[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 246 (Thursday, December 23, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 80808-80809]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-32268]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-9242-5]
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'' or the ``Act''), 42 U.S.C. 7413(g), notice is hereby
given of a proposed consent decree to address a lawsuit filed by
Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. and Coalition for a Safe
Environment (collectively ``Plaintiffs'') in the United States District
Court for the Central District of California: Natural Resources Defense
Council, Inc., et al. v. Jackson, No. CV-10-6029-MMM-AGR (C.D. CA.). On
August 12, 2010, Plaintiffs filed a complaint alleging that EPA failed
to perform nondiscretionary duties under section 110(k)(2) of the CAA,
42 U.S.C. 7410(k)(2) to take final action to approve or disapprove (1)
the State Strategy for the 2007 State Implementation Plan (``2007 State
SIP''), submitted to EPA on November 16, 2007, and (2) the 2007 Air
Quality Management Plan for the South Coast Air Quality Management
District (``2007 South Coast SIP''), submitted to EPA on November 28,
2007. The proposed consent decree establishes a deadline for EPA to
take action.
DATES: Written comments on the proposed consent decree must be received
by January 24, 2011.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID number EPA-HQ-
OGC-2010-1060, 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 Consent Decree
The proposed consent decree would resolve a lawsuit seeking to
compel the Administrator to take final action under section 110(k) of
the CAA to approve or disapprove (1) the State Strategy for the 2007
State Implementation Plan (``2007 State SIP''), submitted to EPA on
November 16, 2007, and (2) the 2007 Air Quality Management Plan for the
South Coast Air Quality Management District (``2007 South Coast SIP''),
submitted to EPA on November 28, 2007. Specifically, the consent decree
addresses only those elements of the 2007 State SIP and 2007 South
Coast SIP that were submitted by the State of California in response to
EPA's designations of ``nonattainment'' for the South Coast Air Basin
with respect to the 1997 NAAQS for ozone and PM2.5. The proposed
consent decree requires that no later than September 30, 2011, EPA
shall sign for publication in the Federal Register a notice of the
Agency's final action on the portions of the 2007 State SIP and 2007
South Coast SIP that relate to EPA's ``nonattainment'' designation of
the South Coast Air Basin with respect to the 1997 PM2.5 NAAQS, and
thereafter send the notice to the Office of the Federal Register for
review and publication.
The proposed consent decree also requires that no later than
December 15, 2011, EPA shall sign for publication in the Federal
Register a notice of the Agency's final action on the portions of the
2007 State SIP and 2007 South Coast SIP that relate to the
nonattainment designation of the South Coast Air Basin with respect to
the 1997 ozone NAAQS, and thereafter send the notice to the Office of
the Federal Register for review and publication. After EPA fulfills its
obligations under the decree, the parties shall file a joint request to
the Court to dismiss this matter with prejudice.
[[Page 80809]]
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 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-2010-1060) 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
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: December 16, 2010.
Kevin W. McLean,
Acting Associate General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2010-32268 Filed 12-22-10; 8:45 am]
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