[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 9 (Friday, January 12, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2253-2254]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-00487]


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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE


Notice of Lodging of Proposed Stipulation and Order Modifying 
Consent Decree Under the Clean Air Act

    On January 8, 2024, the Department of Justice lodged a proposed 
Stipulation and Order Modifying Consent Decree (``Stipulation'') with 
the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana 
in the lawsuit entitled United States and the Louisiana Department of 
Environmental Quality v. The Dow Chemical Company, Union Carbide Corp. 
and Performance Materials, NA, Inc., Civil Action No. 2:21-cv-00114-
MLCF-JVM.
    The United States and Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality 
filed this lawsuit under the Clean Air Act and Louisiana Environmental 
Quality Act in January 2021. The complaint sought injunctive relief and 
civil penalties based on violations of the Clean Air Act's New Source 
Review requirements, New Source Performance Standards, National 
Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants, ``Title V'' program 
requirements and operating permits, and related Texas and Louisiana 
state implementation plan requirements. The alleged violations involved 
flares used at petrochemical manufacturing plants owned and operated by 
the defendants, The Dow Chemical Company, Union Carbide Corp. and 
Performance Materials, NA, Inc., in Hahnville and Plaquemine, 
Louisiana, and Freeport and Orange, Texas. The Consent Decree, approved 
and entered by the Court in June 2021, required the defendants to 
perform injunctive relief, including (among other things) the 
installation and operation of Flare Gas Recovery System (``FGRS'') 
compressors at the Orange Facility covered by the Consent Decree, pay a 
$3,000,000 civil penalty, and perform three state-authorized Beneficial 
Environmental Projects in Louisiana.
    The Stipulation lodged today changes the number of FGRS compressors 
at the Orange Facility to three from two; modifies the requirements for 
FGRS operation time to reflect the additional FGRS compressor 
(specifically, once the third compressor is operating, the Stipulation 
requires the Orange Facility to have two ``Compressors Available for 
Operation or in operation 95% of the time and one Compressor Available 
for Operation or in operation at all times,'' increased from ``one 
Compressor Available for Operation or in operation 98% of the time and 
two Compressors Available for Operation or in operation 90% of the 
time''); adds default molecular weights for nitrogen, natural gas, and 
methane; and corrects an incorrect paragraph cross reference in 
Appendix 1.2, Step 2, of the Consent Decree.
    The publication of this notice opens a period for public comment on 
the proposed Stipulation. Comments should be addressed to the Assistant 
Attorney General, Environment and Natural Resources Division, and 
should refer to

[[Page 2254]]

United States and the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality v. 
The Dow Chemical Company, Union Carbide Corp. and Performance 
Materials, NA, Inc., Civil Action No. 2:21-cv-00114-MLCF-JVM, DOJ 
reference number 90-5-2-1-11114. All comments must be submitted no 
later than 30 days after the publication date of this notice. Comments 
may be submitted either by email or by first-class mail:

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         To submit comments:                     Send them to:
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By email............................  <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#20505542434f4d4d454e540d4545530e454e5244605553444f4a0e474f56"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="c1b1b4a3a2aeacaca4afb5eca4a4b2efa4afb3a581b4b2a5aeabefa6aeb7">[email protected]</span></a>.
By first-class 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 proposed consent decree may 
be examined and downloaded at this Justice Department website: https://www.justice.gov/enrd/consent-decrees. We will provide a paper copy of 
the proposed 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 $3.25 (25 cents per page 
reproduction cost) payable to the United States Treasury.

Thomas Carroll,
Assistant Section Chief, Environmental Enforcement Section, Environment 
and Natural Resources Division.
[FR Doc. 2024-00487 Filed 1-11-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-15-P


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