82 FR 116 - Proposed Consent Decree, Clean Air Act Citizen Suit

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

Federal Register Volume 82, Issue 1 (January 3, 2017)

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 Citizens for Clean Air and Sierra Club (``Plaintiffs'') in the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington: Citizens for Clean Air, et al. v. McCarthy, et al. No. 2:16-cv-01594-RAJ (W.D. WA.). On October 11, 2016, Plaintiffs filed a lawsuit alleging that Gina McCarthy, in her official capacity as Administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency and Dennis McLerran, in his official capacity as Regional Administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency, Region 10 (collectively, ``EPA''), failed to perform a duty mandated by CAA to make a determination as to whether the Fairbanks North Star Borough nonattainment area in Alaska attained the 2006 24-hour PM<INF>2.5</INF> NAAQS by December 31, 2015, and to publish a notice of that determination within six months of that date. If EPA determines that the area did not attain the 2006 24-hour PM<INF>2.5</INF> NAAQS by December 31, 2015, then the nonattainment area will be reclassified from ``moderate'' to a ``serious'' for these NAAQS. The proposed consent decree would establish deadlines for EPA to take certain specified actions.

[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 1 (Tuesday, January 3, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 116-118]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2016-31822]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OGC-2016-0776; FRL 9957-83-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 Citizens for Clean Air and 
Sierra Club (``Plaintiffs'') in the United States District Court for 
the Western District of Washington: Citizens for Clean Air, et al. v. 
McCarthy, et al. No. 2:16-cv-01594-RAJ (W.D. WA.). On October 11, 2016, 
Plaintiffs filed a lawsuit alleging that Gina McCarthy, in her official 
capacity as Administrator of the United States Environmental Protection 
Agency and Dennis McLerran, in his official capacity as Regional 
Administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency, 
Region 10 (collectively, ``EPA''), failed to perform a duty mandated by 
CAA to make a determination as to whether the Fairbanks North Star 
Borough nonattainment area in Alaska attained the 2006 24-hour 
PM2.5 NAAQS by December 31, 2015, and to publish a notice of 
that determination within six months of that date. If EPA determines 
that the area did not attain the 2006 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS by 
December 31, 2015, then the nonattainment area will be reclassified 
from ``moderate'' to a ``serious'' for these NAAQS. The proposed 
consent decree would establish deadlines for EPA to take certain 
specified actions.

DATES: Written comments on the proposed consent decree must be received 
by February 2, 2017.

[[Page 117]]


ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID number EPA-HQ-
OGC-2016-0776, 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: Geoffrey L. Wilcox, Air and Radiation 
Law Office (2344A), Office of General Counsel, U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW., Washington, DC 20460; 
telephone: (202) 564-5601; fax number: (202) 564-5603; email address: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Additional Information About the Proposed Consent Decree

    The proposed consent decree would resolve a lawsuit filed by the 
Plaintiffs seeking to compel EPA to make a determination required under 
CAA section 188(b)(2), as to whether the Fairbanks North Star Borough 
nonattainment area in Alaska attained the 2006 24-hour PM2.5 
NAAQS by December 31, 2015. Under the terms of the proposed consent 
decree, no later than April 28, 2017, EPA will be required to sign a 
notice of final rulemaking determining whether the Fairbanks North Star 
Borough area attained the 2006 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS by 
December 31, 2015. If EPA determines that the area did not attain the 
NAAQS by that date, then EPA must reclassify the area as a ``serious'' 
nonattainment area for the 2006 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS pursuant 
to CAA section 188(b)(2). By statute, reclassification from 
``moderate'' to ``serious'' is required by operation of law for an area 
that fails to attain the NAAQS by the outermost permissible attainment 
date for moderate nonattainment areas. This reclassification would 
obligate the State of Alaska to submit an attainment plan for the area 
that meets statutory and regulatory requirements applicable to a 
serious nonattainment area for these NAAQS. Under the proposed consent 
decree, EPA will also be required to deliver the signed final notice to 
the Office of Federal Register for review and publication within 15 
business days after signature. See the proposed consent decree for the 
specific details.
    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 or 
intervenors 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 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-2016-0776) 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

[[Page 118]]

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 22, 2016.
Gautam Srinivasan,
Acting Associate General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2016-31822 Filed 12-30-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6560-50-P