UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20460

APR 30 1996

OFFICE OF SOLID WASTE AND EMERGENCY RESPONSE

OERR Directive 9320.2-11
EPA 540/R-96/014
PB 96-963222

MEMORANDUM

SUBJECT:
Procedures for Partial Deletions at NPL Sites

FROM:
Steven D. Luftig, Director
Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response

TO:
Director, Office of Site Remediation and Restoration, Region I
Director, Emergency and Remedial Response Division, Region II
Director, Hazardous Waste Management Division, Regions III, IX
Director, Waste Management Division, Region IV
Director, Superfund Division, Regions V, VI, VII
Assistant Regional Administrator, Office of Ecosystems Protection and Remediation, Region VIII
Director, Environmental Cleanup Office Region X

PURPOSE

The purpose of this guidance is to define the requirements for partial deletions at National Priorities List (NPL) sites.

BACKGROUND

The Partial Deletions rule, which allows EPA to delete releases at portions of NPL sites, provided that deletion criteria are met, was published in the Federal Register on November 1, 1995. A copy of this notice is attached (Attachment A). Previously, EPA's policy had been to delete releases only after evaluation of the entire site. However, deletion of entire sites does not communicate the successful cleanup of portions of those sites. Total site cleanup may take many years, while portions of the site may have been cleaned up and may be available for productive use. Some potential investors or developers may be reluctant to undertake economic activity at even a cleaned-up portion of real property that is part of a site listed on the NPL. Therefore, EPA will delete releases at portions of sites, as appropriate, and will consider petitions to do so.

IMPLEMENTATION

In order to accurately portray these successes, we must ensure that the information is consistent and accurate. For this reason, it is important for OERR to obtain relevant locational information from the Regions. This information will be centrally housed in the Superfund NPL Assessment Program (SNAP) database. If you are interested in obtaining a copy of the SNAP database, please contact Larry Zaragoza at (703) 603-8867. Once it has been determined that no further response is appropriate and a release can be deleted from the NPL (See 40 CFR 300.425(e)), Regions must submit a hardcopy and an electronic version of the information delineated in Attachment B. Please send this information to Terry Keidan at OERR at mail code 5204G. Terry can be reached at (703) 603-8852. Your Regional GIS coordinators and response action contractors will be able to assist Regional Project Managers in compiling this critical information. A sample partial deletion map has ben provide for you (Attachment C: Please note: Attachment C is currently not available within this HTML document.) Region 6 has already met the locational data requirements and published the first partial deletion Notice of Internet to Delete (NOID) in the Federal Register on April 11, 1996 (see Attachment D).

These submissions will provide a national compilation of the total area that has been subject to the partial deletion policy and improve our information on site locations. A Quality Assurance review will be conducted on these materials by Headquarters. Approval for publication of the NOID will be given once the accuracy of the locational information is verified. Please contact Larry Zaragoza if you have any questions regarding the required locational data. Questions regarding procedures for tracking partial deletions in CERCLIS should be forwarded to Randy Hippen at (703) 603-8829.

The criteria for site deletion are outlined in 40 CFR 300.425(e). Partial deletion dictates stricter mapping and tracking requirements, however, follows the same criteria and procedures as total site deletion. The NOID and Deletion Notice for partial deletion should be written in the same manner as those for total site deletion. An example of a partial deletion NOID is attached (Attachment D).

In addition to partial deletions, these mapping procedures can be applied to outline and emphasize clean parcels of property contiguous to contaminated parcels included in the NPL site. This will foster a clearer public understanding of exactly what property is and is not included in the NPL listing. In this way, we can define the boundaries of the site and exclude those parcels that were never contaminated. More precise mapping will accomplish this goal efficiently without having to go through formal partial deletion procedures.

Partial deletions are an effective way to communicate the clean-up success of the Agency, as well as to promote the reuse and development of these properties. Please contact Terry Keidan with any questions regarding the partial deletion policy.

CONTACTS:

• Terry Keidan (703) 603-8852 for partial deletion policy questions.
• Larry Zaragoza (703) 603-8867 for locational data and SNAP inquiries
• Randy Hippen (703) 603-8829 for CERCLIS partial deletion inquiries

Attachments

ATTACHMENT A

60 FR 55466 - Notice of Policy Change: Partial Deletion of Sites Listed on the National Priorities List (Federal Register, Vol. 60, No. 211, 40 CFR Part 300, Wednesday, November 1, 1995)

ATTACHMENT B

Partial NPL Site Deletion
Data Collection Form

(Version 1.0, March 1996)

Site Name: ____________________

CERCLIS ID#: _____________________

Name of Deleted Portion: _____________________

Region: _____

State: _____

This form should be completed for all proposed deletions of releases at NPL sites. Include this form as part of the Notice of Intent to Delete (NOID) submitted to EPA Headquarters.

State, Tribal, and Site Identification Center
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Partial NPL Site Deletion
Data Collection Form

General Form Instructions

The Partial NPL Site Deletion Data Collection Form is designed to standardize partial site deletion information for input into the Superfund NPL Assessment Program (SNAP) data base. This data base serves as a repository for general information about NPL sites and is used to respond to queries about NPL sites from a variety of sources including the general public, the media, other government agencies, and members of Congress. The primary source materials for completing this form are the Notice of Intent for Partial Deletion (NOID), site information supporting the decision to delete this portion of the site, and electronic locational data. Requirements for submitting electronic locational data are included in EPA's Locational Data Policy.

