

ASTM E2247–16 standard as compliant 

with the All Appropriate Inquires Rule. 

V. Statutory and Executive Order 

Reviews 

Under Executive Order 12866 (58 FR 

51735, October 4, 1993) and Executive 

Order 13563 (76 FR 3821, January 21, 

2011), this action is not a ‘‘significant 

regulatory action’’ and is therefore not 

subject to OMB review. Further, this 

action will not have a significant impact 

on a substantial number of small entities 

and, as a result, is not subject to the 

Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 

et seq.). Because this action does not 

contain a Federal mandate that may 

result in expenditures of $100 million or 

more for State, local, and tribal 

governments, in the aggregate or the 

private sector in any one year, and does 

not contain regulatory requirements that 

might significantly or uniquely affect 

small governments, it is not subject to 

Sections 202, 203, and 205 of the 

Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 

(UMRA) (Pub. L. 104–4). This action 

does not create new binding legal 

requirements that substantially and 

directly affect Tribes under Executive 

Order 13175 (65 FR 67249, November 9, 

2000). This action does not have 

significant Federalism implications 

under Executive Order 13132 (64 FR 

43255, August 10, 1999). Because this 

final rule was not reviewed under 

Executive Order 12866, this final rule is 

not subject to Executive Order 13211, 

entitled Actions Concerning Regulations 

That Significantly Affect Energy Supply, 

Distribution, or Use (66 FR 28355, May 

22, 2001) or Executive Order 13045, 

entitled Protection of Children from 

Environmental Health Risks and Safety 

Risks (62 FR 19885, April 23, 1997). 

This final rule does not contain any 

information collections subject to OMB 

approval under the Paperwork 

Reduction Act (PRA), 44 U.S.C. 3501 et 

seq., nor does it require any special 

considerations under Executive Order 

12898, entitled Federal Actions to 

Address Environmental Justice in 

Minority Populations and Low-Income 

Populations (59 FR 7629, February 16, 

1994). 

A. National Technology Transfer and 

Advancement Act (NTTAA) 

This action involves technical 

standards. This action allows for the use 

of the ASTM International Standard 

known as Standard E2247–16 and 

entitled ‘‘Standard Practice for 

Environmental Site Assessments: Phase 

I Environmental Site Assessment 

Process for Forestland or Rural 

Property.’’ 

B. Congressional Review Act 

This action is subject to the 

Congressional Review Act (CRA), and 

the EPA will submit a rule report to 

each House of Congress and to the 

Comptroller General of the United 

States. This action is not a ‘‘major rule’’ 

as defined by 5 U.S.C. 804(2). 

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 312 

Environmental protection, 

Administrative practice and procedure, 

Hazardous substances, 

Intergovernmental relations, Reporting 

and recordkeeping requirements, 

Superfund. 

Dated: August 31, 2017. 

Barry N. Breen, 

Acting Assistant Administrator, Office of 

Land and Emergency Management. 

For the reasons set out in the 

preamble, the Environmental Protection 

Agency amends title 40 chapter I of the 

Code of Federal Regulations as follows: 

PART 312—INNOCENT 

LANDOWNERS, STANDARDS FOR 

CONDUCTING ALL APPROPRIATE 

INQUIRIES 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 312 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: Section 101(35)(B) of CERCLA, 

as amended, 42 U.S.C. 9601(35)(B). 

■ 2. Amend § 312.11 by revising 

paragraph (a) to read as follows: 

§ 312.11 References. 

* * * * * 

(a) The procedures of ASTM 

International Standard E2247–16 

entitled ‘‘Standard Practice for 

Environmental Site Assessments: Phase 

I Environmental Site Assessment 

Process for Forestland or Rural 

Property.’’ This standard is available 

from ASTM International at 

www.astm.org, 1–610–832–9585. 

* * * * * 

[FR Doc. 2017–19593 Filed 9–14–17; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS 

COMMISSION 

47 CFR Part 97 

[ET Docket No. 15–99; FCC 17–33] 

WRC–12 Implementation Report and 

Order 

AGENCY: Federal Communications 

Commission. 

ACTION: Final rule; announcement of 

effective date. 

SUMMARY: In this document, the Federal 

Communications Commission 

(Commission) announces that the Office 

of Management and Budget (OMB) has 

approved, for a period of three years, the 

information collection associated with 

the Commission’s Report and Order, 

FCC 17–33. The Commission also 

announces the effective date of the 

remaining part 97 Amateur Radio 

Service rules adopted in FCC 17–33 that 

had not yet been made effective. These 

rules do not require OMB approval. This 

document is consistent with the Report 

and Order, which stated that the 

Commission would publish a document 

in the Federal Register announcing 

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