Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 243 / Tuesday, December 18, 2001 / Notices 65209

2000. Please consult the database

website (above) for status and

availability of this update.

Dated: December 5, 2001.

George W. Alapas,

Acting Director, National Center for

Environmental Assessment.

[FR Doc. 01–31175 Filed 12–17–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

AGENCY

[FRL–7118–9]

Proposed Agreement and Covenant

Not To Sue Pursuant to the

Comprehensive Environmental

Response, Compensation, and Liability

Act of 1980, as Amended by the

Superfund Amendments and

Reauthorization Act of 1986; In Re:

Gardner and Hubbardston Superfund

Site, Gardner, Massachusetts

AGENCY: Environmental Protection

Agency.

ACTION: Notice of proposed agreement;

request for public comment.

SUMMARY: In accordance with the

Comprehensive Environmental

Response Compensation, and Liability

Act, as amended (‘‘CERCLA’’), 42 U.S.C.

9601, et seq., notice is hereby given of

a proposed Agreement and Covenant

Not to Sue between the United States,

on behalf of the U.S. Environmental

Protection Agency (‘‘EPA’’) and The

Gardner Little League, Inc.

(‘‘Purchaser’’). The Purchaser plans to

acquire approximately 10 acres of

property that is currently owned by Mr.

Ronald Kirwood. The Purchaser intends

to use the property to construct a youth

baseball facility. Under the Proposed

Agreement, the United States grants a

Covenant Not to Sue to the Purchaser

with respect to existing contamination

at the Site in exchange for the

Purchaser’s agreement to pay EPA

$12,000. In addition, the Purchaser

agrees to provide an irrevocable right of

access to representatives of EPA.

For thirty (30) days following the date

of publication of this notice, the Agency

will receive written comments relating

to the settlement. The Agency will

consider all comments received and

may modify or withdraw its consent to

the settlement if comments received

disclose facts or considerations which

indicate that the settlement is

inappropriate, improper, or inadequate.

The Agency’s response to any comments

received will be available for public

inspection at One Congress Street,

Boston, MA 02214.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on

or before January 17, 2002.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be

addressed to Michelle Lauterback,

Enforcement Counsel, U.S.

Environmental Protection Agency,

Regional I, One Congress Street, Suite

1100, Mail code SES, Boston,

Massachusetts 02203, and should refer

to: In re: Gardner and Hubbardston

Superfund Site, U.S. EPA Docket No.

CERCLA–01–2001–0076.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: A

copy of the proposed Agreement and

Covenant Not to Sue can be obtained

from Sharon Fennelly, Enforcement

Coordinator, U.S. Environmental

Protection Agency, Region I, One

Congress Street, Mailcode HBR, Boston,

Massachusetts 02214, (617) 918–1263.

Dated: November 7, 2001.

Robert V. Varney,

Regional Administrator, Region I.

[FR Doc. 01–31180 Filed 12–17–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560–50–M

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

AGENCY

[FRL–7119–5]

Notice of Final NPDES General Permit;

Final NPDES General Permit for New

and Existing Sources and New

Dischargers in the Offshore

Subcategory of the Oil and Gas

Extraction Category for the Western

Portion of the Outer Continental Shelf

of the Gulf of Mexico (GMG290000)

AGENCY: Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: EPA Region 6 today issues a

modification of the National Pollutant

Discharge Elimination System (NPDES)

general permit for the Western Portion

of the Outer Continental Shelf of the

Gulf of Mexico (No. GMG290000) for

discharges from new sources, existing

sources, and new dischargers in the

Offshore Subcategory of the Oil and Gas

Extraction Point Source Category (40

CFR part 435, subpart A). The modified

permit will become effective February

19, 2002. The existing permit published

in the Federal Register, at 64 FR 19156

on April 19, 1999, authorizes discharges

from exploration, development, and

production facilities located in and

discharging to Federal waters of the Gulf

of Mexico seaward of the outer

boundary of the territorial seas offshore

of Louisiana and Texas. Today’s action

adds the authorization to discharge of

drill cuttings generated using synthetic

and other non-aqueous based drilling

fluids and hydrostatic test water form

pressure testing of existing pipelines.

