[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 240 (Thursday, December 15, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 74314-74315]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-24077]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-8008-9]


Proposed Consent Decree, Clean Air Act Citizen Suit

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of proposed settlement and consent order; request for 
public comment.

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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 settlement, which would be entered as a consent order, to 
address a lawsuit filed by South Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance 
(``SJEJA''), New Jersey Public Interest Research Group, South Camden 
Citizens in Action, and New Jersey Environmental Federation 
(collectively the ``plaintiffs''): SJEJA v. Johnson, 05-6891 (RJH) 
(S.D.N.Y.). On or about August 2, 2005, the plaintiffs filed a 
complaint alleging that they had submitted a petition to EPA seeking an 
objection to a Clean Air Act Title V permit issued by the New Jersey 
Department of Environmental Protection to Camden County Energy Recovery 
Associates for its facility in Camden, New Jersey, and that the 
Administrator had failed to perform his nondiscretionary duty to 
respond to the petition within sixty days of the date it was filed. 
Under the terms of the proposed settlement and consent order, EPA has 
agreed to respond to the petition by January 20, 2006, and the 
plaintiffs have agreed to dismiss their suit with prejudice shortly 
thereafter. In addition, EPA has agreed to pay the plaintiffs a 
specified amount in settlement of the plaintiffs' claims for attorneys' 
fees in this matter.

DATES: Written comments on the proposed settlement and consent order 
must be received by January 17, 2006.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID number EPA-HQ-
OGC-2005-0472, online at http://www.regulations.gov (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: Amy Huang Branning, Air and Radiation 
Law Office (2344A), Office of General Counsel, U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460; 
telephone: (202) 564-1744; fax number (202) 564-5603; e-mail address: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Additional Information About the Proposed Settlement and Consent 
Order

    This proposed settlement and consent order would resolve a lawsuit 
seeking a response to a petition to object to a Title V permit issued 
by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection to Camden 
County Energy Recovery Associates for its facility in Camden, New 
Jersey (permit II-2005-01). Under the proposed settlement, if neither 
EPA nor the Department of Justice withdraws its consent to the proposed 
settlement following the thirty (30)-day comment period provided in 
this Notice, the plaintiffs and EPA have agreed to jointly ask that the 
Court enter this settlement as a consent order. The consent order, if 
entered, would require that the Administrator issue a response to the 
petition by January 20, 2006 and that the plaintiffs dismiss their 
lawsuit ten (10) days after the Administrator provides notice of its 
Order in the Federal Register. The consent order would also require 
that EPA pay the plaintiffs a specified amount in settlement of their 
claims for attorneys' fees. The proposed settlement and consent order 
do not require the Administrator to respond to the petition in any 
particular way.
    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 settlement and consent order from persons who were not 
named as parties or intervenors to the litigation in question. EPA or 
the Department of Justice may withdraw or withhold consent to the 
proposed settlement and consent order if the comments disclose facts or 
considerations that indicate that such consent is inappropriate, 
improper, inadequate, or inconsistent

[[Page 74315]]

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 this proposed settlement and consent order should be 
withdrawn, the terms of the proposed consent order will be affirmed.

II. Additional Information About Commenting on the Proposed Settlement 
and Consent Order

A. How Can I Get a Copy of the Proposed Settlement?

    Direct your comments to the official public docket for this action 
under Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OGC-2005-0472 which contains a copy of the 
proposed settlement. 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 
http://www.regulations.gov. You may use the http://www.regulations.gov 
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 online at http://www.regulations.gov without change, 
unless the comment contains copyrighted material, CBI, or 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 the 
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.
    Use of the http://www.regulations.gov Web site 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 http://www.regulations.gov, 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: December 8, 2005.
Richard B. Ossias,
Associate General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 05-24077 Filed 12-14-05; 8:45 am]
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