Document ID: EPA-HQ-SFUND-2002-0008-0037
Agency: epa
Document Type: Rule
Title: National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan; National Priorities List: Partial Deletion of the Libby Asbestos Superfund Site
Posted Date: 2020-05-26T04:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 101 (Tuesday, May 26, 2020)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 31389-31390]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-09563]

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 300

[EPA-HQ-SFUND-2002-0008; FRL-10008-19-Region 8]

National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan; 
National Priorities List: Partial Deletion of the Libby Asbestos 
Superfund Site

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.

ACTION: Final rule; partial deletion.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 8 announces 
the deletion of the Operable Unit 1 (OU1), Former Export Plant of the 
Libby Asbestos Superfund Site (Site) located in Lincoln County, 
Montana, from the National Priorities List (NPL). The NPL, promulgated 
pursuant to section 105 of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, 
Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) of 1980, as amended, is an 
appendix of the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution 
Contingency Plan (NCP). This partial deletion pertains to OU1. Operable 
Unit 2 (OU2), Former Screening Plant, was deleted from the NPL on April 
10, 2019. Operable Unit 3 (OU3), Former Vermiculite Mine; Operable Unit 
4 and Operable Unit 7 (OU4/OU7), Residential/Commercial Properties of 
Libby and Troy; Operable Unit 5 (OU5), Former Stimson Lumber Mill; 
Operable Unit 6 (OU6), BNSF Rail Corridor; and Operable Unit 8 (OU8), 
Highways and Roadways, are not being considered for deletion as part of 
this proposed action and will remain on the NPL. The EPA and the State 
of Montana, through the Montana Department of Environmental Quality, 
have determined that all appropriate response actions under CERCLA, 
other than operation and maintenance, monitoring and five-year reviews, 
have been completed. However, the deletion of these parcels does not 
preclude future actions under Superfund.

DATES: This action is effective May 26, 2020.

ADDRESSES: EPA has established a docket for this action under Docket 
Identification No. EPA-HQ-SFUND-2002-0008. All documents in the docket 
are listed on the http://www.regulations.gov website. Although listed 
in the index, some information is not publicly available, i.e., 
Confidential Business Information or other information whose disclosure 
is restricted by statute. Certain other material, such as copyrighted 
material, is not placed on the internet and will be publicly available 
only in hard copy form. Publicly available docket materials are 
available electronically in http://www.regulations.gov; by calling EPA 
Region 8 at (303) 312-7279 and leaving a message; and at the EPA Info 
Center, 108 E 9th Street, Libby, MT 59923, (406) 293-6194, Monday 
through Thursday from 8:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dania Zinner, Remedial Project 
Manager, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 8, 1595 Wynkoop 
Street, Mailcode: 8SEM-RB, Denver, CO 80202-1129, email: 
zinner.dania@epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The portion of the site to be deleted from 
the NPL is: OU1, Lincoln County, MT. A Notice of Intent for Partial 
Deletion for this Site was published in the Federal Register (85 FR 
4249) on January 24, 2020.
    The closing date for comments on the Notice of Intent for Partial 
Deletion was February 24, 2020. Two public comments were received. The 
comments did not object to the deletion; they highlighted management of 
institutional controls and updating the operations and maintenance plan 
as appropriate in the future. EPA believes the partial deletion action 
is appropriate. A responsiveness summary was prepared and placed in 
both the docket, EPA-HQ-SFUND-2002-0008, on www.regulations.gov, and in 
the local repositories listed above.
    EPA maintains the NPL as the list of sites that appear to present a 
significant risk to public health, welfare, or the environment. 
Deletion of a site from the

[[Page 31390]]

NPL does not preclude further remedial action. Whenever there is a 
significant release from a site deleted from the NPL, the deleted site 
may be restored to the NPL without application of the hazard ranking 
system. Deletion of portions of a site from the NPL does not affect 
responsible party liability, in the unlikely event that future 
conditions warrant further actions.

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 300

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

    Authority: 33 U.S.C. 1321(c)(2); 42 U.S.C. 9601-9657; E.O. 
13626, 77 FR 56749, 3 CFR, 2013 Comp., p. 306; E.O. 12777, 56 FR 
54757, 3 CFR, 1991 Comp., p. 351; E.O. 12580, 52 FR 2923, 3 CFR, 
1987 Comp., p. 193.

    Dated: April 29, 2020.
Gregory Sopkin,
Regional Administrator, EPA Region 8.
[FR Doc. 2020-09563 Filed 5-22-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P