[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 52 (Thursday, March 17, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14660-14661]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-6217]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[EPA-HQ-RCRA-2002-0033; FRL-9281-1]
Public Comment on the Development of Final Guidance for
Evaluating the Vapor Intrusion to Indoor Air Pathway From Contaminated
Groundwater and Soils (Subsurface Vapor Intrusion Guidance)
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (``EPA'') is announcing an
opportunity for public comment on the development of a final guidance
entitled: Evaluating Vapor Intrusion to Indoor Air Pathway from
Contaminated Groundwater and Soil (Subsurface Vapor Intrusion
Guidance). A draft of the Subsurface Vapor Intrusion Guidance was
released for public comment in November 2002. EPA is planning to issue
the final guidance by November 30, 2012 and is seeking public comment
for consideration during the development of this document. EPA also
intends to make another draft of the guidance available for public
comment in the spring of 2012.
DATES: Comments received by May 14, 2011 will be considered in the
development of the final Subsurface Vapor Intrusion Guidance.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-
RCRA-2002-0033, by one of the following methods:
http://www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line
instructions for submitting comments.
E-mail: Comments may be sent by electronic mail (e-mail)
to: [email protected], Attention Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-RCRA-2002-0033.
Fax: Comments may be faxed to 202-566-9744, Attention
Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-RCRA-2002-0033.
Mail: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; EPA Docket
Center, EPA West, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington,
DC 20460, Attention Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-RCRA-2002-0033. Please include
two copies of your submission.
Hand Delivery: Deliver two copies of your submission to
Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-RCRA-2002-0033, EPA/DC, EPA West, Room 3334, 1301
Constitution Ave., NW., Washington, D.C. 20460. Such deliveries are
only accepted during the Docket's normal hours of operation, and
special arrangements should be made for deliveries of boxed
information.
Listening Session: Oral and written comments will be
accepted at an internet and telephone-accessible public listening
session to be held on April 11, 2011 at EPA's First Floor Conference
Center in the Potomac Yard South Building located at: 2777 Crystal
Drive, Arlington, VA 22202. The listening session will begin at 9:00
a.m. and end at approximately 5 p.m. Advanced registration is requested
for those wishing to attend the listening session. Additional details,
including instructions for registering and attending via the internet,
is under Listening Session and available at: http://www.epa.gov/oswer/vaporintrusion. To participate by telephone only (and not internet) use
1-866-299-3188, access code 7036039924.
Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-RCRA-
2002-0033. EPA's policy is that all submissions received will be
included in the public docket without change and may be made available
online at http://www.regulations.gov, including any personal
information provided, unless the submission 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 e-mail. The http://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 comments. If you send an e-mail directly to EPA without going
through http://www.regulations.gov, your e-mail address will be
automatically captured and included as part of the submission that is
placed in the public docket and made available on the Internet. If you
submit an electronic document, EPA recommends that you include your
name and other contact information in the body of your submission and
with any disk or CD-ROM you submit. If EPA cannot read your submission
due to technical difficulties and cannot contact you for clarification,
EPA may not be able to consider your comment. Electronic files should
avoid the use of special characters, any form of encryption, and be
free of any defects or viruses.
Docket: All documents in the docket are listed in the http://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 http://www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at the RCRA Docket, EPA/
DC, EPA West, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Ave., NW., Washington, DC,
20460. The Public Reading Room is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.,
Monday through Friday, excluding legal holidays. The telephone number
for the Public Reading Room is (202) 566-1744, and
[[Page 14661]]
the telephone number for the RCRA Docket is (202) 566-0270.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Stiven Foster, Policy Analysis &
Regulatory Management Staff, Office of Program Management, Office of
Solid Waste and Emergency Response, U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Mail Code 5103T, Washington, DC.
20460; telephone: (202) 566-1911; fax number; 202-566-1934; e-mail
address: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. General Information
This notice is directed to the public in general, and may be of
interest to a wide range of stakeholders, including private citizens,
federal, tribal, state and local governments, environmental consulting
firms, industry representatives, environmental organizations and other
public interest groups. Since others may also be interested, the Agency
has not attempted to describe all the specific entities that may have
interest in this notice. If you have any questions regarding the
applicability of this action to a particular entity, consult the EPA
personnel listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
EPA is inviting the public to provide comments on the development
of final guidance for Evaluating Vapor Intrusion to Indoor Air Pathway
from Contaminated Groundwater and Soil (Subsurface Vapor Intrusion
Guidance). A draft version of the Subsurface Vapor Intrusion Guidance
was released in November 2002 (67 FR 71169), and a docket was
established for public comments: Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-RCRA-2002-0033.
