Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 11 / Wednesday, January 17, 2024 / Notices 2983 

Issued: January 10, 2024. 

Lisa Barton, 

Secretary to the Commission. 

[FR Doc. 2024–00727 Filed 1–16–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7020–02–P 

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE 

Notice of Lodging of Proposed 

Consent Decree Under the Clean Air 

Act 

On January 10, 2024, the Department 

of Justice lodged a proposed Consent 

Decree with the United States District 

Court for the District of Columbia in the 

case captioned United States v. 

Cummins Inc., Case No. 1:24–cv–00088. 

The United States filed a Complaint 

in this lawsuit seeking civil penalties 

and injunctive relief from Defendant 

Cummins Inc. (‘‘Cummins’’) for alleged 

violations of title II of the Clean Air Act, 

as amended, 42 U.S.C. 7521–7590, and 

the regulations promulgated thereunder, 

which aim to protect human health and 

the environment by reducing emissions 

of nitrogen oxides (‘‘NOX’’) and other 

pollutants from mobile sources of air 

pollution, including new motor 

vehicles. The State of California has 

filed a separate Complaint alleging 

corresponding claims for civil penalties 

and injunctive relief against Cummins 

under the Clean Air Act’s citizen suit 

provisions, 42 U.S.C. 7404(a)(1), and 

California laws and regulations. 

The United States’ Complaint alleges 

that Cummins violated the Clean Air 

Act through the company’s production 

and sale of diesel motor vehicle 

engines—along with associated engine 

control and emission control systems— 

that were installed in nearly one million 

pickup trucks sold in the United States 

under the RAM 2500 and RAM 3500 

model names. The United States alleges 

that Cummins’ applications to the U.S. 

Environmental Protection Agency for 

Certificates of Conformity for those 

trucks did not disclose multiple 

software-based features that affect their 

emission control systems. In addition, 

the United States alleges that some of 

these undisclosed software features 

qualify as illegal ‘‘defeat devices’’ that 

bypass, defeat and/or render inoperative 

emission control systems in more than 

630,000 model year 2013–2019 RAM 

2500 and RAM 3500 trucks, causing 

those vehicles to emit substantially 

higher levels of NOX during certain 

normal real world driving conditions, as 

compared to the vehicles’ NOX

emissions levels during federal emission 

tests. 

When the United States’ Complaint 

was filed, the United States also lodged 

a proposed Consent Decree among the 

United States (on behalf of the U.S. 

Environmental Protection Agency), the 

State of California (on behalf of the 

California Air Resources Board), and 

Cummins (the ‘‘Joint Consent Decree’’). 

If approved by the Court, the Joint 

Consent Decree would resolve the 

claims against Cummins in the United 

States’ Complaint on agreed terms and 

conditions. The Joint Consent Decree 

also would partially resolve the claims 

against Cummins in the California 

Complaint. A separate proposed 

Consent Decree between Cummins and 

California (the ‘‘California Partial 

Consent Decree’’) was lodged 

concurrently with the proposed Joint 

Consent Decree. The California Partial 

Consent Decree would resolve the 

remaining claims in the California 

Complaint, including claims brought by 

the California Attorney General. 

The Joint Consent Decree would 

require Cummins to: (i) pay the United 

States a $1.478 billion civil penalty; (ii) 

pay the California Air Resources Board 

a $164 million penalty; and (iii)) take 

various steps to remedy the alleged 

violations, including conducting vehicle 

recall campaigns to replace the software 

in model year 2013–2019 RAM trucks 

and satisfying mitigation requirements 

to offset the excess NOX emissions from 

those trucks. 

The California Partial Consent Decree 

would require Cummins to pay $33 

million in civil penalties to the 

California Attorney General and make 

an additional payment to fund actions 

or projects that reduce NOX emissions 

through mitigation programs 

administered by the California Air 

Resources Board. 

Taken together, the Joint Consent 

Decree and the California Partial 

Consent Decree would require Cummins 

to pay more than $2 billion to resolve 

the violations alleged by the United 

States and California, including $1.675 

billion in civil penalties. 

The publication of this notice opens 

a period for public comment on the 

United States’ proposed Joint Consent 

Decree. Comments should be addressed 

to the Assistant Attorney General, 

Environment and Natural Resources 

Division, and should refer to Untied 

States v. Cummins Inc., DJ Ref. No. 90– 

5–2–1–12300. All comments 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: 

To submit 

comments: Send them to: 

By email ....... pubcomment-ees.enrd@

usdoj.gov. 

By mail ......... Assistant Attorney General, 

U.S. DOJ—ENRD, P.O. 

Box 7611, Washington, DC 

20044–7611. 

During the public comment period, 

the proposed Joint 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 Joint 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 $45.75 (25 cents per page 

reproduction cost) payable to the United 

States Treasury. 

Patricia A. McKenna, 

Assistant Section Chief, Environmental 

Enforcement Section, Environment and 

Natural Resources Division. 

[FR Doc. 2024–00705 Filed 1–16–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4410–15–P 

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE 

Notice of Lodging of Proposed 

Consent Decrees Under the 

Comprehensive Environmental 

Response, Compensation and Liability 

Act, Clean Water Act, and Oil Pollution 

Act 

On January 8, 2024, the Department of 

Justice lodged five proposed consent 

decrees with the United States District 

Court for the Northern District of Ohio 

in the lawsuit entitled United States v. 

Ohio Refining Co., et al., Civil Action 

No. 3:24–cv–00039. 

The United States filed a Complaint 

alleging claims against Ohio Refining 

Co., LLC, Chevron U.S.A. Inc., Energy 

Transfer (R&M), LLC, Pilkington North 

America, Inc., and Chemtrade Logistics, 

Inc., under the Comprehensive 

Environmental Response, 

Compensation, and Liability Act 

(‘‘CERCLA’’), the Clean Water Act, and 

the Oil Pollution Act for recovery of 

damages for injury to, loss of, or 

destruction of natural resources 

resulting from the release of hazardous 

substances and oil at the Duck & Otter 

Creeks NRDA Site located near Toledo, 

Ohio. Each Defendant or its predecessor 

historically owned and/or operated an 

industrial facility within the Site which 

discharged polynuclear aromatic 

hydrocarbon (‘‘PAH’’) compounds, 


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