A copy of the Region’s responses to

comments and the final permit may be

obtained from the EPA Region 6 internet

site: http://www.epa.gov/earth1r6/6wq/

6wq.htm.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms.

Diane Smith, EPA Region 6, 1445 Ross

Avenue, Dallas, Texas 75202,

Telephone: (214) 665 7191, or via

EMAIL to the following address:

smith.diane@epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Regulated

Entities. Entities potentially regulated

by this action are those which operate

offshore oil and gas extraction facilities

located in the Outer Continental Shelf

Offshore of Louisiana and Texas.

Category Examples of regulated entities

Industry .......... Offshore Oil and Gas Extraction Platforms.

This table lists the types of entities

that EPA is now aware could potentially

be regulated by this action. Other types

of entities not listed in the table could

also be regulated. To determine whether

your (facility, company, business,

organization, etc.) is regulated by this

action, you should carefully examine

the applicability criteria in Part I.

Section A.1. of the general permit. If you

have questions regarding the

applicability of this action to a

particular entity, consult the person

listed in the preceding FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT section.

Pursuant to section 402 of the Clean

Water Act (CWA), 33 U.S.C. 1342, EPA

proposed and solicited comments on

NPDES general permit GMG290000 at

63 FR 2238 (January 14, 1998). Notice of

this proposed permit modification was

also published in the New Orleans

Times Picayune and the Lafayette Daily

Advisor on June 9, 2001. The comment

period closed on August 6, 2001.

Region 6 received comments from the

Offshore Operators Committee, M–I

LLC, Baroid Drilling Fluids, PetroCanada, and B.P. Chemicals.

EPA Region 6 has considered all

comments received. In response to those

comments, protocol were included in

the final permit for the new test

methods for sediment toxicity and

biodegradation. A statistical tool was

also included in the final permit to

account for variability in those new test

methods. Several clarifications were

also made in the permit’s language.

The permit modification includes

limits and monitoring requirements for

six new parameters. Monitoring for

those parameters and implementation of

65210 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 243 / Tuesday, December 18, 2001 / Notices

the required test methods have not

previously been required for offshore oil

and gas discharges. Industry is therefore

expected to need some time to get the

necessary equipment in place and train

personnel prior to beginning the

monitoring. The effective date of the

permit is being delayed by thirty days

to accommodate those needs.

EPA also expects that many operators

will not be able to comply with several

of the permit’s new limits on the

effective date. Operators may be unable

to get new equipment in place to meet

the new limits for retention of drilling

fluid on drill cuttings. There may be an

insufficient stock of synthetic base

fluids which comply with the new

limits. Also, time will be needed to

complete the 275 day biodegradation

test and to develop sufficient laboratory

capacity and stocks of organisms to

conduct the sediment toxicity test. For

those reasons administrative

compliance orders are being issued

requiring those discharges not in

compliance with the new limitations to

comply within six months.

The industry has requested an

additional delay in the compliance

requirements for the 4-day sediment

toxicity limit until February 1, 2003.

There are several complicating factors

that will initially make compliance with

the limit more difficult than with the

stock base fluid sediment toxicity limit.

Since the 4-day sediment toxicity test is

used to measure toxicity of discharged

drilling fluids, not just stock base fluids,

components and additives to the

drilling fluids will initially make

compliance with the limits more

difficult. The four day test has been

shown to have more inherent variability

than the ten day test. Also, demand on

laboratories conducting the four day test

will be much greater than for the ten

day test; thus, there is more of a need

to build laboratory capacity and develop

an adequate supply of test organisms.

The administrative compliance order

will therefore require operators to

comply with the 4-day sediment toxicity

limit by February 1, 2003.

Sam Becker,

Acting Director, Water Quality Protection

Division, Region 6.

