[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 213 (Thursday, November 3, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 68193-68194]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-28477]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
[ATSDR-271]
Notice of the Revised Priority List of Hazardous Substances That
Will Be the Subject of Toxicological Profiles
AGENCY: Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR),
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and
Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA or Superfund), as amended by the
Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986 (SARA), requires
that ATSDR and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) prepare a
Priority List of Hazardous Substances commonly found at facilities on
the CERCLA National Priorities List (NPL). The Priority List of
Hazardous Substances includes substances that have been determined to
be of greatest public health concern to persons at or near NPL sites.
CERCLA as amended also requires that the Priority List of Hazardous
Substances be revised periodically.
This announcement provides notice that a revised Priority List of
275 Hazardous Substances has been developed and is now available for
download. CERCLA as amended also requires ATSDR to prepare and to
periodically revise toxicological profiles on hazardous substances
included in the priority list. Thus, each priority list substance is a
potential toxicological profile subject, as well as a candidate for
identification of priority data needs.
In addition to the Priority List of Hazardous Substances, ATSDR has
developed a Completed Exposure Pathway Site Count Report. This report
lists the number of sites or events at which ATSDR is involved and
wherein a substance has been found in a completed exposure pathway
(CEP).
ADDRESSES: Requests for a printed copy of the 2011 Priority List of
Hazardous Substances That Will Be the Subject of Toxicological Profiles
and Support Document, including the CEP report should be submitted to
Ms. Nickolette Roney, Division of Toxicology and Environmental
Medicine, ATSDR, Mail Stop F-62, 1600 Clifton Road NE., Atlanta, GA
30333.
Electronic Availability: The 2011 Priority List of Hazardous
Substances and Support Document is posted on ATSDR's Web site located
at http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/SPL. The CEP Report is also posted at
http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/CEP.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Nickolette Roney, Division of
Toxicology and Environmental Medicine, ATSDR, 1600 Clifton Road NE.,
Mail Stop F-62, Atlanta, GA 30333, telephone (800) 232-4636, ET.
This is an informational notice only; no comments are solicited at
this time.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: CERCLA establishes certain requirements for
ATSDR and EPA with regard to hazardous substances most commonly found
at facilities on the CERCLA NPL. Section 104(i)(2)(A) of CERCLA, as
amended,\1\ requires that ATSDR and EPA prepare a list, in order of
priority, of at least 100 hazardous substances most commonly found at
facilities on the NPL and which, in the agencies' sole discretion, pose
the most significant potential threats to human health (see also 52 FR
12866, April 17, 1987). CERCLA section 104(i)(2)(B) \2\ also requires
the agencies to revise the priority list to include 100 or more
additional hazardous substances (see also 53 FR 41280, October 20,
1988), and to include at least 25 additional hazardous substances in
each of the three successive years following the 1988 revision (see 54
FR 43615, October 26, 1989; 55 FR 42067, October 17, 1990; and 56 FR
52166, October 17, 1991). CERCLA section 104(i)(2)(B) further requires
ATSDR and EPA at least annually to revise the list to include any
additional hazardous substances that have been determined to pose the
most significant potential threat to human health.
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\1\ 42 U.S.C. 9604(i)(2)(A).
\2\ 42 U.S.C. 9604(i)(2)(B).
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In 1995, the agencies, recognizing the stability of this listing
activity, altered the priority list publication schedule (60 FR 16478,
March 30, 1995). As a result, the substance priority list is now on a
2-year publication schedule, with annual informal review and revision.
However, after the publication of the 2007 substance priority list,
ATSDR transitioned to a new science database. This transition caused a
delay in the publication of the revised priority list. Thus, the 2011
priority list is the first publication of the list since the 2007
priority list. Each substance on the Priority List of Hazardous
Substances is a potential subject of a toxicological profile prepared
by ATSDR and, subsequently, a candidate for the identification of
priority data needs.
The ranking of substances on the priority list is based on an
algorithm
[[Page 68194]]
that consists of three criteria, weighted equally and combined to
result in the total score. The three criteria are: (1) Frequency of
occurrence at NPL sites; (2) toxicity; and (3) potential for human
exposure. The site-specific information used to develop the priority
list has been collected from ATSDR public health assessments and from
site-file data packages used to develop the public health assessments.
Since the development of the 2007 substance priority list, additional
site specific information has been collected. The new information may
include more recent NPL frequency-of-occurrence data, additional
concentration data, and more information on exposure to substances at
NPL sites. Using these additional data, seven substances have been
replaced on the list of 275 substances since the 2007 publication; the
replacement substances were previously under consideration. Changes in
the order of substances appearing on the Priority List of Hazardous
Substances will be reflected in program activities that rely on the
list for future direction. Using the current algorithm, a total of 847
candidate substances have been analyzed and ranked. Of these
candidates, the 275 substances on the priority list may in the future
become the subject of toxicological profiles.
In two years ATSDR intends to publish the next revised list of
hazardous substances, with an informal review and revision performed in
one year. These revisions will reflect changes and improvements in data
collection and availability. Additional information on the existing
methodology used in the development of the Priority List of Hazardous
Substances can be found in the Support Document and in the above-
referenced Federal Register notices.
In addition to the revised priority list, ATSDR is also releasing a
revised Completed Exposure Pathway Site Count Report. A completed
exposure pathway (CEP) links a contaminant source to a receptor
population. The CEP ranking is similar to a subcomponent of the
substance priority list algorithm's potential-for-human-exposure
component. The CEP ranking is based on a site frequency count and thus
lists the number of sites at which a substance has been found in a CEP.
This information is derived from ATSDR public health assessments and
from health consultations. The CEP report therefore focuses on
documented exposure, and lists hazardous substances according to
exposure frequency.
The substances in the CEP report are similar to those in the
Priority List of Hazardous Substances. However, some substances in the
CEP report have a very low toxicity (e.g., sodium) and as a result are
not included in the substance priority list. Since the substance
priority list uses toxicity, frequency of occurrence, and potential for
human exposure to determine its priority substances, other low-toxicity
substances will not appear on the list and, consequently, will not
become subjects of toxicological profiles.
In addition, because CERCLA mandates the preparation of the
Priority List of Hazardous Substances, that list only incorporates data
from CERCLA NPL sites. The CEP report, on the other hand, uses data
from all ATSDR-activity sites at which a CEP has been detected.
Dated: October 28, 2011.
Ken Rose,
Director, Office of Policy Planning and Evaluation, National Center for
Environmental Health/Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.
[FR Doc. 2011-28477 Filed 11-2-11; 8:45 am]
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