Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 64 / Monday, April 4, 2016 / Notices 19175 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

[EPA–HQ–OGC–2016–0172; FRL–9944–41– 

OGC] 

Proposed Consent Decree, Clean Air 

Act Citizen Suit 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Notice of proposed consent 

decree; request for public comment. 

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 Center for 

Biological Diversity, Center for 

Environmental Health, and Neighbors 

for Clean Air (‘‘Plaintiffs’’) in the United 

States District Court for the Northern 

District of California: Center for 

Biological Diversity, et al. v. EPA, No. 

4:15–cv–4663–SBA (N.D. CA.). On 

December 14, 2015, Plaintiffs filed a 

First Amended Complaint alleging that 

Gina McCarthy, in her official capacity 

as Administrator of the United States 

Environmental Protection Agency 

(‘‘EPA’’), failed to perform specific 

duties mandated by the CAA. First, 

Plaintiffs allege that EPA failed to make 

a finding concerning whether the State 

of California has made a complete state 

implementation plan (‘‘SIP’’) 

submission to address nonattainment 

new source review (‘‘NNSR’’) 

requirements related to the 2006 fine 

particulate matter (‘‘PM2.5’’) National 

Ambient Air Quality Standard 

(‘‘NAAQS’’) for El Dorado and YoloSolano air districts in California. 

Second, Plaintiffs allege that EPA failed 

to take final action to approve, 

disapprove, or conditionally approve, in 

whole or in part, certain complete SIP 

submissions from the States of Arizona, 

California, Idaho, Oregon, and Utah 

intended to address NNSR or other 

specific requirements related to the 

2006 PM2.5 NAAQS for certain 

designated nonattainment areas. Third, 

Plaintiffs allege that EPA has failed to 

meet a duty to promulgate a federal 

implementation plan (‘‘FIP’’) for the 

State of Montana with respect to SIP 

requirements pertaining to state boards 

that approve permits or enforcement 

orders, or to the head of an executive 

agency with similar powers. 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 May 4, 2016. 

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, 

identified by Docket ID number EPA– 

HQ–OGC–2016–0172, online at 

www.regulations.gov (EPA’s preferred 

method); by email to oei.docket@

epa.gov; by mail to EPA Docket Center, 

Environmental Protection Agency, 

Mailcode: 2822T, 1200 Pennsylvania 

Ave. NW., Washington, DC 20460–0001; 

or by hand delivery or courier to EPA 

Docket Center, EPA West, Room 3334, 

1301 Constitution Ave. NW., 

Washington, DC, between 8:30 a.m. and 

4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, 

excluding legal holidays. Comments on 

a disk or CD–ROM should be formatted 

in Word or ASCII file, avoiding the use 

of special characters and any form of 

encryption, and may be mailed to the 

mailing address above. 

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: wilcox.geoffrey@epa.gov. 

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 take various 

actions required under CAA. The 

proposed consent decree would 

establish deadlines by which EPA must 

take certain actions specified in order to 

resolve the claims in the First Amended 

Complaint. Those actions are described 

generally below; see the proposed 

consent decree for the specific details. 

First, Plaintiffs allege that EPA failed 

to meet a duty under section 

110(k)(1)(B) to make a finding 

concerning whether the State of 

California has made a complete state 

implementation plan (‘‘SIP’’) 

submission to address nonattainment 

new source review (‘‘NNSR’’) 

requirements related to the 2006 fine 

particulate matter (‘‘PM2.5’’) National 

Ambient Air Quality Standard 

(‘‘NAAQS’’) for El Dorado and YoloSolano air districts in California. In the 

proposed consent decree, EPA agrees to 

take action to determine whether or not 

the state has made a complete SIP 

submission to address these 

requirements for each of these two areas 

by no later than May 30, 2016. 

