81 FR 89094 - Proposed Consent Decree, Clean Air Act Citizen Suit

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

Federal Register Volume 81, Issue 237 (December 9, 2016)

In accordance with section 113(g) of the Clean Air Act, as amended (``CAA'' or the ``Act''), notice is hereby given of a proposed consent decree to address a lawsuit filed by Center for Biological Diversity, Center for Environmental Health, and Clean Air Council (collectively ``Plaintiffs'') in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California: Center for Biological Diversity, et al. v. McCarthy, et al. No. 4:16-cv-04092-PJH (N.D. Cal.). On July 21, 2016, Plaintiffs filed a complaint alleging that Gina McCarthy, in her official capacity as Administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (``EPA'') failed to perform certain duties mandated by the CAA in relation to implementation of the 1997 and 2008 National Ambient Air Quality Standard (``NAAQS'') for ozone, respectively. Specifically, Plaintiffs allege that EPA failed to make required findings of failure to submit, and to take final action on State Implementation Plan (``SIP'') submittals. On November 14, 2016, Plaintiffs filed a first amended complaint. The proposed consent decree would establish deadlines for EPA to take certain specified actions related to implementation of the 1997 and 2008 ozone standards, respectively.

[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 237 (Friday, December 9, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 89094-89095]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2016-29581]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OGC-2016-0693; FRL-9956-37-OGC]


Proposed Consent Decree, Clean Air Act Citizen Suit

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of proposed consent decree; request for public comment.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with section 113(g) of the Clean Air Act, as 
amended (``CAA'' or the ``Act''), notice is hereby given of a proposed 
consent decree to address a lawsuit filed by Center for Biological 
Diversity, Center for Environmental Health, and Clean Air Council 
(collectively ``Plaintiffs'') in the United States District Court for 
the Northern District of California: Center for Biological Diversity, 
et al. v. McCarthy, et al. No. 4:16-cv-04092-PJH (N.D. Cal.). On July 
21, 2016, Plaintiffs filed a complaint alleging that Gina McCarthy, in 
her official capacity as Administrator of the United States 
Environmental Protection Agency (``EPA'') failed to perform certain 
duties mandated by the CAA in relation to implementation of the 1997 
and 2008 National Ambient Air Quality Standard (``NAAQS'') for ozone, 
respectively. Specifically, Plaintiffs allege that EPA failed to make 
required findings of failure to submit, and to take final action on 
State Implementation Plan (``SIP'') submittals. On November 14, 2016, 
Plaintiffs filed a first amended complaint. The proposed consent decree 
would establish deadlines for EPA to take certain specified actions 
related to implementation of the 1997 and 2008 ozone standards, 
respectively.

DATES: Written comments on the proposed consent decree must be received 
by January 9, 2017.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID number EPA-HQ-
OGC-2016-0693, online at www.regulations.gov. For comments submitted at 
www.regulations.gov, follow the online instructions for submitting 
comments. Once submitted, comments cannot be edited or removed from 
www.regulations.gov. The EPA may publish any comment received to its 
public docket. Do not submit electronically any information you 
consider to be Confidential Business Information (``CBI'') or other 
information whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Multimedia 
submissions (audio, video, etc.) must be accompanied by a written 
comment. The written comment is considered the official comment and 
should include discussion of all points you wish to make. The EPA 
generally will not consider comments or comment contents located 
outside of the primary submission (i.e. on the web, cloud, or other 
file sharing system). For additional submission methods, please contact 
the person identified in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section. 
For the full EPA public comment policy, information about CBI or 
multimedia submissions, and general guidance on making effective 
comments, please visit http://www2.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Derek Mills, Air and Radiation Law 
Office (2344A), Office of General Counsel, U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW., Washington, DC 20460; 
telephone: (202) 564-3341; fax number: (202) 564-5603; email address: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Additional Information About the Proposed Consent Decree

