These
specific comments, and our responses to
them, will be discussed in more detail
in section III of this document and in
the Response to Comments document
associated with this action (Docket No.
EPA–HQ–OAR–2005–0083–0431).
Some commenters also questioned
our conclusion that extending the
compliance period is the appropriate
way to respond to the Court ruling.
These commenters point out that the
Court’s opinion could be interpreted to
permit us to justify the approach taken
in our 2001 standards. They cite
statements by the Court such as ‘‘[i]t
would have been one thing had EPA
taken the Academy’s recommendations
into account and then tailored a
standard that accommodated the
agency’s policy concerns’’ and ‘‘[h]ad
EPA begun with the Academy’s
recommendation to base the compliance
period on peak dosage and then made
adjustments to accommodate policy
considerations not considered by NAS,
this might be a very different case’’ (NEI,
373 F.3d at 1270 and 1273, respectively)
to support the thesis that the Court’s
judgment was based primarily on the
presentation of our case, rather than the
substance. In the commenters’ view, the
Court would have been receptive to our
arguments had they been presented
differently, and the Court provided a
clear ‘‘road map’’ to justify keeping our
original standards in place. In addition,
these and other commenters viewed
extending the compliance period to 1
million years as not justifiable either
scientifically or as a matter of public
policy. We believe that the approach we
are taking is the most appropriate way
to address the concerns raised by the
Court’s decision, particularly given the
weight accorded by the Court to the
NAS technical recommendations
concerning the period of geologic
stability. As we stated in our proposal,
‘‘it is not clear how EPA’s earlier
explanation of its policy concerns might
be reconciled with NAS’s technical
recommendation.’’ (70 FR 49032)
Accordingly, today’s final rule
implements the NAS technical
recommendation with regard to the
length of time for the compliance period
while still accommodating our policy
concerns in the provisions related to the
peak dose standard, and FEPs.
We received some comments that
suggested we should have provided
more or better opportunities for public
participation in our decision making
process. For example, comments
suggested that we should have
rescheduled public hearings, extended
the public comment period, and
provided alternatives to the public
hearing process. We provided numerous
opportunities and avenues for public
participation in the development of
these standards. For example, we held
public hearings in Washington, DC; Las
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