Document ID: EPA-HQ-OGC-2019-0683-0001
Agency: epa
Document Type: Notice
Title: Proposed Consent Decree: Clean Air Act Citizen Suit - Center for
Biological Diversity, et al., v. Wheeler, No. 4:19-cv-01544 (N.D. Cal.)
Posted Date: 2019-12-17T05:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 242 (Tuesday, December 17, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 68933-68934]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-27157]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OGC-2019-0683; FRL-10003-38-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 Center for Biological Diversity, et al., v. Wheeler, No. 
4:19-cv-01544 (N.D. Cal.). On June 26, 2019, the Center for Biological 
Diversity and Center for Environmental Health 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 make a determination whether the West Central Pinal nonattainment 
area attained the 2006 24-hour fine particulate matter 
(``PM2.5'') national ambient air quality standard 
(``NAAQS'') by the attainment date and to take final action to 
promulgate a federal implementation plan (``FIP'') addressing certain 
deficiencies in the State of Arizona's new source review program. The 
EPA has already taken final action to find that the West Central Pinal 
nonattainment area attained the NAAQS. Thus, the proposed consent 
decree would establish deadlines for EPA to take specified actions as 
to the remaining claim.

DATES: Written comments on the proposed consent decree must be received 
by January 16, 2020.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID number EPA-HQ-
OGC-2019-0683, 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: Stephanie L. Hogan, Air and Radiation 
Law Office, Office of General Counsel, U.S. Environmental Protection 
Agency, Mail Code 2344A, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 
20460; telephone: (202) 564-3244; email address: 
hogan.stephanie@epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Additional Information About the Proposed Consent Decree

    The consent decree would resolve a lawsuit filed by the Center for 
Biological Diversity and Center for Environmental Health seeking to 
compel the Administrator to make a determination under CAA section 
179(c)(1) whether the West Central Pinal nonattainment area located in 
Arizona attained the 2006 PM2.5 NAAQS by the attainment date 
and to take action under the Clean Air Act to take final action to 
promulgate a FIP under CAA section 110(c) addressing certain 
deficiencies in the State of Arizona's new source review program.
    The EPA has already taken final action to find that the West 
Central Pinal nonattainment area attained the 2006 PM2.5 
NAAQS. See 84 FR 52766 (Oct. 3, 2019). Therefore, this claim in the 
lawsuit is moot. Under the terms of

[[Page 68934]]

the proposed consent decree, EPA shall take actions regarding the 
remaining claim by the deadlines established in the proposed consent 
decree.
    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-2019-0683) 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 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: December 10, 2019.
Gautam Srinivasan,
Acting Associate General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2019-27157 Filed 12-16-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6560-50-P