Document ID: EPA-HQ-SFUND-2014-0733-0002
Agency: epa
Document Type: Proposed Rule
Title: National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan: Data Management System Nomenclature
Posted Date: 2014-11-05T05:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 214 (Wednesday, November 5, 2014)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 65612-65613]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-26159]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 300

[EPA-HQ-SFUND-2014-0733; FRL-9918-51-OSWER]

National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan; 
Technical Amendment To Update Data Management System Nomenclature

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: Effective January 31, 2014 the EPA Superfund program 
decommissioned the Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation 
and Liability Act Information System (CERCLIS) and adopted a new, more 
comprehensive data management system. The new data management system, 
the Superfund Enterprise Management System (SEMS), serves as a more 
powerful, integrated platform. Consistent with this action, this 
proposed rule proposes to make appropriate conforming terminological 
changes to our regulations. This proposed rule also proposes to add a 
minor clarification to the description of the remedial preliminary 
assessment.

DATES: Written comments must be received by December 5, 2014.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-
SFUND-2014-0733, by one of the following methods:
     www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line instructions for 
submitting comments.
     Email: superfund.docket@epa.gov
     U.S. Postal Mail: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 
EPA Docket Center (EPA/DC), Superfund Docket, Mailcode: 28221T, 1200 
Pennsylvania Ave. NW., Washington, DC 20460.
     Hand Delivery: EPA Docket Center (EPA/DC), EPA West, Room 
3334, 1301 Constitution Ave. NW., Washington, DC 20460. Attention 
Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-SFUND-2014-0733. Such deliveries are only accepted 
during the Docket's normal hours of operation, and special arrangements 
should be made for deliveries of boxed information.
    Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-SFUND-
2014-0733. EPA's policy is that all comments received will be included 
in the public docket without change and may be made available online at 
www.regulations.gov, including any personal information provided, 
unless the comment includes information claimed to be Confidential 
Business Information (CBI) or other information whose disclosure is 
restricted by statute. Do not submit information that you consider to 
be CBI or otherwise protected through www.regulations.gov or email. The 
www.regulations.gov Web site is an ``anonymous access'' system, which 
means EPA will not know your identity or contact information unless you 
provide it in the body of your comment. If you send an email comment 
directly to EPA without going through www.regulations.gov, your email 
address will be automatically captured and included as part of the 
comment that is placed in the public docket and made available on the 
Internet. If you submit an electronic comment, EPA recommends that you 
include your name and other contact information in the body of your 
comment and with any disk or CD-ROM you submit. If EPA cannot read your 
comment due to technical difficulties and cannot contact you for 
clarification, EPA may not be able to consider your

[[Page 65613]]

comment. Electronic files should avoid the use of special characters, 
any form of encryption, and be free of any defects or viruses. For 
additional information about EPA's public docket, visit the EPA Docket 
Center homepage at http://www.epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm
    Docket: All documents in the docket are listed in the 
www.regulations.gov index. Although listed in the index, some 
information is not publicly available, e.g., CBI or other information 
whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Certain other material, such 
as copyrighted material, will be publicly available only in hard copy. 
Publicly available docket materials are available either electronically 
in www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at the Superfund Docket (Docket 
ID No. EPA-HQ-SFUND-2014-0733). This Docket Facility is open from 8:30 
a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal holidays. The 
Superfund Docket telephone number is (202) 566-0276. EPA Docket Center 
(EPA/DC), EPA West, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Ave. NW., Washington, 
DC.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jennifer Hovis at (703) 603-8888 
(hovis.jennifer@epa.gov), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 
Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20460-0002, Mail Code 5202P.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Why is EPA issuing this proposed rule?

    This document proposes to amend the National Oil and Hazardous 
Substances Pollution Contingency Plan (NCP) to make nonsubstantive 
changes to reflect new data management system nomenclature resulting 
from the Superfund program's transition from CERCLIS to SEMS. This 
document also adds minor clarifying text to a description in the NCP 
that will make the regulations more accurate. We have published a 
direct final rule to promulgate the above changes in the ``Rules and 
Regulations'' section of today's Federal Register because we view this 
as a noncontroversial action and anticipate no adverse comment. We have 
explained our reasons for this action in the preamble to the direct 
final rule.
    If we receive no adverse comment, we will not take further action 
on this proposed rule. If we receive adverse comment, we will issue a 
timely withdrawal of the direct final rule and it will not take effect. 
We would address all relevant public comments in any subsequent final 
rule based on this proposed rule. We do not intend to institute a 
second comment period on this action. Any parties interested in 
commenting must do so at this time. For further information, please see 
the information provided in the ADDRESSES section of this document. 
Comments are only being solicited on the deletion of reference to 
CERCLIS and the addition of clarifying text to the remedial preliminary 
assessment description. Therefore, comments are not being requested on 
other unmodified sections of the NCP nor on EPA's internal agency 
management decision to update the Superfund data management system, and 
such comments will not be considered if submitted.

II. What does this amendment do?

    This rule proposes to revise the Operational Abbreviations section 
(40 CFR 300.4(b)) and the Definitions section (40 CFR 300.5) of the NCP 
to reflect terminological changes necessary for consistency with EPA's 
transition from CERCLIS as the Superfund program's planning and 
tracking data management system to SEMS. This rule also amends the 
Remedial preliminary assessment description (40 CFR 420(b)) to clarify 
that the Preliminary Assessment (PA) is performed on only those sites 
that have been entered into the SEMS remedial assessment active 
inventory.

III. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

    For a complete discussion of all of the administrative requirements 
applicable to this action, see the discussion in the ``Statutory and 
Executive Order Reviews'' section to the preamble for the direct final 
rule that is published in the Rules and Regulations section of this 
Federal Register.
    Under Executive Order 12866 (58 FR 51735, October 4, 1993) and 
Executive Order 13563 (76 FR 3821, January 21, 2011), this proposed 
action is not a ``significant regulatory action'' and is therefore not 
subject to OMB review. This action merely deletes an obsolete reference 
to a retired information system and adds minor clarifying text to a 
description in the NCP. This action does not impose any requirements on 
any entity, including small entities. Therefore, pursuant to the 
Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.), after considering 
the economic impacts of this action on small entities, I certify that 
this action will not have a significant economic impact on a 
substantial number of small entities.

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 300

    Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Chemicals, 
Hazardous substances, Hazardous waste, Intergovernmental relations, 
Natural resources, Oil pollution, Penalties, Reporting and 
recordkeeping requirements, Superfund, Water pollution control, Water 
supply.

    Dated: October 28, 2014.
Mathy Stanislaus,
Assistant Administrator, Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response.
[FR Doc. 2014-26159 Filed 11-4-14; 8:45 am]
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