RSR Corp. v. E.P.A., 95-1559
| Decision Date | 03 January 1997 |
| Docket Number | No. 95-1559,95-1559 |
| Parties | , 322 U.S.App.D.C. 238, 65 USLW 2446, 27 Envtl. L. Rep. 20,497 RSR CORPORATION, Petitioner v. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY, Respondent. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — District of Columbia Circuit |
On Petition for Review of an Order of the Environmental Protection Agency.
David B. Weinberg, Washington, DC, argued the cause and filed the briefs for petitioner.
Patricia Ross McCubbin, Attorney, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, DC, argued the cause for respondent, with whom Lois J. Schiffer, Assistant Attorney General, and Alan H. Carpien, Attorney, Environmental Protection Agency, were on the brief.
Before: EDWARDS, Chief Judge, SILBERMAN and TATEL, Circuit Judges.
Under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act ("CERCLA"), the Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") lists sites that pose a danger to public health or the environment on the National Priorities List ("NPL"). EPA uses the Hazard Ranking System ("HRS"), a mathematical model, to determine which sites should be listed. EPA promulgated the HRS in 1982 and amended it in 1990.
For many hazardous substances, the HRS incorporates a Human Toxicity Factor ("HTF") as one variable in the mathematical formula that results in the overall HRS score. For lead, the amended HRS assigns a HTF value of 10,000--the highest value--because EPA determined that lead is a highly toxic substance without a demonstrated threshold below which it causes no adverse health effects. On July 9, 1993, in response to a proposed listing of its site on the NPL, petitioner RSR Corporation ("RSR") challenged the lead HTF value. RSR argued that "new studies" demonstrate that this value is inappropriate.
We hold that RSR's challenge to the lead HTF valueis untimely. Section 113(a) of CERCLA states that all CERCLA regulations must be challenged "within ninety days from the date of promulgation of such regulations." 42 U.S.C. § 9613(a) (1994). Because RSR did not raise its challenge to the lead HTF value until nearly three years after EPA promulgated the amended HRS, its challenge is barred by section 113(a).
RSR argues that this case comes within the Geller v. FCC, 610 F.2d 973 (D.C.Cir.1979) exception to the timeliness rule. It contends that, due to the "new studies," an exception is justified in light of the "changed circumstances giving rise to a new cause of action beyond the statutory period for review," Eagle-Picher Indus., Inc. v. EPA, 759 F.2d 905, 909 (D.C.Cir.1985) ("Eagle-Picher I") (describing the Geller exception). We reject this contention, for the scope of the Geller exception is not as broad as petitioner would have it. If we were to allow petitioner to pursue a challenge based solely on "new studies" (whose meaning is in dispute), we would completely undermine the HRS as a means of listing sites on the NPL. See id. at 916-17 (). The proper place for RSR to raise its "new studies" argument is in a petition for a rulemaking.
We also reject RSR's other challenges: we conclude that EPA followed established procedures in calculating the background level of lead for the site, and that EPA did not act arbitrarily and capriciously in naming the site the "RSR Corporation Site." Accordingly, we deny RSR's petition.
CERCLA provides a comprehensive statutory scheme for cleaning up releases or threatened releases of hazardous substances. See 42 U.S.C. §§ 9601-9675 (1994). Under CERLCA, Congress directed EPA to establish criteria to prioritize the cleanup of those sites presenting the greatest danger to public health or the environment. See id. § 9605(a)(8)(A). Sites meeting the criteria are placed on the NPL. See id. § 9605(a)(8)(B).
The HRS is a mathematical model--first promulgated in 1982, see 47 Fed.Reg. 31,180 (1982), and amended in 1990, see 55 Fed.Reg. 51,532 (1990)--that serves as a screening device for evaluating relative risks to health or the environment posed by releases of hazardous substances. See 40 C.F.R. pt. 300 app. A (1995). EPA evaluates risks by assigning numeric values from tables or formulas in the HRS to represent the dangers posed by the different features of hazardous substances at the sites. Overall HRS scores range from 0 to 100. See id. § 2.1.1. A site with a HRS score of 28.5 or greater is eligible for placement on the NPL. See 55 Fed.Reg. at 51,569.
