[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 128 (Tuesday, July 3, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 39493-39494]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-16304]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-9696-5]
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''), notice is hereby given of a proposed consent decree,
to address a lawsuit filed by Sierra Club in the United States District
Court for the District of Columbia: Sierra Club v. Jackson, No. 1: 12-
cv-00012 (CKK). On March 2, 2012, the Plaintiff filed a First Amended
Complaint alleging that EPA failed to perform nondiscretionary duties
under the Clean Air Act related to the attainment of National Ambient
Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for ozone in the Houston-Galveston-
Brazoria area. Specifically, the Plaintiff alleged that EPA failed to
take timely action to approve, disapprove, or approve in part and
disapprove in part, pursuant to CAA, portions of the State of Texas'
State Implementation Plan (SIP) submittals for the 1997 8-hour ozone
NAAQS, including an ozone attainment demonstration, contingency
provisions, reasonably available control technology requirements,
reasonable further progress provisions, and transportation control
measures and demonstrations in the Houston-Galveston-Brazoria area. The
proposed consent decree establishes deadlines for EPA to take action on
the SIP submittals listed in the consent decree. The proposed consent
decree also provides that once EPA has completed the actions specified
in the decree the case will be dismissed with prejudice.
DATES: Written comments on the proposed consent decree must be received
by August 2, 2012.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID number EPA-HQ-
OGC-2012-0516, online at www.regulations.gov (EPA's preferred method);
by email to oei.docket@epa.gov; mailed 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: Kaytrue Ting, Air and Radiation Law
Office (2344A), Office of General Counsel, U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW., Washington, DC 20460;
telephone: (202) 564-6380; fax number (202) 564-5601; email address:
ting.kaytrue@epa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Additional Information About the Proposed Consent Decree
The proposed consent decree would resolve a lawsuit filed by the
Sierra Club seeking to compel the Administrator to take final action
under sections 110(k)(2) and (3) of the CAA, 42 U.S.C. 7410(k)(2) and
(3), on portions of the State of Texas' State Implementation Plan (SIP)
submittals for the 1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS. Specifically, the lawsuit
seeks to compel the Administrator to take final action, pursuant to
section 110(k) of the CAA, 42 U.S.C. 7410(k), on several SIP submittals
related to 1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS nonattainment area requirements in
the Houston-Galveston-Brazoria area, including: an ozone attainment
demonstration submitted to EPA on or about April 6, 2010; contingency
provisions submitted to EPA on or about April 1, 2010; reasonably
available control technology requirements submitted to EPA on or about
June 13, 2007; reasonable further progress provisions submitted to EPA
on or about April 1, 2010; and transportation control measures and
demonstrations submitted to EPA on or about April 6, 2010.
The proposed consent decree provides various dates by which EPA
must take proposed and final action on the SIP submittals at issue.
Following signature of each proposed and final rule described in the
proposed consent decree, EPA is required to send the notice to the
Office of the Federal Register promptly for review and publication in
the Federal Register. The proposed consent decree also states that
after EPA fulfills its obligations under the consent decree, this case
shall be dismissed with prejudice.
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 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 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. Unless EPA or the Department of
Justice determines, based on any comment submitted, that consent to
this consent decree should be withdrawn, the terms of the decree will
be affirmed.
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- 2012-0516) 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 the 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 www.regulations.gov without change, unless
the comment contains copyrighted material, CBI, or other information
whose disclosure is
[[Page 39494]]
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 Web site 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: June 26, 2012.
Lorie J. Schmidt,
Associate General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2012-16304 Filed 7-2-12; 8:45 am]
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