Notice of Public Meeting To Discuss Standards and Practices for All Appropriate Inquiries

AGENCY:

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

ACTION:

Notice of public meeting.

SUMMARY:

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will hold a public meeting to discuss EPA's proposed rule that would set federal standards and practices for conducting all appropriate inquiries, as required under Sections 101(35)(B)(ii) and (iii) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA). The proposed rule is published elsewhere in this issue of the Ferderal Register and will be available on the EPA Web site at http://www.epa.gov/brownfields before the date of the public meeting. The public meeting will be held on Wednesday, September 22, 2004 in St. Louis, Missouri at the times and location specified below.

The purpose of the public meeting is for EPA to listen to the views of stakeholders and the general public on the Agency's proposed standards and practices for all appropriate inquiries. During the public meeting, EPA officials will discuss the proposed rule, as well as accept public comment and input on the proposed rule.

DATES:

The public meeting will be held on September 22, 2004 at America's Center in St. Louis, Missouri. The meeting will be held from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. c.d.t.

ADDRESSES:

The public meeting will be held in America's Ballrooms 221 and 222 of The America's Center, 701 Convention Plaza, St. Louis, Missouri, 63101.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

For additional information, contact Patricia Overmeyer of EPA's Office of Brownfields Cleanup and Redevelopment at 202-566-2774 or overmeyer.patricia@epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

The meeting is open to the general public. Interested parties and the general public are invited to participate in the public meeting. Parties wishing to provide their views to EPA on the proposed rule, or to listen to the views of other parties, are encouraged to attend the public meeting. Any person may speak at the public meeting; however, we encourage those planning to give oral testimony to pre-register with EPA. Those planning to speak at the public meeting should notify Patricia Overmeyer, of EPA's Office of Brownfields Cleanup and Redevelopment, at 202-566-2774, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (mc:5105T), 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20460, or via e-mail at overmeyer.patricia@epa.gov no later than September 17, 2004. If you cannot pre-register, you may sign up at the door until two hours before the start of the meeting in St. Louis on September 22, 2004. Oral testimony will be limited to 7 minutes per participant. Any member of the public may file a written statement in addition to, or in lieu of, making oral testimony. A verbatim transcript of the hearing and any written statements received by EPA at the public meeting will be made available at the OSWER Docket and on the EDOCKET Web site, at the addresses provided below. If you plan to attend the public hearing and need special assistance, such as sign language interpretation or other reasonable accommodations, contact Patricia Overmeyer, at the above email address or phone number.

Interested parties not able to attend the public meeting on September 22, 2004 may submit written comments to the Agency. All written comments must be submitted to EPA in compliance with the instructions that will be provided in the preamble to the proposed rule. This instructions are summarized below.

Parties wishing to comment on the proposed rule may submit written comments to EPA. Submit your written comments, identified by Docket ID No. SFUND-2004-0001, by one of the following methods:

1. Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the on-line instructions for submitting comments.

2. Agency Web site: http://www.epa.gov/edocket. EDOCKET, EPA's electronic public docket and comment system, is EPA's preferred method for receiving comments. Follow the on-line instructions for submitting comments.

3. E-mail: Comments may be sent by electronic mail to superfund.docket@epa.gov, /Attention Docket ID No. SFUND-2004-0001.

4. Mail: Send comments to the OSWER Docket, Environmental Protection Agency, Mailcode: 5305T, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW., Washington, DC 20460, Attention Docket ID No. SFUND-2004-0001. In addition, please mail a copy of your comments on the information collection provisions to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Attn: Desk Officer for EPA, 725 17th St. NW., Washington, DC 20503.

5. Hand Delivery: Deliver your comments to the EPA Docket Center, EPA West Building, Room B102, 1301 Constitution Ave. NW., Washington, DC, Attention Docket ID No. SFUND-2004-0001. 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. SFUND-2004-0001. EPA's policy is that all comments received will be included in the public docket without change and may be made available online at http://www.epa.gov/edocket , 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 EDOCKET, regulations.gov, or e-mail. The EPA EDOCKET and the federal regulations.gov Web sites are “anonymous access” systems, 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 e-mail comment directly to EPA without going through EDOCKET or regulations.gov, your e-mail 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 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 EDOCKET on-line or see the Federal Register of May 31, 2002 (67 FR 38102).