[FR Doc. 01–31176 Filed 12–17–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P

OFFICE OF NATIONAL DRUG

CONTROL POLICY

Meeting of the Drug Control Research,

Data, and Evaluation Committee

AGENCY: Office of National Drug Control

Policy.

ACTION: Notice of meeting.

SUMMARY: ONDCP will convene a

meeting of the Drug Control Research,

Data, and Evaluation Advisory

Committee on January 17–18, 2002, at

the White House Conference Center

located at 726 Jackson Place, NW.,

Washington, DC. The meeting will begin

promptly each day at 9 am and adjourn

at 4 pm. The agenda will include

general discussion and briefs on

national drug use indicators and other

federal drug control initiatives

including, but not limited to the

following: (1) Interagency Oxycontin

Work Group Progress Report on an Early

Warning System for Pharmaceutical

Diversion Abuse; (2) a Redesign

Proposal for the Drug Abuse Warning

Network (DAWN); (3) ONDCP’s AntiDrug Media Campaign Evaluation; (4)

2001 National Household Survey on

Drug Abuse State Estimates of

Treatment Need and Drug Use

Prevalence; (5) The RAMONA Project

(Random Access Monitoring of

Narcotics Addicts); (6) HHS’s Report on

Closing the Drug Abuse Treatment Gap:

A Report to the President of the U.S.; (7)

Updates on Drug Free Communities

Grant Program; and (8) Activities related

to: prevention, families, schools, and

workplaces. There will be an

opportunity for public comment from

11:30 am to 12 Noon on Thursday,

January 17, 2002.

DATES: January 17–18, 2002, 9 am to

4:00 pm. Opportunity for public

comment from 11:30 am to 12:00 noon

on Thursday, January 17, 2002.

ADDRESSES: White House Conference

Center, 726 Jackson Place, NW,

Washington, DC.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Linda V. Priebe, Assistant General

Counsel, Office of National Drug Control

Policy, Washington, DC (202) 395–6622.

Dated: December 11, 2001.

Linda V. Priebe,

Assistant General Counsel.

[FR Doc. 01–31055 Filed 12–17–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3180–02–P

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS

COMMISSION

[CC Docket No. 96–45; DA 01–2841]

Common Carrier Bureau Seeks

Comment on Pine Belt Cellular and

Pine Belt PCS Petition for Designation

as an Eligible Telecommunications

Carrier in Alabama

AGENCY: Federal Communications

Commission.

ACTION: Notice; solicitation of

comments.

SUMMARY: In a Public Notice in this

proceeding released on December 7,

2001, the Common Carrier Bureau

sought comment on the Pine Belt

Cellular and Pine Belt PCS Petition for

Designation as an Eligible

Telecommunications Carrier in

Alabama, including the requested

service area.

DATES: Comments are due on or before

January 17, 2002. Reply comments are

due on or before February 1, 2002.

ADDRESSES: See SUPPLEMENTARY

INFORMATION section for where and how

to file comments.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Richard D. Smith or Anita Cheng,

Attorney, or Sheryl Todd, Management

Analyst, Common Carrier Bureau,

Accounting Policy Division, (202) 418–

7400 TTY: (202) 418–0484.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On

November 26, 2001, Pine Belt Cellular

and Pine Belt PCS (Pine Belt) filed with

the Commission a petition under section

214(e)(6) seeking designation as an

eligible telecommunications carrier

(ETC) to receive federal universal

service support for service offered in

Alabama. Specifically, Pine Belt

contends that the Alabama Public

Service Commission has provided an

affirmative statement that it lacks

jurisdiction to consider Pine Belt’s

petition, Pine Belt meets all the

statutory and regulatory prerequisites

for ETC designation, and designating

Pine Belt as an ETC will serve the

public interest. The Common Carrier

Bureau seeks comment on the Pine Belt

Petition, including the requested service

area.

The petitioner must provide copies of

its petition to the Alabama Public

Service Commission at the time of filing

with the Commission. The Commission

will also send a copy of this Notice to

the Alabama Public Service Commission

by overnight express mail to ensure that

the Alabama Public Service Commission

is notified of the notice and comment

period.