The 2002 draft is available from the docket (http://www.regulations.gov) and at: http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/hazard/correctiveaction/eis/vapor.htm.
EPA is planning to issue the final Subsurface Vapor Intrusion
Guidance by November 30, 2012 and has re-opened the docket for public
comment. Comments previously provided to the docket on the 2002 draft
of the Subsurface Vapor Intrusion Guidance, and any comment provided to
the docket before May 14, 2011, will be considered in the development
of the final document. The public will also be given an opportunity to
provide comments on a new draft of the guidance in the spring of 2012.
Details on how to provide new comments to the docket are provided under
ADDRESSES.
EPA has prepared a document entitled Review of the Draft 2002
Subsurface Vapor Intrusion Guidance, which summarizes EPA's current
understanding of the portions of the 2002 Draft Subsurface Vapor
Intrusion Guidance that remain valid and those that may need to be
updated. In addition to updating portions of the 2002 draft, EPA plans
to incorporate the following information at the recommendation of its
Inspector General (Report No. 10-P-042):
Updated toxicity values;
A recommendation(s) to use multiple lines of evidence in
evaluating and making decisions about risk from vapor intrusion;
How risk from petroleum hydrocarbons should be addressed;
How the guidance applies to Superfund Five-Year reviews;
When or whether preemptive mitigation is appropriate;
Operations and maintenance of mitigation systems, the
termination of the systems, and when institutional controls and deed
restrictions are appropriate.
The public may want to provide comments on the 2002 draft Subsurface
Vapor Intrusion Guidance, the information that the Inspector General
has suggested incorporating into the final guidance, or other
information that EPA should consider when developing the final version
of the guidance.
II. Background
Vapor intrusion can occur when there is migration of volatile
chemicals from contaminated groundwater or soil into a building.
Volatile chemicals may include volatile organic compounds, select semi-
volatile organic compounds, and under certain conditions some inorganic
compounds, such as elemental mercury, radon, and hydrogen sulfide.
Additional information about vapor intrusion can be found at http://www.epa.gov/oswer/vaporintrusion.
III. Listening Session
In addition to seeking written comments, an internet and telephone-
accessible public listening session will be held on April 11, 2011. The
listening session will be held at the conference center in EPA's
Potomac Yard South Building located at: 2777 Crystal Drive, Arlington,
VA 22202. The listening session will begin at 9 a.m. and end at
approximately 5 p.m.
The purpose of the listening session will be to allow all
interested parties to provide comments on the development on the final
Subsurface Vapor Intrusion Guidance. Advanced registration is requested
for those wishing to attend the listening session. Registration can be
by internet at http://www.epa.gov/oswer/vaporintrusion, by e-mail at
[email protected], by phone 202-566-1911, or by faxing a
registration request to 202-566-1934. In your registration, please
reference the ``Vapor Intrusion Guidance Listening Session,'' your
name, title, affiliation, full address and contact information. When
you register, please indicate if you would like to make oral comments
at the session. In general, each oral comment should be no more than 15
minutes in length. If, however, there are more requests for oral
comments than the allotted time allows, the time limit for comments
will be adjusted. Written comments will also be accepted at the
listening sessions. A copy of the agenda for the listening session will
be available at the meeting. If no speakers have registered by five
calendar days prior to the listening session, it will be cancelled, and
EPA will notify those registered of the cancellation. Additional
details about the listening session, including instructions attending
via the internet, are available at: http://www.epa.gov/oswer/vaporintrusion. To participate by telephone only (and not internet) use
1-866-299-3188, access code 7036039924.
Dated: March 11, 2011.
Renee P. Wynn,
Director, Office of Program Management, Office of Solid Waste and
Emergency Response.
[FR Doc. 2011-6217 Filed 3-16-11; 8:45 am]
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