EPA v. JOHN F. KENNEDY CTR FOR PERFORMING ARTS

Case summary

On July 29, 2021, Region 3 issued a Federal Facility Compliance Agreement (the FFCA) to The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (Respondent), located at 2700 F Street, N.W. Washington, DC, 20566 (Facility), addressing Respondent's past noncompliance with EPA issued NPDES Permit No. DC0000248 (the Permit). The Permit regulates and authorizes discharges of air conditioning system condenser non-contact cooling water from the Facility into the Potomac River. The FFCA details numerous incidents of noncompliance with the Permit during 2017 through 2020, including failure to: comply with temperature and/or pH effluent limitations, timely submit Discharge Monitoring Report data, submit influent data and train employees in order to ensure compliance with the Permit. Respondent and EPA have agreed that Respondent will develop and submit for EPA's review a Compliance Implementation Plan, which meets certain requirements and seeks to ensure compliance with the following portions of the Permit: Effluent Limitations and Monitoring Requirements (Part I), Operation and Maintenance of Pollution Controls (Part II.B.), Monitoring Procedures and Recordkeeping Requirements (Part II.C.), and Influent and Effluent Monitoring requirements (Part III). Through this FFCA, EPA seeks to improve the water quality of the Potomac River and the Chesapeake Bay, within the area of the Facility. Based upon the EJ Assessment, when considering the block group which contains the facility and a one-mile radius around the Facility, none of the eleven Primary EJ Indexes is approximately at or above the 80th percentile for the Nation, State or Region III. However, the area evaluated: a) exceeds the 80th percentile standard threshold for both the Nation and the State for several of the Environmental Indicators and b) exceeds the 50th percentile for either the State or Nation for certain Demographic Indicators. The District of Columbia's Department of Energy and Environment has been informed of the FFCA.

Defendants (1)

• JOHN F. KENNEDY CTR FOR PERFORMING ARTSNamed in settlement

Facilities (2)

• JFK CENTER FOR PERFORMING ARTS

  2700 F STREET, NW, WASHINGTON, DC, 20566

  Registry ID: 110008309605

• JOHN F KENNEDY CTR FOR PERFORMING ARTS

  2700 F ST NW, WASHINGTON, DC, 205660002

  Registry ID: 110070119592

Statutes cited

• CWA 301/307 — Effluent Limitations - NPDES Toxic & Pretreatment Effluent Standards

Enforcement conclusions (1)

• JOHN F. KENNEDY CTR FOR PERFORMING ARTSentered 2021-08-03

  Primary law: CWA

Timeline (2 milestones)

• 2021-08-03Final Order Issued
• 2021-09-03Enforcement Action Data Entered