Document ID: EPA-HQ-OGC-2021-0753-0001
Agency: epa
Document Type: Notice
Title: Proposed Consent Decree: Safe Drinking Water Act Claims
Posted Date: 2021-10-27T04:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 205 (Wednesday, October 27, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 59383-59385]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-23427]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OGC-2021-0753; FRL-9178-01-OGC]

Proposed Consent Decree, Safe Drinking Water Act Claims

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of proposed consent decree; request for public comment.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 
Administrator's October 16, 2017, Directive Promoting Transparency and 
Public Participation in Consent Decrees and Settlement Agreements, EPA 
is giving notice of a proposed consent decree to address a complaint 
filed by the Natural Resources Defense Council in the United States 
District Court for the Southern District of New York alleging that EPA 
failed to perform a mandatory duty under the Safe Drinking Water Act 
(SDWA). On January 19, 2021, the Plaintiffs filed a complaint pursuant 
to the SDWA alleging failure of the Administrator to issue revisions to 
EPA's consumer confidence report regulations by October 23, 2020. Under 
the proposed Consent Decree, the EPA would agree to a deadline for 
issuing the revisions.

[[Page 59384]]

DATES: Written comments on the proposed consent decree must be received 
by November 26, 2021.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-
OGC-2021-0753, online at https://www.regulations.gov (EPA's preferred 
method). Follow the online instructions for submitting comments.
    Instructions: All submissions received must include the Docket ID 
number for this action. Comments received may be posted without change 
to https://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information 
provided. For detailed instructions on sending comments and additional 
information on the rulemaking process, see the ``Additional Information 
about Commenting on the Proposed Consent Decree'' heading under the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document. Out of an abundance 
of caution for members of the public and our staff, the EPA Docket 
Center and Reading Room are closed to the public, with limited 
exceptions, to reduce the risk of transmitting COVID-19. Our Docket 
Center staff will continue to provide remote customer service via 
email, phone, and webform. We encourage the public to submit comments 
via https://www.regulations.gov, as there may be a delay in processing 
mail and faxes. Hand-deliveries and couriers may be received by 
scheduled appointment only. For further information on EPA Docket 
Center services and the current status, please visit us online at 
https://www.epa.gov/dockets.
    EPA continues to carefully and continuously monitor information 
from the CDC, local area health departments, and our federal partners 
so that we can respond rapidly as conditions change regarding COVID-19.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Leslie Darman, Water Law Office, 
Office of General Counsel, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 
Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20460; telephone: (202) 564-5452; 
email address: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Obtaining a Copy of the Proposed Consent Decree

    The official public docket for this action (identified by Docket ID 
No. EPA-HQ-OGC-2021-0753) contains a copy of the proposed consent 
decree.
    The electronic version of the public docket for this action 
contains a copy of the proposed consent decree and is available through 
https://www.regulations.gov. You may use https://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.''

II. Additional Information About the Proposed Consent Decree

    On January 19, 2021, the Natural Resources Defense Council filed a 
complaint pursuant to SDWA alleging failure of the Administrator to 
issue revisions to the consumer confidence report regulations by 
October 23, 2020. (Natural Resources Defense Council v. Michael Regan, 
Administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency, et 
al., No. 21-cv-461 (S.D.N.Y.)) Pursuant to Section 1414(c)(4) of the 
Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), EPA promulgated consumer confidence 
report regulations in 1998 to require ``each community water system to 
mail to each customer of the system at least once annually a report on 
the level of contaminants in the drinking water purveyed by that system 
(referred to in this paragraph as a ``consumer confidence report'').'' 
42 U.S.C. 300g-3(c)(4)(A). In 2018, the America's Water Infrastructure 
Act (``the Act'') amended Section 1414(c)(4) to require EPA to issue 
revisions to its consumer confidence report regulations ``[n]ot later 
than 24 months after October 23, 2018,'' or October 23, 2020, 42 U.S.C. 
300g-3(c)(4)(F)(i), to increase ``the readability, clarity, and 
understandability of the information presented in consumer confidence 
reports'' and to increase ``the accuracy of information presented, and 
risk communication, in consumer confidence reports.'' 42 U.S.C. 300g-
3(c)(4)(F)(i)(I)(aa)-(bb). The Act also provides that the CCR 
regulations (1) require community water systems serving more than 
10,000 persons to provide a consumer confidence report to each customer 
``at least biannually'' and (2) allow electronic delivery of the 
consumer confidence reports. 42 U.S.C. 300g-3(c)(4)(F)(i)(II) and 300g-
3(c)(4)(F)(ii). The Act requires EPA to issue the revisions to the CCR 
regulations ``in consultation with'' ``public water systems, 
environmental groups, public interest groups, risk communication 
experts, and the States, and other interested parties,'' 42 U.S.C. 
300g-3(c)(4)(F) and 300g-3(c)(4)(A). EPA has not issued revisions to 
the consumer confidence report regulations as described in 42 U.S.C. 
300g-3(c)(4)(F), 42 U.S.C. 300g-3(c)(4)(F)(i). Under the proposed 
Consent Decree, the EPA would agree to a deadline for issuing the 
revisions.
    For a period of thirty (30) days following the date of publication 
of this document, the Agency will accept written comments relating to 
the proposed consent decree. 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.

III. Additional Information About Commenting on the Proposed Consent 
Decree

    Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OGC-2021-
0753, via https://www.regulations.gov. Once submitted, comments cannot 
be edited or removed from this docket. EPA may publish any comment 
received to its public docket. Do not submit to EPA's docket at https://www.regulations.gov 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. 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, the full EPA public comment policy, information about CBI or 
multimedia submissions, and general guidance on making effective 
comments, please visit https://www.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets. For additional information about submitting information 
identified as CBI, please contact the person listed in the FOR FURTHER 
INFORMATION CONTACT section of this document. Note that written 
comments containing CBI and submitted by mail may be delayed and 
deliveries or couriers will be received by scheduled appointment only.
    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. 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

[[Page 59385]]

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 https://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.
    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.

Steven M. Neugeboren,
Associate General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2021-23427 Filed 10-26-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P