[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 49 (Tuesday, March 13, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14784-14785]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-6028]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-9646-7]
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'' or the ``Act''), 42 U.S.C. 7413(g), notice is hereby
given of a proposed consent decree to address a lawsuit filed by
Kentucky Environmental Foundation in the United States District Court
for the District of Columbia: Kentucky Environmental Foundation v.
Jackson, No. 11-1253 (D.D.C.). Plaintiff filed a complaint and a first
amended complaint alleging that EPA failed to take timely action to
approve, disapprove, or approve in part and disapprove in part the
State of Kentucky's State Implementation Plan submittals or potions of
submittals for: (1) The Kentucky portion of the Cincinnati-Hamilton
area, submitted to EPA on or about December 3, 2008, with regard to the
1997 annual fine particular matter (PM2.5) National Ambient
Air Quality Standard ( NAAQS); and (2) the Kentucky portion of the
Louisville area, submitted to EPA on or about December 3, 2008, with
regard to the 1997 annual PM2.5 NAAQS. The proposed consent
decree establishes a deadline of October 1, 2012, for EPA to take
action on the Louisville submittal.
DATES: Written comments on the proposed consent decree must be received
by April 12, 2012.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID number EPA-HQ-
OGC-2012-0190, online at www.regulations.gov (EPA's preferred method);
by email 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: Stephanie L. Hogan, Air and Radiation
Law Office (2344A), Office of General Counsel, U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW., Washington, DC 20460;
telephone: (202) 564-3244; fax number (202) 564-5603; email address:
Hogan.stephanie@epa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Additional Information About the Proposed Consent Decree
The proposed consent decree would resolve a lawsuit filed by
Kentucky Environmental Foundation seeking to compel the Agency to take
final action under sections 110(k)(2) and (3) of the CAA, 42 U.S.C.
7410(k)(2) and (3), on the State of Kentucky's State Implementation
Plan (SIP) submittals dated December 3, 2008. Specifically, the lawsuit
seeks to compel the Agency to take final action, pursuant to section
110(k) of the CAA, 42 U.S.C. 7410(k), on the 1997 P.M.2.5
nonattainment area requirements, including the attainment
demonstrations, contingency measures, emissions inventories, and
reasonably
[[Page 14785]]
available control measures/reasonably available control technology
requirements in the Cincinnati-Hamilton SIP and the Louisville SIP.
On March 9, 2011, and September 29, 2011, respectively, EPA
determined that the Cincinnati-Hamilton and the Louisville areas had
attained the 1997 annual PM2.5 NAAQS. See 76 FR 12860; 76 FR
60373. On September 30, 2011, the State of Kentucky withdrew its
previously submitted attainment demonstrations, contingency measures,
and reasonably available control measures for the Cincinnati-Hamilton
SIP and the Louisville SIP but did not withdraw any portions of its
submittals for the Cincinnati-Hamilton SIP and the Louisville SIP that
pertain to emissions inventories. On December 15, 2011, EPA approved
the emissions inventory in the Cincinnati-Hamilton SIP. See 76 FR
77903.
The proposed consent decree requires that, no later than October 1,
2012, the appropriate EPA official shall sign a notice of final
rulemaking approving, disapproving, or approving in part and
disapproving in part the emissions inventory in the Louisville SIP. In
addition, the proposed consent decree requires that, following
signature, EPA shall expeditiously deliver the notice to the Office of
the Federal Register for publication in the Federal Register and shall
thereafter provide a copy of the notice to Plaintiff within ten (10)
days. After EPA fulfills its obligations under the proposed consent
decree, the consent decree may be terminated.
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 that consent to this consent decree should be
withdrawn, the terms of the proposed consent 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-2012-0190) 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 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 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: March 6, 2012.
Patricia Embrey,
Acting Associate General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2012-6028 Filed 3-12-12; 8:45 am]
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