[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 204 (Monday, October 24, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-26296]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: October 24, 1994]


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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
 

Notice of Lodging of Consent Decree Pursuant to the Clean Water 
Act and the Rivers and Harbors Act

    In accordance with Departmental Policy, 28 CFR 50.7, notice is 
hereby given that a Consent Decree in Golden Gate Audubon Society, 
Inc., et al. v. United States Army Corps of Engrs. & City of Oakland, 
et al., Civil No. C-87-6063-TEH (N.D. Cal.), and consolidated action 
People of the State of California, et al. v. Togo West & City of 
Oakland, et al., Civil No. C-86-5817-RHS, was lodged with the United 
States District Court for the Northern District of California on 
September 27, 1994.
    The proposed Consent Decree concerns alleged violations of section 
301(a) of the Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. Sec. 1311(a), and section 10 
of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899, 33 U.S.C. Sec. 403, as a result 
of unpermitted discharges of dredged and fill material into wetlands 
and other waters of the United States and the unauthorized dredging of 
a channel. The Defendants, Port of Oakland, the Board of Port 
Commissioners of the City of Oakland, and the City of Oakland, acting 
by and through that Board (herein ``Port Defendants''), allegedly 
filled approximately 34 acres of jurisdictional wetlands and other 
waters of the United States, including seasonal ponds, at the Port of 
Oakland Distribution Center in the City of Oakland, Alameda County, 
California during the period 1972-1986. The Port Defendants also 
allegedly dredged an unauthorized channel in 1979 through a portion of 
the Port of Oakland Distribution Center property, all of which is owned 
by the Port Defendants, in violation of section 10 of the Rivers and 
Harbors Act of 1899. Additionally, the Port Defendants allegedly 
graded, scraped and/or filled approximately 26 acres of Wetlands and 
other waters of the United States at the Air Cargo Site, which is 
located at the South Field of the Metropolitan Oakland International 
Airport in the City of Oakland. A permit authorizing that work was 
issued by the Army Corps of Engineers in 1986, but the permit was 
subsequently vacated by the United States District Court for the 
Northern District of California and, therefore, the work was 
unauthorized.
    The proposed Consent Decree would require the Port Defendants to 
provide substantial mitigation in accordance with a Corps-approved 
mitigation/restoration plan. The mitigation project would include the 
restoration and/or enhancement of at least 68 acres within a 71-acre 
Mitigation Project Site located at the Port of Oakland Distribution 
Center and provides for the creation and enhancement of tidal wetlands, 
seasonal wetlands, seasonal ponds and other habitat features. The Port 
Defendants would be required to make available $2.5 million to finance 
the mitigation and post-mitigation activities, to include a 5-year 
monitoring program. Upon completion of the mitigation project, the Port 
Defendants would be required to transfer title to the 71-acre parcel to 
the East Bay Regional Park District (``EBRPD''), a state chartered 
regional agency, to assure that no future development occurs on the 
Mitigation Project Site. The Consent Decree would also require the Port 
Defendants to apply for a permit under section 404 of the Clean Water 
Act and section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act in order to construct 
a new parking area on approximately .1 acre adjacent to the Mitigation 
Project Site and to deposit 150,000-200,000 cubic yards of excess fill 
material removed from the Site on an undeveloped area of the 
Distribution Center property. The new parking area is necessary to 
replace a part of the existing parking area which would be destroyed as 
part of the proposed mitigation project. Approximately 2.5 acres of 
existing wetlands in undeveloped areas of the Distribution Center Site 
would be filled under the requested permit to allow for these 
activities. Additionally, the previously unauthorized fill material at 
both sites would be retained under the authority of Nationwide Permit 
32 and the Consent Decree. The proposed Consent Decree would also 
require the payment of a $5,000 civil penalty to the United States.
    The Department of Justice will receive written comments relating to 
the proposed Consent Decree for a period of 30 days from the date of 
publication of this notice. Comments should be addressed to Karen 
Egbert, Esquire, U.S. Department of Justice, Environmental Defense 
Section, P.O. Box 23986, Washington, D.C. 20026-3986 and should refer 
to Golden Gate Audubon Society, Inc., et al. v. United States Army 
Corps of Engrs. & City of Oakland, et al., Civil No. C-87-6063-TEH 
(N.D. Cal.), and consolidated action People of the State of California, 
et al. v. Togo West & City of Oakland, et al., Civil No. C-86-5817-RHS, 
and should also make reference to DJ# 90-5-1-1-3048.
    The Consent Decree, with attachments, may be examined at the 
Clerk's Office, United States District Court for the Northern District 
of California, 450 Golden Gate Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94102.
Lois J. Schiffer,
Acting Assistant Attorney General, Environment & Natural Resources 
Division.
[FR Doc. 94-26296 Filed 10-21-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-01-M