As you complete the Partial NPL Site Deletion Data Collection Form, keep the following points in mind.

• Please complete the form in ink, and print legibly.

• Use the most current level of information available (e.g., RI-level information has priority over HRS package-level information).

• Try to use the listed response options when answering a question, and use "unknown" and "other" responses only when absolutely necessary. If, however, the available response options for a question are not adequate to accurately describe the site, use the "other" response and provide a brief explanation in the space provided.

• Use the margins to explain responses that do not match listed response options or to provide clarifying information.

Please respond to all questions with the answer that you believe best represents the site conditions, given the information available at the time the NOID is prepared. Do not skip questions except where specifically directed to do so.

Information and Data Requirements for Partial Deletions

The State, Tribal, and Site Identification Center (Center) has distributed procedures on how to document partial site deletions. The data requirements are clearly outlined in those procedures, but also reiterated here.

The Regions are required to submit a NOID. This documentation provides useful information related to the site boundary and characteristics if coordinate information is deficient in the electronic version.

Along with the NOID, the partial deletion package should also include the following items:

• A map clearly showing the entire site and that portion to be deleted (including scale);

• Site coordinates (latitude and longitude) for at least three reference points on the map;

• Landmarks, such as roads, water bodies, waste operations, or residential areas (these facilitate reading the map);

• Contacts for both the partial deletion decision and the electronic data.

The above materials are to be provided in both hard and electronic copy. Electronic files in ARC/INFO, MapInfo, GIS+, or those mentioned below are acceptable. If mapping information is not available in these packages, the Center should be contacted to determine how to submit the electronic information.

Electronic files submitted with the partial deletion package should:

• Include all vector/raster layers for the site necessary to recreate a map;

• Include all attribute information associated with the data layers;

• Be delivered in one of the following formats:

  1. ARC/INFO native or export (.E00) format,
  2. ArcView shape files
  3. MapInfo native MapInfo Interchange Format (MIF), MapInfo Boundary Interchange File (MBI), or MapInfo Map Interchange Format (MMI)
  4. GIS+ native
  5. AutoCAD DXF format
  6. ASCII delimited file (include data structure and format for recreation)

If electronic files are to be delivered in a format other than one of those identified in the list above, obtain prior approval from EPA Headquarters. To facilitate the integration of data into these systems it is important that coding of geographic coordinates and associated attributes be standardized.

The site map must be dated. The date is to reflect the delineation of the boundaries of the site as of the date prepared, including the portion to be deleted. Geographic coordinates of points describing a specific object (e.g., operable unit or portion of the site to be delisted) should be included.

Additional Information

A printout of locational data fields for each data layer in the electronic files should be provided with the electronic files. The printout should include:

1. Projection of data - Map projections allow areas on the surface of the Earth (a spheroid) to be represented on a map (a flat surface) while minimizing distortion. This information is important because it represents the geometric accuracy of the data and it is critical in determining the measurement accuracy.

2. Units of Measure - Map units are the units in which the coordinates of the spatial data represented in your image are stored. They may be in kilometers, inches, feet, etc.

3. Projection Spheroid -Defines the shape of the spheroid for calculating the transformation of coordinates from a particular shape.

4. Projection Zone (i.e. UTM 11 or State Plane Zone 1101 Maryland East) - Identify the map projection or coordinate system used in creating the map. Map projections allow areas on the surface of the Earth (a spheriod) to be represented on a map (a flat surface).

5. Horizontal Datum - A datum is a set of parameters defining a coordinate system, and a set of control points whose geometric relationships are known, either through measurement or calculation.

6. False Northing/False Easting - Any offset on the x and/or y axis applied to coordinates of the data.

7. Source - Describe the source of the geographic data used in creating the file.

8. Source Scale - Map scale is the relationship between the dimensions of a map and the dimensions of the Earth. It is usually expressed as a ratio between a distance on the map and a distance on the Earth, like 1:63,360.

9. Point-Line-Area - Predominant feature type of data (i.e., a point feature may represent a monitor well or a benchmark, a line feature may represent a street, a polygon feature may represent a body of water or an area of contamination).

10. Method of collection - Describe the methodology used in collecting the data (i.e., scanning, manual, digitizing, GPS, etc.).

11. Description and structure of data and any attribute information.

Although not required, the following additional locational data is useful:

1. Accuracy value & unit
2. Xmin, Ymin, Xmax, Ymax of data layer
3. Precision of Data
4. Source Projection
5. Source Units of Measure
6. Source Projection Spheroid
7. Source Horizontal Datum

For questions on completing this form or completing a NOID, contact Ms. Terry Keidan at EPA Headquarters via lanmail or phone (703) 603-8852, fax (703) 603-9104. For questions on locational and site/deletion delineation information, contact Dr. Larry Zaragoza at (703) 603-8867.

ATTACHMENT D: Example of Partial Deletion NOID

61 FR 16068 - National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan; National Priorities List (Federal Register, Vol. 61, No.71, 40 CFR Part 300, Thursday, April 11, 1996)