Polychlorinated Biphenyls; Use of Porous Surfaces; Amendment in Response to Court Decision

EPA is revising the language of the regulations affecting the use of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) to conform to a court decision vacating an amendment to these regulations. EPA's 1998 amendments to the PCB disposal regulations added a use authorization for porous materials contaminated by spills of liquid PCBs. Due to an editing error, the regulation referred to a unit of measurement inapplicable to the concentration of PCBs in liquids. In 1999, EPA issued a final rule correcting a number of errors in the 1998 action, including the porous surfaces use authorization. On January 30, 2001, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (the Court) vacated the portion of the 1999 amendment which pertained to the porous materials use authorization. This document revises the CFR to conform to the court decision, and requires no notice and public comment.