Document ID: EPA-HQ-OGC-2014-0421-0001
Agency: epa
Document Type: Notice
Title: Proposed Consent Decrees under Clean Air Act Citizen Suit
Posted Date: 2014-06-02T04:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 105 (Monday, June 2, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 31325-31326]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-12693]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL 9911-71-OGC]

Proposed Consent Decree, Clean Air Act Citizen Suit

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of Proposed Consent Decree; Request for Public Comment.

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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 the Sierra Club and the 
Natural Resources Defense Council in the United States District Court 
for the Northern District of California, in which several states have 
intervened as plaintiff-interveners: Sierra Club et al. v. McCarthy, 
Civil Action No. 3:13-cv-3953-SI (N.D. Cal.). On August 26, 2013, 
Plaintiffs filed a complaint alleging that Gina McCarthy, in her 
official capacity as Administrator of the United States Environmental 
Protection Agency (``EPA''), failed to take timely nondiscretionary 
action to promulgate and publish the remaining area designations for 
the 2010 revised primary national ambient air quality standard 
(``NAAQS'') for sulfur dioxide (``SO2''). The proposed 
consent decree would establish deadlines for EPA to take such action.

DATES: Written comments on the proposed consent decree must be received 
by July 2, 2014.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID number EPA-HQ-
OGC-2014-0421 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: Mike Thrift, Air and Radiation Law 
Office (2344A), Office of General Counsel, U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW., Washington, DC 20460; 
telephone: (202) 564-5596; fax number: (202) 564-5603; email address: 
thrift.mike@epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Additional Information About the Proposed Consent Decree

    The proposed consent decree would address a lawsuit filed by the 
Sierra Club and the Natural Resources Defense Council (``Plaintiffs'') 
seeking to compel the Administrator to take action to promulgate and 
publish remaining area designations for the 2010 primary SO2 
NAAQS under CAA sections 107(d)(1)(B) and 107(d)(2)(A), 42 U.S.C. 
7407(d)(1)(B), 7407(d)(2)(A). Under the terms of the proposed consent 
decree, to which Plaintiffs and EPA are parties (the Plaintiff-
Intervener states have not joined this consent decree), EPA would be 
required to complete area designations for the 2010 SO2 
NAAQS in three stages. First, on or before the date 16 months from the 
date of the consent decree, EPA will sign for publication in the 
Federal Register a notice of promulgation of such designations for 
remaining undesignated areas which: (a) Based on air quality monitoring 
in the three full calendar years preceding such deadline have monitored 
violations of the 2010 SO2 NAAQS; or (b) contain any 
stationary source that has not been ``announced for retirement'' and 
that, according to the data in EPA's Air Markets Database, either (1) 
emitted more than 16,000 tons of SO2 in 2012, or (2) emitted 
more than 2,600 tons of SO2 and had an annual average 
emission rate of 0.45 lbs SO2/Mmbtu or higher in 2012; where 
(c) ``announced for retirement'' means any stationary source in the 
United States with a coal-fired unit that as of January 1, 2010, had a 
capacity of over five megawatts and that has announced that it will 
cease burning coal at that unit through a company public announcement, 
public utilities commission filing, consent decree, public legal 
settlement, final state or federal permit filing, or similar means of 
communication. Second, on or before December 31, 2017, EPA will sign a 
notice of promulgation of such designations for remaining undesignated 
areas in which, by January 1, 2017, states have not installed and begun 
operating a new SO2 monitoring network meeting EPA 
specifications referenced in EPA's anticipated ``Data Requirements 
Rule'' rulemaking (proposed at 79 FR 27449 (May 13, 2014)) directing 
states to collect and analyze additional information regarding 
SO2 emissions concentrations. Third, on or before December 
31, 2020, EPA will sign a notice of promulgation of such designations 
for all remaining undesignated areas. In addition, the proposed consent 
decree arranges for

[[Page 31326]]

payment to the Plaintiffs for the costs of litigation, including 
attorney fees.
    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 
interveners 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 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 Consent Decree?

    The official public docket for this action (identified by Docket ID 
No. EPA-HQ-OGC-2014-0421 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.
    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: May 23, 2014.
Lorie J. Schmidt,
Associate General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2014-12693 Filed 5-30-14; 8:45 am]
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