Document ID: EPA-HQ-OGC-2023-0510-0001
Agency: epa
Document Type: Notice
Title: Proposed Consent Decree: Clean Water Act Claim
Posted Date: 2023-10-20T04:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 202 (Friday, October 20, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 72476-72477]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-23239]

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OGC-2023-0510; FRL-11458-01-OGC]

Proposed Consent Decree, Clean Water Act Claim

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of proposed consent decree; request for public comment.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: In accordance with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 
Administrator's March 18, 2022, memorandum regarding ``Consent Decrees 
and Settlement Agreements to resolve Environmental Claims Against the 
Agency,'' notice is hereby given of a proposed consent decree in 
Arizona Mining Reform Coalition et al. v. Guzman et al. (D. Ariz. 
2023). On September 27, 2023, the Arizona Mining Reform Coalition, the 
Center for Biological Diversity, Earthworks, the Concerned Citizens and 
Retired Miners Coalition, and the Grand Canyon Chapter of the Sierra 
Club (collectively, ``Plaintiffs'') filed a complaint against EPA in 
the United States District Court for the District of Arizona alleging 
that the Agency failed to perform a mandatory duty under the Clean 
Water Act (CWA) to establish Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) for 
copper and lead impairments for Queen Creek, Arizona. This complaint 
followed submission of a Notice of Intent to Sue on August 9, 2022. EPA 
seeks public input on a proposed consent decree prior to its final 
decision-making with regard to potential settlement of the litigation.

DATES: Written comments on the proposed consent decree must be received 
by November 20, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-
OGC-2023-0510 online at https://www.regulations.gov (EPA's preferred 
method). Follow the online instructions for submitting comments.
    Instructions: All submissions received must include the Docket ID 
number for this action. Comments received may be posted without change 
to https://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information 
provided. For detailed instructions on sending

[[Page 72477]]

comments, see the ``Additional Information About Commenting on the 
Proposed Consent Decree'' heading under the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION 
section of this document.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Alec Mullee, Water Law Office, Office 
of General Counsel, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; telephone: 
(202) 564-9616; email address: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Additional Information About the Proposed Consent Decree

    On September 27, 2023, Plaintiffs filed a complaint in Federal 
district court asserting that the Arizona Department of Environmental 
Quality (ADEQ) constructively submitted to EPA no TMDLs for copper and 
lead impairments in Queen Creek. Plaintiffs allege that for this reason 
EPA has a mandatory duty under the CWA to approve or disapprove the 
constructive submission and, upon disapproval, establish these TMDLs. 
Plaintiffs further allege that EPA has failed to meet this duty. 
Following submission of a Notice of Intent to Sue containing these 
assertions on August 9, 2022, the parties initiated settlement 
discussions, which produced the proposed consent decree. Under the 
consent decree, EPA would be obligated to establish copper and lead 
TMDLs for Queen Creek by July 31, 2028, unless ADEQ first establishes 
and submits them to EPA by January 31, 2027. If ADEQ submits the TMDLs 
to EPA, the proposed consent decree provides that Plaintiffs would not 
object to EPA taking up to an additional 60 days beyond the 30-day 
statutory deadline to act on the submittal. If EPA disapproves the 
TMDLs submitted by ADEQ, Plaintiffs would not object to EPA taking up 
to 12 additional months beyond the 30-day statutory deadline to 
establish replacement TMDLs.
    For a period of thirty (30) days following the date of publication 
of this notice, EPA will accept written comments relating to the 
proposed consent decree from persons who are not parties to the 
litigation. EPA or the Department of Justice may withdraw or withhold 
consent to the proposed consent decree if the comments received 
disclose facts or considerations that indicate that such consent is 
inappropriate, improper, inadequate, or inconsistent with the 
requirements of the CWA.

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 Docket ID 
No. EPA-HQ-OGC-2023-0510) 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.
    The electronic version of the public docket for this action 
contains a copy of the proposed consent decree and is available through 
https://www.regulations.gov. You may use https://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.''

B. How and to whom do I submit comments?

    Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OGC-2023-
0510 via https://www.regulations.gov. Once submitted, comments cannot 
be edited or removed from this docket. EPA may publish any comment 
received to its public docket. Do not submit to EPA's docket at https://www.regulations.gov 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. EPA will generally 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, the full EPA public comment policy, information about CBI or 
multimedia submissions, and general guidance on making effective 
comments, please visit https://www.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets. For additional information about submitting information 
identified as CBI, please contact the person listed in the FOR FURTHER 
INFORMATION CONTACT section of this document.
    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. 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 https://www.regulations.gov website 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. 
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 does not plan to consider these late 
comments.

Steven M. Neugeboren,
Associate General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2023-23239 Filed 10-19-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P