[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 183 (Wednesday, September 21, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58507-58509]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-24276]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-9468-6]
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 in the
United States District Court for the District of Columbia: Sierra Club
v. Jackson, No. 1:11-0100 (D.D.C.). On January 13, 2011, Plaintiff
filed a complaint alleging that EPA failed to perform nondiscretionary
duties under the CAA as to whether six areas: Houston-Galveston-
Brazoria (TX), Baltimore (MD), New York-Northern New Jersey-Long
Island, Springfield (Western Massachusetts), Greater Connecticut, and
Boston-Lawrence-Worcester (MA-NH) which are designated as nonattainment
for ozone attained the 1-hour ozone national ambient air quality
standard (``1-Hour ozone standard'') by the applicable attainment date.
The proposed settlement agreement establishes
[[Page 58508]]
deadlines for EPA to make these determinations.
DATES: Written comments on the proposed settlement agreement must be
received by October 21, 2011.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID number EPA-HQ-
OGC-2011-0765, 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: Kendra Sagoff, Air and Radiation Law
Office (2344A), Office of General Counsel, U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460;
telephone: (202) 564-5591; fax number (202) 564-5603; e-mail address:
sagoff.kendra@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 whether
six areas: (1) Houston-Galveston-Brazoria, (2) Baltimore, (3) New York-
Northern New Jersey-Long Island, (4) Springfield (Western
Massachusetts), (5) Greater Connecticut, and (6) Boston-Lawrence-
Worcester, which are designated as nonattainment for ozone, attained
the 1-hour ozone NAAQS by the applicable attainment date.
The proposed settlement agreement provides various dates by which
EPA must propose a determination and make a final determination as to
whether each area previously listed has attained the 1-hour ozone
standard by its 1-hour ozone attainment date. No later than 15 business
days following signature on each notice related to a proposed or final
determination 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 Sierra Club and EPA agree to
file a joint motion for dismissal, 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 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.
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-2011-0765) 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.
[[Page 58509]]
Dated: September 13, 2011.
Kevin McLean,
Acting Associate General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2011-24276 Filed 9-20-11; 8:45 am]
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