Document ID: EPA-HQ-OGC-2018-0591-0001
Agency: epa
Document Type: Notice
Title: Proposed Settlement Agreements under the Clean Water Act
Posted Date: 2018-08-21T04:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 162 (Tuesday, August 21, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 42287-42288]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-17923]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OGC-2018-0591; FRL-9982-56-OGC]

Proposed Second Interim Settlement Agreement, Clean Water Act 
Claims

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice; request for public comment.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the EPA Administrator's October 16, 2017, 
Directive Promoting Transparency and Public Participation in Consent 
Decrees and Settlement Agreements, notice is hereby given of a proposed 
Second Interim Settlement Agreement in a lawsuit filed by the West 
Goshen Sewer Authority (``WGSA'' or ``Plaintiff'') in the United States 
District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania: West Goshen 
Sewer Authority v. EPA, et al. On September 19, 2012, Plaintiff filed a 
complaint alleging, inter alia, that the United States Environmental 
Protection Agency (``EPA'') exceeded its statutory authority and acted 
arbitrarily and capriciously when it established a ``total maximum 
daily load'' for Goose Creek in southeastern Pennsylvania. The proposed 
Second Interim Settlement Agreement would memorialize commitments by 
WGSA, among other things, to install a ``CoMag'' ballasted flocculation 
system at its wastewater treatment plant and achieve certain specified 
discharge limits for phosphorus. After a period of time, EPA would 
reassess the water quality of Goose Creek and decide whether to 
withdraw, revise or retain the Goose Creek TMDL.

DATES: Written comments on the proposed Second Interim Settlement 
Agreement must be received by September 20, 2018.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID number EPA-HQ-
OGC-2018-0591, 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 
generally will 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: Jim Curtin, Water Law Office (7451), 
Office of General Counsel, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 
Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20460; telephone: (202) 564-5482; 
email address: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Additional Information About the Proposed Second Interim Settlement 
Agreement

    On June 30, 2008, EPA established a nutrient total maximum daily 
load (``TMDL'') for the Goose Creek Watershed in Chester and Delaware 
Counties, Pennsylvania. EPA established that TMDL pursuant to the April 
9, 1997 Consent Decree entered in American Littoral Society, et al., v. 
EPA, No. 96-489 (E.D. Pa.). Among other things, the TMDL assigned 
wasteload allocations (``WLAs'') for phosphorus to Goose Creek's point 
source dischargers, WGSA's wastewater treatment plant being the 
largest.
    WGSA filed a complaint against EPA on September 19, 2012, alleging 
that in establishing the Goose Creek TMDL EPA failed to comply with 
requirements of the Clean Water Act (CWA) and Administrative Procedure 
Act (APA). In July 2013, the Court granted intervener status to the 
Delaware Riverkeeper Network (``DRN'').
    The Court placed the case in ``civil suspense'' following the 
parties' execution in January 2014 of a first ``Interim Settlement 
Agreement'' (``the 2014 Agreement'') under which EPA reassessed the 
water quality of Goose Creek and WGSA made voluntary improvements in 
its operations to achieve phosphorus reductions. The parties have now 
reached agreement on the terms of a ``Second Interim Settlement 
Agreement'' in which (1) WGSA commits, among other things, to install a 
``CoMag'' ballasted flocculation system at its wastewater treatment 
plant and achieve certain specified discharge limits for phosphorus and 
(2) EPA commits to reassess the water quality of Goose Creek and decide 
whether to withdraw, revise or retain the Goose Creek TMDL.
    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 Second Interim Settlement Agreement from persons who are not 
named as parties or intervenors to the litigation in question. If so 
requested, EPA will also consider holding a public hearing on whether 
to enter into the proposed Second Interim Settlement Agreement. EPA or 
the Department of Justice may withdraw or withhold consent to the 
proposed Second Interim 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 that consent to this proposed Second Interim Settlement 
Agreement should be withdrawn, the parties intend to sign the Agreement 
and inform the Court.

II. Additional Information About Commenting on the Proposed Second 
Interim Settlement Agreement

A. How can I get a copy of the proposed Second Interim Settlement 
Agreement?

    The official public docket for this action (identified by EPA-HQ-
OGC-2018-0591) contains a copy of the proposed Second Interim 
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, 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

[[Page 42288]]

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 on EPA's 
website at www.epa.gov/dockets and also 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.
    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: August 10, 2018.
Steven Neugeboren,
Associate General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2018-17923 Filed 8-20-18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P