National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan; Cooperative Agreements and Superfund State Contracts for Superfund Response Actions

Resumen

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is promulgating largely technical revisions to four sections of the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan (NCP). EPA is also promulgating conforming revisions to two sections of the administrative requirements for CERCLA-funded Cooperative Agreements and Superfund State Contracts for Superfund Response Actions. The first NCP revision clarifies that EPA may acquire an interest in real estate in order to conduct a Superfund (Fund)-financed remedial action only if the State in which the interest is located agrees to accept transfer of that interest upon completion of the remedial action. The second revision clarifies that a Federal agency has discretionary authority over the expenditure of its funds when acting as an expert agency providing assistance in a cleanup. The third revision explains that when EPA extends the operational and functional period of a remedial action, it will fund such extensions as part of the remedial action. The fourth revision clarifies that an on-scene coordinator (OSC) may be authorized to coordinate and direct appropriate response action, not merely a removal action.