National Priorities List for Uncontrolled Hazardous Waste Sites; Final Rule ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (``CERCLA'' or ``the Act''), as amended, requires that the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan (``NCP'') include a list of national priorities among the known releases or threatened releases of hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants throughout the United States. The National Priorities List (``NPL'') constitutes this list. This rule adds 18 new sites to the NPL, 14 to the General Superfund Section and 4 to the Federal Facilities Section. The identification of a site for the NPL is intended primarily to guide the Environmental Protection Agency (``EPA'' or ``the Agency'') in determining which sites warrant further investigation to assess the nature and extent of public health and environmental risks associated with the site and to determine what CERCLA-financed remedial action(s), if any, may be appropriate. The NPL is not intended to define the boundaries of a site or to determine the extent of contamination (see Section II, subsection, ``Facility Boundaries''). This action results in an NPL of 1,242 sites, 1,088 of them in the General Superfund Section and 154 of them in the Federal Facilities Section. An additional 46 sites are proposed, 40 in the General Superfund Section and 6 in the Federal Facilities Section. Final and proposed sites now total 1,288.