Second, Plaintiffs allege that EPA 

failed to meet a duty under section 

110(k) to take final action to approve, 

disapprove, or conditionally approve, in 

whole or in part, certain complete SIP 

submissions from the States of Arizona, 

California, Idaho, Oregon, and Utah 

intended to address NNSR or other 

specific requirements related to the 

2006 PM2.5 NAAQS for certain 

designated nonattainment areas. In the 

proposed consent decree, EPA agrees to 

take final action under section 

110(k)(2)–(4) on each of the specific SIP 

submissions identified in the table in 

paragraph 1(b) of the proposed consent 

decree. The dates for final action by 

EPA for each of these SIP submissions 

are likewise specified in the table in 

paragraph 1(b) of the proposed consent 

decree. 

Third, Plaintiffs allege that EPA has 

failed to meet a duty under section 

110(c) to promulgate a federal 

implementation plan (‘‘FIP’’) for the 

State of Montana with respect to 

requirements of section 110(a)(2)(E)(ii) 

and section 128 pertaining to state 

boards that approve permits or 

enforcement orders, or to the head of an 

executive agency with similar powers. 

In the proposed consent decree, EPA 

agrees to take final action no later than 

September 30, 2016, with respect to this 

claim. 

For all of the actions governed by the 

proposed consent decree, EPA would be 

required to deliver the notice to the 

Office of Federal Register for review and 

publication within 15 days of signature. 

The proposed consent decree is in the 

docket for this action. 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– 

2016–0172) 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 

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19176 Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 64 / Monday, April 4, 2016 / Notices 

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 

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: March 23, 2016. 

Lorie J. Schmidt, 

Associate General Counsel. 

[FR Doc. 2016–07491 Filed 4–1–16; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

[EPA–HQ–OW–2015–0753; FRL 9944-46– 

OW] 

Recommended Aquatic Life Ambient 

Water Quality Criteria for Cadmium— 

2016 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Notice of availability. 

SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA) is announcing the release 

of recommended aquatic life water 

quality criteria for cadmium. EPA has 

updated its national recommended 

ambient water quality criteria for 

cadmium in order to reflect the latest 

scientific information, and current EPA 

policies and methods. EPA’s water 

quality criteria for cadmium provides 

recommendations to states and tribes 

authorized to establish water quality 

standards under the Clean Water Act. In 

adopting water quality standards, states 

set exposure protections for aquatic life; 

acute exposure to cadmium results in 

lethality, while chronic exposure to 

cadmium negatively impacts growth, 

development, behavior, reproduction, 

and immune and endocrine systems in 

aquatic life. Cadmium enters the 

environment by natural and human 

processes, however, human sources, 

such as mining and urban processes, are 

responsible for contributing 

approximately 90 percent of the 

cadmium found in surface waters. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Mike Elias, Health and Ecological 

Criteria Division, Office of Water (Mail 

Code 4304T), Environmental Protection 

Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue 

NW., Washington, DC 20460; telephone 

number: (202) 566–0120; email address: 

elias.mike@epa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. General Information 

A. How can I get copies of this 

document and other related 

information? 

1. Docket. EPA has established a 

docket for this action under Docket ID 

No. EPA–HQ–OW–2015–0753. Publicly 

available docket materials are available 

either electronically through 

www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at 

the Water Docket in the EPA Docket 

Center, (EPA/DC) 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 Water 

Docket is (202) 566–2426. 

2. Electronic Access. You may access 

this Federal Register document 

electronically from the Government 

Printing Office under the ‘‘Federal 

Register’’ listings on FDSys (http://

www.gpo.gov/fdsys/browse/

collection.action?collectionCode=FR). 

II. What are EPA’s recommended water 

quality criteria? 

EPA’s recommended water quality 

criteria are scientifically derived 

numeric values that protect aquatic life 

or human health from the deleterious 

effects of pollutants in ambient water. 

Section 304(a)(1) of the Clean Water Act 

(CWA) directs EPA to develop and 

publish and, from time to time, revise 

criteria for protection of aquatic life and 

human health that accurately reflect the 

latest scientific knowledge. Water 

quality criteria developed under section 

304(a) are based solely on data and the 

latest scientific knowledge on the 

relationship between pollutant 

concentrations and environmental and 

human health effects. Section 304(a) 

criteria do not reflect consideration of 

economic impacts or the technological 

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