Notice2024-06722
Proposed Consent Decree, Clean Air Act Citizen Suit
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
March 29, 2024
Issuing agencies
Environmental Protection Agency
Abstract
In accordance with the Clean Air Act, as amended ("CAA" or "the Act"), the Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA" or "the Agency") is providing notice of a proposed consent decree in Sierra Club, et al. v. United States Environmental Protection Agency, et al., No. 1:23-cv-01744-JDB (D. DC). Plaintiffs Sierra Club, National Parks Conservation Association, and Environmental Integrity Project (collectively, "Plaintiffs"), brought suit in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia alleging that and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") and Michael Regan, in his official capacity as Administrator of the U.S. EPA ("the Administrator") (collectively, "Defendants"), failed to take final action on the second planning period regional haze state implementation plan ("SIP") revisions submitted by the following 34 states: Alaska, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. There are three intervenors in this action. PacifiCorp is acting as an intervenor-plaintiff and the State of North Dakota and the State of Nevada are acting as intervenor-defendants. The proposed consent decree would establish deadlines for the EPA to sign a notice of proposed rulemaking for certain SIPs included in this action and a notice of final rulemaking for each of the SIPs included in this action.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 62 (Friday, March 29, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 62 (Friday, March 29, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 22141-22143]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-06722]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[EPA-HQ-OGC-2024-0149; FRL-11857-01-OGC]
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 the Clean Air Act, as amended (``CAA'' or
``the Act''), the Environmental Protection Agency (``EPA'' or ``the
Agency'') is providing notice of a proposed consent decree in Sierra
Club, et al. v. United States Environmental Protection Agency, et al.,
No. 1:23-cv-01744-JDB (D. DC). Plaintiffs Sierra Club, National Parks
Conservation Association, and Environmental Integrity Project
(collectively, ``Plaintiffs''), brought suit in the United States
District Court for the District of Columbia alleging that and the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency (``EPA'') and Michael Regan, in his
official capacity as Administrator of the U.S. EPA (``the
Administrator'') (collectively, ``Defendants''), failed to take final
action on the second planning period regional haze state implementation
plan (``SIP'') revisions submitted by the following 34 states: Alaska,
Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware,
Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Maryland,
Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York,
North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina,
South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Washington, West Virginia,
Wisconsin, and Wyoming. There are three intervenors in this action.
PacifiCorp is acting as an intervenor-plaintiff and the State of North
Dakota and the State of Nevada are acting as intervenor-defendants. The
proposed consent decree would establish deadlines for the
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EPA to sign a notice of proposed rulemaking for certain SIPs included
in this action and a notice of final rulemaking for each of the SIPs
included in this action.
DATES: Written comments on the proposed consent decree must be received
by April 29, 2024.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-
OGC-2024-0149, online at <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a> (EPA's preferred
method). Follow the online instructions for submitting comments.
Instructions: All submissions received must include the Docket ID
number for this action. Comments received may be posted without change
to <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a>, including any personal information
provided. For detailed instructions on sending comments and additional
information on the rulemaking process, see the ``Additional Information
about Commenting on the Proposed Consent Decree'' heading under the
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Yasm[iacute]n P[eacute]rez Ortiz, Air
and Radiation Law Office, Office of General Counsel, U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency; telephone: (202) 564-1077; email address: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#6b1b0e190e114604191f021145120a180602052b0e1b0a450c041d"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="e5958097809fc88a97918c9fcb9c8496888c8ba5809584cb828a93">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Obtaining a Copy of the Proposed Consent Decree
The official public docket for this action (identified by Docket ID
No. EPA-HQ-OGC-2024-0149) 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.
The electronic version of the public docket for this action
contains a copy of the proposed consent decree, and is available
through <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a>. You may use <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a> to submit or view public comments, access the index
listing of the contents of the official public docket, and 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.''
II. Additional Information About the Proposed Consent Decree
Plaintiffs initially filed a complaint in the United States
District Court for the District of Columbia alleging that EPA failed to
perform its nondiscretionary duty under CAA section 110(k)(2)-(4) to
approve, disapprove, or conditionally approve, in whole or in part the
second planning period regional haze SIP revisions for seven states,
Kansas, Massachusetts, Michigan, Ohio, Texas, and Wisconsin, within 12
months of a determination of completeness by EPA or a submittal being
deemed complete by operation of law. Plaintiffs then filed an Amended
Complaint challenging the same failure from Defendants to perform a
nondiscretionary duty under 110(k)(2)-(4) to approve, disapprove, or
conditionally approve, in whole or in part the second planning period
regional haze for 27 additional states, for a total of 34 states:
Alaska, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware,
Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Maryland,
Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York,
North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina,
South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Washington, West Virginia,
Wisconsin, and Wyoming, within 12 months of a determination of
completeness by EPA or a submittal being deemed complete by operation
of law.
Under the terms of the proposed consent decree, no later than the
dates set forth in the proposed consent decree, the Administrator or
appropriate EPA official with delegated authority shall sign a notice
of proposed rulemaking to approve, disapprove, conditionally approve,
or approve in part and disapprove in part, pursuant to sections
110(k)(2)-(4) of the CAA, 42 U.S.C. 7410(k)(2)-(4), certain SIP
submittals set forth in the proposed consent decree. In addition, under
the terms of the proposed consent decree, no later than the dates set
forth in the proposed consent decree, the Administrator or appropriate
EPA official with delegated authority shall sign a notice of final
rulemaking to approve, disapprove, conditionally approve, or approve in
part and disapprove in part, pursuant to sections 110(k)(2)-(4) of the
CAA, 42 U.S.C. 7410(k)(2)-(4), the SIP submittals set forth in the
proposed consent decree.
In accordance with section 113(g) of the CAA, 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. 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.
III. Additional Information About Commenting on the Proposed Consent
Decree
Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OGC-2024-
0149, via <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a>. Once submitted, comments cannot
be edited or removed from this docket. The EPA may publish any comment
received to its public docket. Do not submit to EPA's docket at <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a> any information you consider to be Confidential
Business Information (CBI) or other information whose disclosure is
restricted by statute. Multimedia submissions (audio, video, etc.) must
be accompanied by a written comment. The written comment is considered
the official comment and should include discussion of all points you
wish to make. The EPA will generally not consider comments or comment
contents located outside of the primary submission (i.e., on the web,
cloud, or other file sharing system). For additional submission
methods, the full EPA public comment policy, information about CBI or
multimedia submissions, and general guidance on making effective
comments, please visit <a href="https://www.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets">https://www.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets</a>. For additional information about submitting information
identified as CBI, please contact the person listed in the FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT section of this document. Note that written
comments containing CBI and submitted by mail may be delayed and
deliveries or couriers will be received by scheduled appointment only.
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. 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
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comment due to technical difficulties and cannot contact you for
clarification, EPA may not be able to consider your comment.
Use of the <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a> website 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.
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.
Gautam Srinivasan,
Associate General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2024-06722 Filed 3-28-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
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