[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 60 (Tuesday, March 29, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17416-17417]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-7328]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-9287-3]
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''), 42 U.S.C. 7413(g), notice is hereby
given of a proposed settlement agreement to address a lawsuit filed by
WildEarth Guardians and Elizabeth Crowe in the United States District
Court for the Northern District of California: WildEarth Guardians et
al. v. Jackson, No. 3:10-cv-04603-WHA (ND CA). On October 12, 2010,
Plaintiffs filed a complaint alleging that EPA failed to issue findings
of failure to submit State Implementation Plans (``SIP'') regarding
specified areas designated as nonattainment for the 1997 8-hour
National Ambient Air Quality Standards (``NAAQS'') for ozone within the
States of Arizona, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Tennessee pursuant to CAA,
42 U.S.C. 7401-7671q. The proposed settlement agreement establishes a
deadline for EPA to take action.
DATES: Written comments on the proposed settlement agreement must be
received by April 28, 2011.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID number EPA-HQ-
OGC-2011-0337, 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: Jan Tierney, Air and Radiation Law
Office (2344A), Office of General Counsel, U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460;
telephone: (202) 564-5598; fax number (202) 564-5603; e-mail address:
tierney.jan@epa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Additional Information About the Proposed Settlement Agreement
The proposed settlement agreement would resolve a lawsuit seeking
to compel action by the Administrator to make findings of failure to
submit on certain SIPs under the CAA. The proposed settlement agreement
requires EPA to sign for publication in the Federal Register no later
than May 31, 2011 findings of failure to submit such SIPs for the Las
Vegas, Nevada and the Pittsburgh-Beaver Valley, Pennsylvania 1997 8-
hour ozone nonattainment areas. EPA will no longer be obligated to make
such finding for the area if prior to May 31, 2001 it takes one of the
following actions for the area: (1) EPA takes final action on its
proposed rule to classify the area under Title I, part D, subpart 2 of
the CAA; (2) EPA takes final action redesignating the area to
attainment or unclassifiable; or (3) EPA signs a final rule making a
determination that the area has attained the 1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS.
If EPA fulfills its obligations, Plaintiff has agreed to dismiss this
suit 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
[[Page 17417]]
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, based on any comment submitted, that
consent should be withdrawn, the terms of the agreement will be
affirmed.
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-2011-0337) 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 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, 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: March 23, 2011.
Richard B. Ossias,
Associate General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2011-7328 Filed 3-28-11; 8:45 am]
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