[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 236 (Tuesday, December 9, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Page 68651]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-30470]


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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE


Notice of Lodging of Partial Consent Decree Under the Clean Water 
Act

    Under 28 CFR 50.7, notice is hereby given that on December 3, 2003, 
a proposed Consent Decree on Combined Sewer Overflows, Wastewater 
Treatment Plants and Implementation of Capacity Assurance Program Plan 
(``proposed Final Consent Decree'') in United States and State of Ohio 
v. Board of County Commissioners of Hamilton County and the City of 
Cincinnati, Civil Action Nos. C-1-02-107 and C-1-02-108, was lodged 
with the United States District Court for the Southern District of 
Ohio. On February 15, 2003, the United States previously lodged a 
proposed Interim Partial Consent Decree on Sanitary Sewer Overflows 
(``proposed IPCD''). Notice of the proposed IPCD was previously 
published in the Federal Register, and public comments were received on 
the proposed IPCD from February 28-March 28, 2002. 67 F.R. 9320-21 
(Feb. 28, 2002).
    On February 15, 2003, concurrently with the lodging of the proposed 
IPCD, the United States and State of Ohio filed separate complaints 
seeking injunctive relief from defendants for unauthorized discharges 
from their sanitary sewer system, located in Hamilton County, Ohio. 
These unauthorized discharges are also known as sanitary sewer 
overflows, or SSOs, and are violations of the Clean Water Act. On 
December 3, 2003, concurrently with the lodging of the proposed Final 
Consent Decree, the United States, State of Ohio, and Ohio River Valley 
Water Sanitation Commission (``ORSANCO'') filed a Joint Amended 
Complaint seeking injunctive relief and civil penalties from defendants 
for violations of the Clean Water Act as well as State and ORSANCO laws 
and regulations relating to SSOs, combined sewer overflows (CSOs), and 
defendants' wastewater treatment plants (``WWTPs''). In addition, the 
United States seeks injunctive relief pursuant to Section 504 of the 
Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. 1364, for an imminent and substantial 
endangerment resulting from backups of sewage into basements.
    The proposed IPCD and the proposed Final Decree, taken together, 
require the defendants to: Implement an interim and then permanent 
remedy for SSO 700; to implement certain specified capital improvement 
projects for certain SSOs and CSOs; to perform modeling and analysis of 
their sanitary sewer system; to propose a comprehensive Capacity 
Assurance Program Plan (``CAPP'') to address their remaining SSOs and 
to provide adequate future system capacity; to develop and implement a 
Long Term Control Plan Update (``LTCPU'') to greatly reduce CSOs and 
bypassing at WWTPs and bring them into compliance with the law; to 
implement the CAPP and LTCPU, once they are approved by the plaintiffs; 
to implement a comprehensive sewage ``basement backup'' program, 
including interim prevention (e.g., installing backflow prevention 
devices in houses to prevent sewage in basement), long-term prevention 
(implementing any additional remedial measures beyond those required by 
the CAPP or LTCPU to provide adequate sewer capacity to prevent 
basement backups in the future), cleanup for houses that have had 
backups, and reimbursement for losses to real or personal property 
caused by the backups; to perform several Supplemental Environmental 
Projects, which must cost a minimum of $5.3 million; and to pay a civil 
penalty of $1.2 million.
    The Department of Justice will receive for a period of thirty (30) 
days from the date of this publication comments relating to the 
proposed Final Consent Decree and/or the proposed IPCD. (Commenters who 
have previously submitted comments on the proposed IPCD need not 
reiterate their comments, and these will be re-reviewed and re-
considered by the United States in light of the proposed Final Consent 
Decree.) Comments should be addressed to the Assistant Attorney 
General, Environment and Natural Resources Division, P.O. Box 7611, 
U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, D.C. 20044-7611, and should 
refer to United States and State of Ohio v. Board of County 
Commissioners of Hamilton County and the City of Cincinnati, D.J. Ref. 
90-5-1-6-341A.
    The Final Consent Decree and/or the IPCD may be examined at the 
Office of the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, 
221 E. 4th Street, Atrium II, Suite 400, Cincinnati, Ohio 45202, and at 
U.S. EPA Region V, 77 West Jackson Blvd, Chicago, IL 60604-3590. A copy 
of the Final Consent Decree and/or IPCD may also be obtained by mail 
from the Consent Decree Library, P.O. Box 7611, U.S. Department of 
Justice, Washington, DC 20044-7611. During the public comment period, 
the Final Consent Decree and/or IPCD may also be examined on the 
following Department of Justice Web site, http://www.usdoj.gov/enrd/open.html. A copy of the Final Consent Decree and/or IPCD may also be 
obtained by mail from the Consent Decree Library, P.O. Box 7611, U.S. 
Department of Justice, Washington, DC 20044-7611 or by faxing or e-
mailing a request to Tonia Fleetwood ([email protected]), fax 
no. (202) 514-0097, phone confirmation number (202) 514-1547. In 
requesting a copy of either or both proposed consent decrees, please 
enclose a check payable to the U.S. Treasury for reproduction costs (at 
25 cents per page) as follows:
    IPCD, inclusive of Exhibits: $209.00;
    IPCD, exclusive of Exhibits: $18.75;
    Final Consent Decree, inclusive of Exhibits: $47.00;
    Final Consent Decree, exclusive of Exhibits: $27.25.

William D. Brighton,
Assistant Chief, Environmental Enforcement Section, Environment and 
Natural Resources Division.
[FR Doc. 03-30470 Filed 12-8-03; 8:45 am]
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