    This proposed consent decree would resolve a lawsuit filed by 
Plaintiffs seeking to compel the Administrator to take actions under 
CAA section 110(k). Under the terms of the proposed consent decree, EPA 
would agree to sign a notice addressing the alleged failure to issue a 
finding of failure to submit for certain 2008 ozone NAAQS nonattainment 
and OTR SIP submissions addressing elements from the areas and states 
listed in the proposed consent decree no later than January 19, 2017. 
If any State makes a listed SIP submittal, and EPA makes a completeness 
determination as to that submittal, prior to January 19, 2017, then 
EPA's obligation to address that submittal in the aforementioned notice 
is automatically terminated. EPA would also agree to take certain final 
actions to address certain submitted plans pursuant to sections 
110(k)(2)-(4) of the CAA no later than the dates indicated in the 
proposed consent decree for the 1997 and 2008 ozone NAAQS, 
respectively. If any State withdraws a listed submittal, then EPA's 
obligation to address that submittal through the aforementioned action 
is automatically terminated. Please see the proposed consent decree, 
located in the docket for this notice, for specific dates and 
additional details.
    Under the terms of the proposed consent decree, EPA will send 
notice of each action to the Office of the Federal Register for review 
and publication within 15 days of signature. In addition, the proposed 
consent decree outlines the procedure for the Plaintiff to request 
costs of litigation, including attorney fees.
    For a period of thirty (30) days following the date of publication 
of this notice, the Agency will accept written comments relating to the 
proposed consent decree from persons who are not named as parties to 
the litigation in question. EPA or the Department of Justice may 
withdraw or withhold consent to the proposed consent decree if the 
comments disclose facts or considerations that indicate that such

[[Page 89095]]

consent is inappropriate, improper, inadequate, or inconsistent with 
the requirements of the Act. Unless EPA or the Department of Justice 
determines that consent to this proposed consent decree should be 
withdrawn, the terms of the consent decree will be affirmed.

II. Additional Information About Commenting on the Proposed Consent 
Decree

A. How can I get a copy of the proposed consent decree?

    The official public docket for this action (identified by EPA-HQ-
OGC-2016-0693) contains a copy of the proposed consent decree. The 
official public docket is available for public viewing at the Office of 
Environmental Information (``OEI'') Docket in the EPA Docket Center, 
EPA West, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Ave. NW., Washington, DC. The 
EPA Docket Center Public Reading Room is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 
p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal holidays. The telephone 
number for the Public Reading Room is (202) 566-1744, and the telephone 
number for the OEI Docket is (202) 566-1752.
    An electronic version of the public docket is available through 
www.regulations.gov. You may use www.regulations.gov to submit or view 
public comments, access the index listing of the contents of the 
official public docket, and access those documents in the public docket 
that are available electronically. Once in the system, key in the 
appropriate docket identification number then select ``search''.
    It is important to note that EPA's policy is that public comments, 
whether submitted electronically or in paper, will be made available 
for public viewing online at www.regulations.gov without change, unless 
the comment contains copyrighted material, CBI, or other information 
whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Information claimed as CBI 
and other information whose disclosure is restricted by statute is not 
included in the official public docket or in the electronic public 
docket. EPA's policy is that copyrighted material, including 
copyrighted material contained in a public comment, will not be placed 
in EPA's electronic public docket but will be available only in 
printed, paper form in the official public docket. Although not all 
docket materials may be available electronically, you may still access 
any of the publicly available docket materials through the EPA Docket 
Center.

B. How and to whom do I submit comments?

    You may submit comments as provided in the ADDRESSES section. 
Please ensure that your comments are submitted within the specified 
comment period. Comments received after the close of the comment period 
will be marked ``late.'' EPA is not required to consider these late 
comments.
    If you submit an electronic comment, EPA recommends that you 
include your name, mailing address, and an email address or other 
contact information in the body of your comment and with any disk or CD 
ROM you submit. This ensures that you can be identified as the 
submitter of the comment and allows EPA to contact you in case EPA 
cannot read your comment due to technical difficulties or needs further 
information on the substance of your comment. Any identifying or 
contact information provided in the body of a comment will be included 
as part of the comment that is placed in the official public docket, 
and made available in EPA's electronic public docket. If EPA cannot 
read your comment due to technical difficulties and cannot contact you 
for clarification, EPA may not be able to consider your comment.
    Use of the www.regulations.gov Web site to submit comments to EPA 
electronically is EPA's preferred method for receiving comments. The 
electronic public docket system is an ``anonymous access'' system, 
which means EPA will not know your identity, email address, or other 
contact information unless you provide it in the body of your comment. 
In contrast to EPA's electronic public docket, EPA's electronic mail 
(email) system is not an ``anonymous access'' system. If you send an 
email comment directly to the Docket without going through 
www.regulations.gov, your email address is automatically captured and 
included as part of the comment that is placed in the official public 
docket, and made available in EPA's electronic public docket.

    Dated: November 30, 2016.
Lorie J. Schmidt,
Associate General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2016-29581 Filed 12-8-16; 8:45 am]
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