Document ID: EPA-HQ-OGC-2010-0507-0001
Agency: epa
Document Type: Notice
Title: Proposed Settlement Agreement
Posted Date: 2010-06-28T04:00Z

[Federal Register: June 28, 2010 (Volume 75, Number 123)]
[Notices]               
[Page 36654-36656]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr28jn10-59]                         

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-9168-9]

 
Proposed Settlement Agreement

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of Proposed Settlement Agreement; request for public 
comment.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with section 113(g) of the Clean Air Act, as 
amended

[[Page 36655]]

(``Act''), 42 U.S.C. 7413(g), notice is hereby given of a proposed 
settlement agreement to address lawsuits filed by Navistar, Inc. 
(Navistar) in the United States Court of Appeals for the District of 
Columbia Circuit: Navistar v. EPA, Nos. 09-1113, 09-1114 and 09-1317 
(DC Cir.). Navistar filed petitions for review of the following: (1) An 
EPA rule published January 18, 2001 promulgating standards for new 
heavy duty motor vehicles and engines; (2) a letter, dated February 18, 
2009, sent by the Director of the Compliance and Innovative Strategies 
Division, Office of Transportation and Air Quality, providing guidance 
to manufacturers of heavy-duty diesel engines; and (3) an agency 
notice, published November 9, 2009, approving new scheduled maintenance 
for new motor vehicles and engines using selective catalytic 
technologies. Under the terms of the proposed settlement agreement, 
Navistar agrees to dismiss these petitions with prejudice, to withdraw 
related Freedom if Information Act requests, and to be precluded from 
challenging certain other related actions. EPA agrees to engage in a 
public process within a specific time frame to reexamine its policies, 
for future model year 2011 and later heavy duty diesel engines, for 
operation of SCR-equipped engines without DEF, with improper DEF, or 
when tampering (or some other defect in the SCR system) is detected. 
The public process shall take the form of a workshop, hearing, or other 
public process.

DATES: Written comments on the proposed settlement agreement must be 
received by July 28, 2010.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID number EPA-HQ-
OGC-2010-0507, online at http://www.regulations.gov (EPA's preferred 
method); by e-mail 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: Michael Horowitz, Air and Radiation 
Law Office (2344A), Office of General Counsel, U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460; 
telephone: (202) 564-5583; fax number (202) 564-5603; e-mail address: 
horowitz.michael@epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Additional Information About the Proposed Settlement Agreement

    This proposed settlement agreement would potentially resolve 
petitions for judicial review filed by Navistar for review of the 
following: (1) An EPA rule published January 18, 2001 promulgating 
standards for new heavy duty motor vehicles and engines; (2) a letter, 
dated February 18, 2009, sent by the Director of the Compliance and 
Innovative Strategies Division, Office of Transportation and Air 
Quality, providing guidance to manufacturers of heavy-duty diesel 
engines; and (3) an agency notice, published November 9, 2009, 
approving new scheduled maintenance for new motor vehicles and engines 
using selective catalytic technologies. Under the terms of the proposed 
settlement agreement, Navistar agrees to dismiss these petitions with 
prejudice and to withdraw related Freedom of Information Act requests. 
Navistar also agrees that it would be precluded from filing any of the 
following petitions for review: (1) Petitions challenging directly or 
indirectly individual certificates of conformity issued for a model 
year prior to the 2012 model year (excluding action exercising its 
rights regarding certifications of its own engines in any model year); 
and (2) petitions challenging a letter dated December 30, 2009 from the 
Director of the Compliance and Innovative Strategies Division, Office 
of Transportation and Air Quality, providing revised guidance for 
certification of heavy-duty diesel engines using SCR technologies 
(``December 2009 Guidance''). However, Navistar reserves its right to 
exercise its rights regarding any changes or modifications to that 
guidance issued after the public process selected by EPA and retains 
all other rights and remedies to challenge EPA's final action that 
occurs following the public process selected by EPA.
    Under the terms of the proposed settlement agreement, EPA agrees to 
engage in a public process to reexamine its policies, for future model 
year 2011 and later heavy duty diesel engines, for operation of SCR-
equipped engines without DEF, with improper DEF, or when tampering (or 
some other defect in the SCR system) is detected. The public process 
will take the form of a workshop, hearing, or other public process. EPA 
will issue a public notice of the public process to be published in the 
Federal Register not later than June 30, 2010 or twenty-eight days 
after the date this Agreement becomes final, whichever is later. EPA 
will include in the public notice statements that: (a) The public 
process is designed to provide a thorough review of EPA's policies 
regarding operation of SCR-equipped heavy duty diesel engines without 
DEF, with improper DEF, or when tampering (or some other defect in the 
SCR system) is detected for future 2011 and later model year engines, 
in order to ensure, among other things, that SCR-equipped engines are 
designed to properly control emissions as required under applicable 
regulations; (b) it is appropriate for EPA to review and reexamine its 
policies as technologies are introduced into the marketplace; (c) EPA 
intends to review any information that has become available to 
determine whether its policies regarding SCR-equipped engines should be 
revised; and (d) the scope of the review includes the December 2009 
Guidance.
    EPA will conduct the selected public process not later than sixty 
days after the publication of the public notice in the Federal 
Register.
    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 settlement agreement from persons who were 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 
settlement agreement 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, based on any comment submitted, that 
consent to this settlement agreement should be withdrawn, the terms of 
the agreement will be affirmed.

II. Additional Information About Commenting on the Proposed Settlement 
Agreement

A. How can I get a copy of the settlement agreement?

    The official public docket for this action (identified by Docket ID 
No. EPA-HQ-OGC-2010-0507) contains a copy of the proposed settlement 
agreement. 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,

[[Page 36656]]

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.
    An electronic version of the public docket is available through 
http://www.regulations.gov. You may use the http://www.regulations.gov 
to submit or view public comments, access the index listing of the 
contents of the official public docket, and to access those documents 
in the public docket that are available electronically. Once in the 
system, select ``search,'' then key in the appropriate docket 
identification number.
    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 http://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 e-mail 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 http://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, e-mail 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 
(e-mail) system is not an ``anonymous access'' system. If you send an 
e-mail comment directly to the Docket without going through http://
www.regulations.gov, your e-mail 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: June 21, 2010.
Richard B. Ossias,
Associate General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2010-15645 Filed 6-25-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P