[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 194 (Thursday, October 7, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 60188-60189]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-22526]


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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE


Notice of Lodging of Second Supplement to the Consent Decree 
Pursuant to the Safe Drinking Water Act

    In accordance with 28 CFR 50.7, notice is hereby given that a 
proposed Second Supplement to the Consent Decree in United States and 
State of New York, et al. v. City of New York, et al., Civil Action No. 
CV 97-2154 (Gershon J.) (Gold, M.J.), was lodged with the United States 
District Court for the Eastern District of New York on September 23, 
2004. In this action, the United States and the State of New York 
sought a court order requiring the City of New York to come into 
compliance with the Safe Drinking Water Act, 42 U.S.C. 300f, et seq., 
and the Surface Water Treatment Rule, a National Primary Drinking Water 
Regulation, by installing filtration treatment for its Croton water 
supply system.
    On November 24, 1998, the Court entered a Consent Decree in this 
action which required the City, among other obligations, to select a 
site for, design, and construct the Croton filtration plant. The City 
selected a site for the plant at the Mosholu Golf Course in Van 
Cortlandt Park in the Bronx. However, on February 8, 2001, the New York 
State Court of Appeals held that the City could not construct the plant 
at the Mosholu Golf Course Site without first obtaining approval from 
the New York State Legislature. The City sought, but did not promptly 
obtain legislative approval to construct the plant at the Mosholu Golf 
Course Site.
    In view of the lack of legislative approval for the Mosholu Golf 
Course Site in 2001-2002, the parties to the Consent Decree negotiated 
in 2001 and the Court entered in 2002 a first Supplement to the Consent 
Decree (``first Supplement''), which required the City to select a new 
site and modified the deadlines for construction of the filtration 
plant. The City identified two alternative sites for construction of 
the filtration plant, a site in the Town of Mount Pleasant in 
Westchester County, denominated the Eastview Site, and a site adjacent 
to the Harlem River in Bronx County, denominated the Harlem River Site. 
The first Supplement to the Consent Decree required the City to conduct 
some initial study and design work relating to the Eastview Site and 
the Harlem River Site and to identify its preferred site in a draft 
environmental impact statement to be submitted on April 30, 2003. The 
City was to select one of these two sites or, if legislative approval 
for the Mosholu Golf Course Site was obtained by April 15, 2003 and 
other requirements were met, the City could instead select the Mosholu 
Golf Course Site.
    Legislative approval for the Mosholu Golf Course Site was not 
obtained by April 15, 2003. The City failed to select a preferred site 
under the requirements of the first Supplement by April 30, 2003. 
However, on June 20, 2003, the State legislature passed a bill allowing 
use of the Mosholu Golf Course Site for the Croton filtration plant, 
which was signed into law on July 22, 2003. The State legislation also 
required that the City conduct a supplemental environmental impact 
statement prior to selecting the preferred filtration plant site.
    On June 30, 2004, the City completed a final supplemental 
environmental impact statement and selected the Mosholu Golf Course 
Site as its preferred site for the Croton filtration plant. The City 
also selected the Eastview Site as its backup site for the Croton 
filtration plant.
    As a result of the City's failure to comply with the April 30, 2003 
deadline for selecting its preferred site and the later enactment of 
the State legislation, the Parties have negotiated a further 
modification of the Consent Decree, which is set forth in the Second 
Supplement to the Consent Decree (``Second Supplement''). The Second 
Supplement supercedes the first Supplement.
    The Second Supplement sets forth a modified schedule for the City 
to construct filtration facilities. Consistent with the terms of the 
Second Supplement, the City selected its preferred and backup sites. 
The Second Supplement requires the City to complete construction of the 
Croton filtration plant at is preferred site, the Mosholu Golf Course 
Site, by May 1, 2011, and commence full operation of the Croton 
filtration plant by October 31, 2011. The Second Supplement also 
provides that, if the United States, State, or the City determines 
during the course of implementation of the Second Supplement that the 
City cannot complete the plant at the preferred site within the 
schedule set forth in the Second Supplement or within a reasonable time 
period agreed to by the parties, the City shall construct the plant at 
its backup site, the Eastview Site. In addition, the Second Supplement 
provides for continued implementation of interim measures and for 
payment by the City of stipulated penalties in the amount of $180,000 
for its failure to select a preferred site timely in accordance with

[[Page 60189]]

the first Supplement. The City will also spend up to $225,000 for an 
expert consultant to be retained by the United States and State to 
assess the feasibility of expediting the City's construction schedule.
    The Department of Justice will receive, for a period of thirty (30) 
days from the date of this publication, written comments relating to 
the proposed Second Supplement. Comments should be addressed to the 
Assistant Attorney General, Environment and Natural Resources Division, 
Department of Justice, c/o Deborah B. Zwany, Assistant U.S. Attorney, 
Eastern District of New York, One Pierrepont Plaza, 14th Floor, 
Brooklyn, New York 11201, and should refer to United States and State 
of New York v. City of New York, D.J. Ref. 90-5-1-1-4429. A copy of the 
comments should also be sent to Chief, Environmental Enforcement 
Section, U.S. Department of Justice, PO Box 7611, Washington, DC 20044.
    The proposed Second Supplement may be examined at the office of the 
United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, One 
Pierrepont Plaza, 14th Floor, Brooklyn, New York 11201, and at the U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency, Region II office, 290 Broadway, New 
York, New York 10007. During the public comment period, the Second 
Supplement may also be examined on the following Department of Justice 
Web site: http://www.usdoj.gov/enrd/open.html. A copy of the Second 
Supplement may also be obtained by mail from the Consent Decree 
Library, PO Box 7611, Washington, DC 20044-7611, or by faxing or 
emailing a request to Tonia Fleetwood ([email protected]), fax 
no. (202) 514-0097, phone confirmation number (202) 514-1547. In 
requesting a copy from the Consent Decree Library, please enclose a 
check in the amount of $18.00 (25 cent per page reproduction costs) for 
the Second Supplement, payable to the U.S. Treasury.

Karen S. Dworkin,
Assistant Chief Environmental Enforcement Section, Environment & 
Natural Resources Division.
[FR Doc. 04-22526 Filed 10-6-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-15-M