Document ID: EPA-HQ-OGC-2018-0848-0001
Agency: epa
Document Type: Notice
Title: Proposed Consent Decree: Clean Air Act Citizen Suit - Our Children’s Earth Foundation v. Wheeler, No. 18-cv-04765 (N.D. Cal.)
Posted Date: 2019-03-05T05:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 43 (Tuesday, March 5, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7895-7896]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-03955]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OGC-2018-0848; FRL-9990-39-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 given of a proposed consent 
decree in Our Children's Earth Foundation v. Wheeler, No. 18-cv-04765 
(N.D. Cal.). On August 7, 2018, Our Children's Earth Foundation filed a 
complaint in the United States District Court for the Northern District 
of California, alleging that the Administrator of the United States 
Environmental Protection Agency (``EPA'') failed to perform non-
discretionary duties to review the existing New Source Performance 
Standards (``NSPS'') governing Bulk Gasoline Terminals (``Bulk Gasoline 
NSPS'') and Electric Arc Furnaces and Argon-Oxygen Decarburization 
Vessels in Steel Plants (``Furnaces NSPS''), and to review the existing 
National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (``NESHAP'') 
governing Gasoline Distribution Facilities (Bulk Gasoline Terminals and 
Pipeline Breakout Stations) (``Major Source Bulk Gasoline NESHAP''); 
Gasoline Distribution Bulk Terminals, Bulk Plants, and Pipeline 
Facilities (``Area Source Bulk Gasoline NESHAP''); Iron and Steel 
Foundries Area Sources (``Foundries NESHAP''); and Wood Preserving Area 
Sources (``Wood Preserving NESHAP''). The proposed consent decree would 
establish deadlines for EPA to take action on these source categories.

DATES: Written comments on the proposed consent decree must be received 
by April 4, 2019.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID number EPA-HQ-
OGC-2018-0848, online at www.regulations.gov (EPA's preferred method). 
For comments submitted at www.regulations.gov, follow the online 
instructions for submitting comments. Once submitted, comments cannot 
be edited or removed from www.regulations.gov. The EPA may publish any 
comment received to its public docket. Do not submit electronically 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. The 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, please contact 
the person identified in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section. 
For the full EPA public comment policy, information about CBI or 
multimedia submissions, and general guidance on making effective 
comments, please visit http://www2.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Daniel Schramm, Air and Radiation Law 
Office (2344A), Office of General Counsel, U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20460; 
telephone: (202) 564-3377; email address: schramm.daniel@epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Additional Information About the Proposed Consent Decree

    The proposed consent decree would resolve a lawsuit filed by Our 
Children's Earth Foundation seeking to compel the Administrator to take 
action under the Clean Air Act to review, and if appropriate revise, 
the Furnaces NSPS and Bulk Gasoline NSPS at least every 8 years under 
section 111(b)(1)(B) of the Act, and to review, and revise if necessary 
(taking into account developments in practices, processes, and control 
technologies), the Major Source Bulk Gasoline NESHAP, Area Source Bulk 
Gasoline NESHAP, Foundries NESHAP, and Wood Preserving NESHAP no less 
often than every 8 years under section 112(d)(6) of the Act.
    Under the terms of the proposed consent decree, EPA shall review, 
and revise if necessary, the above source categories by the deadlines 
established in the proposed consent decree. Beginning June 1, 2020, EPA 
will provide Our Children's Earth Foundation with status reports every 
180 days as to whether the Agency is making reasonable progress toward 
meeting the deadlines provided in the consent decree, and if it 
anticipates any difficulties in meeting the deadlines with an 
explanation of the difficulty or difficulties.
    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.

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-2018-0848) 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

[[Page 7896]]

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 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. 
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: February 19, 2019.
Gautam Srinivasan,
Acting Associate General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2019-03955 Filed 3-4-19; 8:45 am]
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