82 FR 31351 - Notice of Lodging of Proposed Consent Decree Under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act and Notice of Availability and Request for Comments on Draft Restoration Plan and Environmental Assessment

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

Federal Register Volume 82, Issue 128 (July 6, 2017)

[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 128 (Thursday, July 6, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 31351-31352]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2017-14193]


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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE


Notice of Lodging of Proposed Consent Decree Under the 
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act 
and Notice of Availability and Request for Comments on Draft 
Restoration Plan and Environmental Assessment

    On June 29, 2017, the Department of Justice lodged a proposed 
Consent Decree and Draft Restoration Plan/Environmental Assessment 
(``RP/EA'') with the United States District Court for the District of 
Minnesota in the lawsuit entitled United States, Minnesota, and 
Wisconsin v. XIK, LLC; Honeywell International, Inc.; and Domtar, Inc., 
Civil Action No. 017-cv-02368.
    The proposed Consent Decree will resolve a claim for natural 
resource damages at the St. Louis River/Interlake/Duluth Tar 
(``SLRIDT'') Superfund Site brought by the governments under the 
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act 
(``CERCLA''), 42 U.S.C. 9607. The SLRIDT Site consists of 255 acres of 
land and river embayments located primarily in Duluth, Minnesota, and 
extends into the St. Louis River. The filed complaint alleges that the 
three Defendants are liable under CERCLA for industrial discharges of 
polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (``PAHs'') at the SLRIDT Site during 
the first half of the 20th Century. PAHs were identified in river 
sediments throughout the Site in sufficient concentrations to cause 
injury to many types of natural resources, including vegetation, fish 
and birds. In addition, PAH-contaminated natural resources resulted in 
the loss of recreational fishing and tribal use services.
    Under CERCLA, federal, state, and tribal natural resource trustees 
have authority to seek compensation for natural resources harmed by 
hazardous industrial waste and by-products discharged into the St. 
Louis River. The natural resource trustees here include the U.S. 
Department of the Interior, acting through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife 
Service and the Bureau of Indian Affairs; the U.S. Department of 
Commerce, acting through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration; the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa; the 
1854 Treaty Authority, representing the Grand Portage Band of Lake 
Superior Chippewa and the Bois Forte Band of Chippewa; the Minnesota 
Pollution Control Agency; the Minnesota Department of Natural 
Resources; and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources 
(collectively, the ``Trustees'').
    Under the proposed Consent Decree, the Defendants will pay $8.2 
million of which $6,476,742 will fund Trustee-sponsored natural 
resource restoration projects in accordance with the RP/EA and 
$1,723,258 will provide reimbursement for costs incurred by the 
Trustees in assessing the scope of natural resource damages. The RP/EA 
presents the restoration projects proposed by the Trustees to restore 
natural resources injured by hazardous substances released in and 
around the SLRIDT site.
    Consistent with the natural resource damages assessment and 
restoration (``NRDAR'') regulations, 43 CFR part 11, and the National 
Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (``NEPA''), as amended, 42 U.S.C. 
4321-4347 et seq., and its implementing regulations at 40 CFR parts 
1500-1508, the Trustees evaluated a suite of five alternatives for 
conducting the type and scale of restoration sufficient to compensate 
the public for natural resource injuries and service losses. Based on 
selection factors including location, technical feasibility, cost 
effectiveness, provision of natural resource services similar to those 
lost due to contamination, and net environmental consequences, the 
Trustees identified a preferred alternative.
    Under the preferred alternative, the Trustees would conduct 
enhancement/restoration of shallow sheltered embayment at Kingsbury 
Bay, which includes recreational access and cultural education 
opportunities; implement watershed protection at Kingsbury Creek; and 
restore wild rice in the St. Louis River estuary.
    The publication of this notice opens a period for public comment on 
the Consent Decree and RP/EA.
    Comments on the Consent Decree should be addressed to the Assistant 
Attorney General, Environment and Natural Resources Division, and 
should refer to United States Minnesota, and Wisconsin v. XIK, LLC; 
Honeywell International, Inc.; and Domtar, Inc., D.J. Ref. No. 90-11-3-
07875. All comments on the Consent Decree must be submitted no later 
than thirty (30) days after the publication date of this notice. 
Comments may be submitted either by email or by mail:

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         To submit comments:                     Send them to:
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By email............................  [email protected].

[[Page 31352]]

 
By mail.............................  Assistant Attorney General, U.S.
                                       DOJ--ENRD, P.O. Box 7611,
                                       Washington, DC 20044-7611.
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    During the public comment period, the Consent Decree may be 
examined and downloaded at this Justice Department Web site: https://www.justice.gov/enrd/consent-decrees. We will provide a paper copy of 
the Consent Decree upon written request and payment of reproduction 
costs. Please mail your request and payment to: Consent Decree Library, 
U.S. DOJ--ENRD, P.O. Box 7611, Washington, DC 20044-7611.
    Please enclose a check or money order for $41.75 (25 cents per page 
reproduction cost) payable to the United States Treasury. For a paper 
copy of the Consent Decree without the attached RP/EA, the cost is 
$9.25. For a paper copy of only the RP/EA, the cost is $32.50.
    Comments on the RP/EA should be addressed to Ronald Wieland, 
Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, and reference ``SLRDIT RP/
EA'' in the subject line. All comments on the RP/EA must be submitted 
no later than thirty (30) days after the publication date of this 
notice. Comments may be submitted either by email or by mail:

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         To submit comments:                     Send them to:
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By email............................  [email protected].
By mail.............................  Ronald Wieland, Minnesota
                                       Department of Natural Resources,
                                       500 Lafayette Road North, St.
                                       Paul, MN 55155.
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    During the public comment period, the RP/EA may be examined and 
downloaded at this U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Midwest Region 
Natural Resource Damage Assessment Web site: https://www.fws.gov/Midwest/es/ec/nrda/index.html. As described above, a paper copy of the 
RP/EA may obtained from the Department of Justice as part of the 
Consent Decree upon written request and payment of reproduction costs.

Randall M. Stone,
Acting Assistant Section Chief, Environmental Enforcement Section, 
Environment and Natural Resources Division.
[FR Doc. 2017-14193 Filed 7-5-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4410-15-P