For many hazardous substances, the HRS incorporates a HTF as one variable in the mathematical formula that results in the overall HRS score. A HTF reflects a substance's potential to cause cancer or other adverse health effects. Depending on the particular substance's toxicity, a HTF may range in value from 0 to 10,000. For lead, the amended HRS assigns a HTF value of 10,000. See 40 C.F.R. pt. 300 app. A § 2.4.1.1. EPA determined that this value was appropriate because lead was found to be a highly toxic substance without a demonstrated threshold below which it causes no adverse health effects. See Memorandum from Larry J. Zaragoza to HRS Docket, "Toxicity Factor Value for Lead" (Nov. 9, 1990), reprinted in Joint Appendix ("J.A.") 90-92.
The HRS also requires EPA to determine, for soil exposure pathways, if "observed contamination" is present at a site. Observed contamination is present if a hazardous substance attributable to the site is present at a concentration that is at least three times higher than the "background level." See 40 C.F.R. pt. 300 app. A tbl. 2-3, § 5.0.1.
The site at issue in this case is an abandoned secondary lead smelter in Dallas, Texas, and the approximately 13.6 surrounding square miles. A number of different companies operated the smelter from 1936 until 1984. RSR purchased the smelter in 1971.
In 1991 and 1992, EPA conducted extensive sampling at the RSR site. It then compared these samples with background data that the city of Dallas had gathered in 1983 and 1984 in a city-wide study of lead contamination in the soil. Because the on-site samples exceeded the background level by three times or more, EPA concluded that there was "observed contamination" at the site. As a result, it assigned a value of 550 for that variable, as called for by the HRS. See 40 C.F.R. pt. 300 app. A §§ 5.0.1, 5.1.1. EPA also assigned the site a HTF value of 10,000, as required by the HRS. See id. § 2.4.1.1 (). Inputting these two values into the HRS, EPA calculated a final HRS score of 50 for the site, a value above the 28.5 required for listing on the NPL, see 55 Fed.Reg. at 51,569. On May 10, 1993, EPA proposed listing the site on the NPL. See 58 Fed.Reg. 27,507, 27,513 (1993).
On July 9, 1993, RSR submitted comments challenging the proposed listing of the site. RSR challenged the fact that EPA assigned the site a lead HTF value of 10,000. It argued that "[n]umerous recent studies published since February 1989" demonstrate that this value is inappropriate. Comments of RSR Corporation in Opposition to the Proposed Listing of the "RSR Corporation Site" on the National Priorities List at 7 (July 9, 1993), reprinted in J.A. 361. In a footnote, RSR "petition[ed] EPA to revise the HRS consistent with these comments." Id. at 5 n. 1, reprinted in J.A. 359. RSR also made various challenges to EPA's determination of the "background level" and challenged EPA's naming the site the "RSR Corporation Site." See id. at 11-18, reprinted in J.A. 365-72.
In response, EPA asserted that RSR's comments on the lead HTF value constituted an untimely challenge to the HRS:
Inasmuch as these comments question the adequacy of the HRS, this comment [sic] is untimely. Consistent with the Administrative Procedure Act, the present HRS was proposed on December 23, 1988; comments were received and responded to prior to its finalization in the December 14, 1990 Federal Register, and the period for filing a challenge to the promulgated rule has ended.
The human toxicity factor value for lead will remain at 10,000 until the HRS is revised, at which time public comments will be solicited on this and any other values EPA proposes. Any reference material which supports a different human toxicity value for lead will be evaluated as part of this process.
EPA Response to Comments on the Proposed Listing of the RSR Corporation Site at 4.1-22 (1995) (citations omitted), reprinted in J.A. 1142. EPA also responded to RSR's challenges to the determination of the background level for the site. See id. at 4.1-12 to 4.1-19, reprinted in J.A. 1132-39. Finally, EPA concluded that the site was appropriately named the "RSR Corporation Site." See id. at 4.1-3 to 4.1-5, reprinted in J.A. 1123-25. On September 29, 1995, EPA listed the site on the NPL. See 60 Fed.Reg. 50,435, 50,437 (1995).
In this appeal, RSR challenges the HTF value for lead. This challenge, however, is barred by section 113(a) of CERCLA. Section 113(a) states:
Review of any regulation promulgated under this chapter may be had upon application by any interested person only in the Circuit Court of Appeals of the United States for the District of Columbia. Any such application shall be made within ninety days from the date of promulgation of such regulations. Any matter with respect to which review could have been obtained under this subsection shall not be subject to judicial review in any civil or criminal proceeding for enforcement or to obtain damages or recovery of response costs.
42 U.S.C. § 9613(a). This statutory time bar is "jurisdictional in nature," reflecting "a deliberate congressional choice to...
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