[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 170 (Thursday, September 1, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54465-54466]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-22428]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-9458-3]
Proposed Settlement Agreement, Clean Air Act Citizen Suit
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of proposed settlement agreement; 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
settlement agreement to address a lawsuit filed by Sierra Club and
WildEarth Guardians in the United States District Court for the
Northern District of California: Sierra Club et al. v. Jackson, No.
3:10-cv-04060-CRB (N.D. Cal.). On August 10, 2011, Plaintiffs filed a
second amended complaint alleging that EPA failed to perform a duty
mandated by CAA section 110(c)(1), to promulgate Federal Implementation
Plans (``FIPs'') within twenty-four (24) months after issuing a finding
of failure to submit State Implementation Plans (``SIPs'') meeting
applicable requirements of CAA section 110(a)(2), for North Dakota,
Hawaii, Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, Washington, Maryland, Virginia,
Arkansas, Arizona, Florida and Georgia with regard to the 1997 8-hour
ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards (``NAAQS''). In addition,
Plaintiffs also alleged that EPA failed to perform a duty mandated by
CAA section 110(k)(2), to take final action on the SIP submittals or
portions of submittals meeting applicable requirements of CAA section
110(a)(2), submitted by Maryland, Virginia, Arkansas, Oklahoma,
Florida, Georgia, Nevada, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Arizona with
regard to the 1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS. The proposed settlement
agreement establishes deadlines for EPA to take these actions. In
addition, the proposed settlement agreement requires EPA to take
action, as appropriate, on a petition for rulemaking filed by the
Sierra Club on an issue related to existing SIP provisions.
DATES: Written comments on the proposed settlement agreement must be
received by October 3, 2011.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID number EPA-HQ-
OGC-2011-0722, online at http://www.regulations.gov (EPA's preferred
method); by e-mail 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: Geoffrey L. Wilcox, Air and Radiation
Law Office (2344A), Office of General Counsel, U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460;
telephone: (202) 564-5601; fax number (202) 564-5603; e-mail address:
wilcox.geoffrey@epa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Additional Information About the Proposed Settlement Agreement
The proposed settlement agreement would resolve a lawsuit seeking
to compel the Administrator to take various actions related to the
``infrastructure'' SIP submissions of specific states for the 1997 8-
hour ozone NAAQS. First, the proposed settlement agreement would
require the Administrator either to promulgate a FIP, or to approve a
SIP submission from the state in lieu thereof, pursuant to CAA section
110(c)(1), addressing the applicable requirements of section 110(a)(2),
for North Dakota, Hawaii, Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, Washington, Maryland,
Virginia, Arkansas, Arizona, Florida and Georgia with regard to the
1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS. Second, the proposed settlement agreement
would also require the Administrator to take final action pursuant to
CAA section 110(k)(2), on the SIP submittals or portions of submittals
addressing the applicable requirements of section 110(a)(2), for
Maryland, Virginia, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Florida, Georgia, Nevada, North
Carolina, Tennessee, and Arizona with regard to the 1997 8-hour ozone
NAAQS.
The proposed settlement agreement provides various dates by which
EPA must propose action or take final action with respect to each of
these duties, depending upon the state in question and the element or
elements of section 110(a)(2) at issue. No later than 15 business days
following signature on each notice related to a proposed or final
action specified in the proposed settlement agreement, EPA is required
to send the notice to the Office of the Federal Register for review and
publication in the Federal Register. After EPA fulfills all of its
obligations under the agreement to take actions required by section
110(c) or section 110(k) with respect to the various elements of
section 110(a)(2) for the respective states, the Plaintiffs agree to
file a motion for voluntary dismissal, with prejudice.
In addition to specific actions required by section 110(c)(1) and
section 110(k), the proposed settlement agreement obligates EPA to
respond to a petition for rulemaking from the Sierra Club concerning
existing provisions in SIPs related to excess emissions from sources
during periods of startup, shutdown, or malfunction (``SSM'') that may
be contrary to the CAA and EPA's policies addressing such emissions.
The proposed settlement agreement requires EPA either to grant or to
deny the petition with respect to the allegedly illegal SSM provisions
by a specified date. If EPA grants the petition with respect to a
provision, EPA agrees to promulgate either a SIP call pursuant to
section 110(k)(5) or an error correction pursuant to section 110(k)(6),
as EPA deems appropriate.
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 settlement agreement from persons who were 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
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 settlement
agreement should be withdrawn, the terms of the agreement will be
affirmed.
[[Page 54466]]
II. Additional Information About Commenting on the Proposed Settlement
Agreement
A. How can I get a copy of the settlement agreement?
The official public docket for this action (identified by Docket ID
No. EPA-HQ-OGC-2011-0722) contains a copy of the proposed 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 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
http://www.regulations.gov. You may use http://www.regulations.gov to
submit or view public comments, access the index listing of the
contents of the official public docket, and to 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 http://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 e-mail 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 http://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, e-mail 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
(e-mail) system is not an ``anonymous access'' system. If you send an
e-mail comment directly to the Docket without going through http://www.regulations.gov, your e-mail 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 26, 2011.
Patricia Embrey,
Acting, Associate General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2011-22428 Filed 8-31-11; 8:45 am]
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