81 FR 91931 - Proposed Settlement Agreement, Clean Air Act Citizen Suit

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

Federal Register Volume 81, Issue 243 (December 19, 2016)

In accordance with section 113(g) of the Clean Air Act, as amended (``CAA''), notice is hereby given of a proposed settlement agreement to settle a lawsuit filed by American Chemistry Council (``Petitioner''), in the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit: American Chemistry Council v. EPA (Case Number 15-1146). On May 18, 2015, Petitioner and Eastman Chemical Company (``Eastman'') filed petitions for review of an EPA rule titled ``National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants for Major Sources: Off-Site Waste Recovery Operations,'' published in the Federal Register on March 18, 2015 (the ``Final Rule''). The proposed settlement agreement would establish deadlines for EPA to take specified actions.

[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 243 (Monday, December 19, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 91931-91932]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2016-30058]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OGC-2016-0642; FRL 9956-69-OGC]


Proposed Settlement Agreement, Clean Air Act Citizen Suit

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of proposed settlement agreement; request for public 
comment.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with section 113(g) of the Clean Air Act, as 
amended (``CAA''), notice is hereby given of a proposed settlement 
agreement to settle a lawsuit filed by American Chemistry Council 
(``Petitioner''), in the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. 
Circuit: American Chemistry Council v. EPA (Case Number 15-1146). On 
May 18, 2015, Petitioner and Eastman Chemical Company (``Eastman'') 
filed petitions for review of an EPA rule titled ``National Emission 
Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants for Major Sources: Off-Site 
Waste Recovery Operations,'' published in the Federal Register on March 
18, 2015 (the ``Final Rule''). The proposed settlement agreement would 
establish deadlines for EPA to take specified actions.

DATES: Written comments on the proposed settlement agreement must be 
received by January 18, 2017.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID number EPA-HQ-
OGC-2016-0642, 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 will 
generally 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: Emily Seidman, Air and Radiation Law 
Office (2344A), Office of General Counsel, U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW., Washington, DC 20460; 
telephone: (202) 564-0906; fax number (202) 564-5603; email address: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Additional Information About the Proposed Settlement Agreement

    On May 18, 2015, Petitioner and Eastman filed petitions for review 
of an EPA rule titled ``National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air 
Pollutants for Major Sources: Off-Site Waste Recovery Operations,'' 
published at 80 FR 14,248 (March 18, 2015) (the ``Final Rule''). In 
addition, Petitioner and Eastman submitted to the EPA a Petition for 
Reconsideration of the Final Rule of two issues: (1) equipment leak 
detection provisions for connectors; and (2) monitoring requirements 
for pressure relief devices (``PRD'') on portable containers. The EPA 
granted the request for reconsideration of the Final Rule on the issue 
of PRD monitoring requirements for portable containers but denied the 
request for reconsideration of the equipment leak detection provisions 
for connectors. The EPA provided public notice of this denial through a 
Federal Register notice published on May 16, 2016 at 81 FR 30,182. On 
September 26, 2016, Eastman filed an unopposed motion for voluntary 
dismissal which the court granted.
    The proposed settlement agreement would settle Petitioner's 
lawsuit. Under the terms of the proposed settlement agreement, the EPA 
will reconsider the Final Rule's provisions relating to PRDs and take 
an initial action no later than July 20, 2017 and a final action no 
later than January 18, 2018, as long as Petitioner provides the EPA 
with the requested data on PRDs identified in Appendix A of the 
settlement agreement by no later than October 28, 2016, or a later 
date, as provided for in the settlement agreement. Please review the 
settlement agreement for additional details, available in the public 
docket at EPA-HQ-OGC-2016-0642.
    For a period of 30 days following the date of publication of this 
notice, the Agency will receive written comments relating to the 
proposed settlement agreement from persons who were not named as 
parties or intervenors to the litigation in question. EPA or the 
Department of Justice may withdraw or withhold consent to the proposed

[[Page 91932]]

settlement agreement if the comments disclose facts or considerations 
that indicate that such consent is inappropriate, improper, inadequate, 
or inconsistent with the requirements of the Act. Unless EPA or the 
Department of Justice determines that consent to the agreement should 
be withdrawn or withheld, the terms of the agreement will be affirmed.

II. Additional Information About Commenting on the Proposed Settlement 
Agreement

A. How can I get a copy of the proposed settlement agreement?

    The official public docket for this action under Docket ID No. EPA-
HQ-OGC-2016- 0642 contains a copy of the proposed settlement agreement. 
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 the www.regulations.gov to submit or 
view public comments, access the index listing of the contents of the 
official public docket, and to 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: December 7, 2016.
Lorie J. Schmidt,
Associate General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2016-30058 Filed 12-16-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6560-50-P