Proposed Settlement Agreement, Clean Water Act

Issuing agencies

Abstract

In accordance with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator's October 16, 2017, Directive Promoting Transparency and Public Participation in Consent Decrees and Settlement Agreements, notice is hereby given of a proposed consent decree to address several claims in a lawsuit filed by Sierra Club, Center for Environmental Law and Policy, and plaintiff-intervenor, the Spokane Tribe of Indians ("Plaintiffs") in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington. On October 21, 2011, the Plaintiffs Sierra Club and Center for Environmental Law and Policy filed a complaint alleging, among other things, that EPA failed to perform duties mandated by the Clean Water Act ("CWA") with respect to Total Maximum Daily Loads ("TMDLs") for segments of the Spokane River and adjacent water bodies that were listed as impaired due to polychlorinated biphenyls ("PCBs"). EPA seeks public input on the proposed consent decree prior to its final decision-making to settle the litigation.