[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 50 (Wednesday, March 16, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12869-12870]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-5132]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-7884-6]


Proposed Consent Decree, Clean Air Act Citizen Suit

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of proposed consent decree; request for public comment.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: In accordance with section 113(g) of the Clean Air Act, as 
amended (``Act''), 42 U.S.C. 7413(g), notice is hereby given of a 
proposed consent decree, to address a lawsuit filed by the American 
Lung Association of Metropolitan Chicago, Citizens Against Ruining the 
Environment, the Environmental Law & Policy Center, the Illinois Public 
Interest Research Group, the Lake County Conservation Alliance, the 
Little Village Environmental Justice Organization and the Sierra Club 
(collectively ``Plaintiffs''): American Lung Association of 
Metropolitan Chicago, et al. v. Johnson, No. 04-C-5966 (N.D. Ill.), 
consolidated with Lake County Conservation Alliance v. Leavitt, No. 04-
5967 and Citizens Against Ruining the Environment v. Leavitt, No. 04-
5968. On or about September 13, 2004, Plaintiffs filed deadline suits 
to compel the Administrator to respond to petitions seeking EPA's 
objection to Title V operating permits issued by the Illinois 
Environmental Protection Agency for five electrical generating stations 
of the Midwest Generation Company known as the Fisk Generating Station, 
the Crawford Generating Station, the Joliet Generating Station, the 
Will County Generating Station, and the Waukegan Generating Station in 
the State of Illinois. Under the terms of the proposed consent decree, 
three deadlines are established for responding to Title V veto 
petitions ranging from March 25, 2005 to September 23, 2005.

DATES: Written comments on the proposed consent decree must be received 
by April 15, 2005.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by docket ID number OGC-
2005-0003, online at http://www.epa.gov/edocket (EPA's preferred 
method); by e-mail to [email protected]; mailed to EPA Docket Center, 
Environmental Protection Agency, Mailcode: 2822T, 1200 Pennsylvania 
Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460-0001; or by hand delivery or courier to 
EPA Docket Center, EPA West, Room B102, 1301 Constitution Ave., NW., 
Washington, DC, between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, 
excluding legal holidays. Comments on a disk or CD-ROM should be 
formatted in Wordperfect or ASCII file, avoiding the use of special 
characters and any form of encryption, and may be mailed to the mailing 
address above.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Padmini Singh, Air and Radiation Law 
Office (2344A), Office of General Counsel, U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460. 
telephone: (202) 564-5641.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Additional Information About the Proposed Consent Decree

    Plaintiffs submitted administrative petitions to the Administrator 
of the Environmental Protection Agency requesting that he object to 
Title V operating permits issued by the Illinois Environmental 
Protection Agency for five electrical generating stations in the State 
of Illinois. The Consent Decree establishes three deadlines for 
responding to the petitions. The Decree, which is subject to CAA 
section 113(g), provides the following schedule for EPA's responses to 
the five title V petitions. EPA must sign an order responding to each 
petition no later than the dates listed: March 25, 2005 for Fisk 
Generating Station and Crawford Generating Station; by June 24, 2005 
for Will County Generating Station and Joliet Generating Station; and 
by September 23, 2005 for Waukegan Generating Station. If EPA fulfills 
its obligations as described in the decree, the Consent Decree shall 
terminate and the case shall be dismissed with prejudice.
    For a period of thirty (30) days following the date of publication 
of this notice, the Agency will receive written comments relating to 
the proposed consent decree from persons who were not named as parties 
or interveners to the litigation in question. 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. Unless EPA or the Department of 
Justice determine, based on any comment which may be submitted, that 
consent to the consent decree should be withdrawn, the terms of the 
decree will be affirmed.

II. Additional Information About Commenting on the Proposed Consent 
Decree

A. How Can I Get a Copy of the Consent Decree?

    EPA has established an official public docket for this action under 
Docket ID No. OGC-2005-0003 which contains a copy of the 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 B102, 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.
    An electronic version of the public docket is available through 
EPA's electronic public docket and comment system, EPA Dockets. You may 
use EPA Dockets at http://www.epa.gov/edocket/ to submit or view public 
comments, access the index listing of the contents of the official 
public docket, and to access those documents in the public docket that 
are available electronically. Once in the system, select ``search,'' 
then key in the appropriate docket identification number.
    It is important to note that EPA's policy is that public comments, 
whether submitted electronically or in paper, will be made available 
for public viewing in EPA's electronic public docket as EPA receives 
them and without change, unless the comment contains copyrighted 
material, CBI, or

[[Page 12870]]

other information whose disclosure is restricted by statute. 
Information claimed as CBI and other information whose disclosure is 
restricted by statute is not included in the official public docket or 
in EPA's electronic public docket. EPA's policy is that copyrighted 
material, including copyrighted material contained in a public comment, 
will not be placed in EPA's electronic public docket but will be 
available only in printed, paper form in the official public docket. 
Although not all docket materials may be available electronically, you 
may still access any of the publicly available docket materials through 
the EPA Docket Center.

B. How and To Whom Do I Submit Comments?

    You may submit comments as provided in the ADDRESSES section. 
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.
    If you submit an electronic comment, EPA recommends that you 
include your name, mailing address, and an e-mail address or other 
contact information in the body of your comment and with any disk or CD 
ROM you submit. 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 comment due to technical difficulties and cannot contact you 
for clarification, EPA may not be able to consider your comment.
    Your use of EPA's electronic public docket 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, e-mail address, or other 
contact information unless you provide it in the body of your comment. 
In contrast to EPA's electronic public docket, EPA's electronic mail 
(e-mail) system is not an ``anonymous access'' system. If you send an 
e-mail comment directly to the Docket without going through EPA's 
electronic public docket, your e-mail address is automatically captured 
and included as part of the comment that is placed in the official 
public docket, and made available in EPA's electronic public docket.

    Dated: March 10, 2005.
Richard B. Ossias,
Acting Associate General Counsel, Air and Radiation Law Office, Office 
of General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 05-5132 Filed 3-15-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P