[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 101 (Thursday, May 25, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Page 30163]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 06-4835]


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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE


Notice of Lodging of Consent Decree Under the Clean Air Act

    Under the policy set out at 28 CFR 50.7, notice is hereby given 
that on May 8, 2006, the United States lodged with the United States 
District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia a proposed amended 
consent decree (``Amended Consent Decree'') in the case of United 
States, et al. v. Mirant Potomac River, LLC, et al., Civ. A. No. 
1:04CV1136.
    The Amended Consent Decree settles claims by the United States, the 
State of Maryland and the Commonwealth of Virginia, pursuant to section 
113(a) and (b) of the Clean Air Act, 42 U.S.C. 7413(a) and (b), against 
Mirant Potomac River, LLC and Mirant Mid-Atlantic, LLC (``Mirant'') 
regarding its Potomac River Generating Station--a coal-fired utility 
plant in Alexandria, Virginia. A complaint filed with the original 
decree, lodged with the same Federal court in September 2004, alleged 
that Mirant violated the ozone season limitation for nitrogen oxide 
(``NOX'') emissions set forth in the 2003 operating permit 
for the Potomac River plan.
    The Amended Consent Decree retains the key elements of the original 
decree. Mirant agrees to a declining schedule of system-wide limits on 
the NOX emissions from its four plants located in the mid-
Atlantic region: The Chalk Point Generating Plant in Prince George's 
County, Maryland; the Dickerson Generating Plant in Montgomery County, 
Maryland; the Morgantown Generating Plant in Charles County, Maryland; 
and the Potomac River plant. To achieve these reductions and meet the 
declining NOX caps, Mirant agrees to install and operate 
NOX pollution control equipment, including two Selective 
Catalytic Reduction devices, at its Morgantown plant, and Separated 
Over-Fire Air technology at its Potomac River plant. Mirant also agrees 
to pay a $500,000 civil penalty, to be divided equally between Virginia 
and the United States, and to undertake nine projects designed to 
reduce particulate matter and fugitive dust emissions from its Potomac 
River plant.
    The Amended Consent Decree modifies the original consent decree in 
several respects, as a result of public comments received on the 
original decree. First, under the Amended Consent Decree, Mirant agrees 
to meet annual NOX tonnage limitations for the Potomac River 
plant in addition to the tonnage limitations that apply only during the 
ozone season. Second, the Amended Consent Decree addresses the 
possibility that at some future point Mirant could reject, sever or 
otherwise lose its ownership interest in, and thereby cease to operate, 
the Morgantown and/or Dickerson plants. If such a contingency occurs, 
Mirant agrees to seek a new owner or operator of those plants to become 
subject to the terms of the decree and, failing that, to install an 
alternate suite of pollution control technologies on the two plants 
remaining in the Mirant system, i.e., the Chalk Point and Potomac River 
plants.
    The Department of Justice will receive for a period of thirty (30) 
days from the date of this publication comments relating to the Amended 
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, DC 20044-7611, and should refer 
to United States, et al. v. Mirant Potomac River, LLC, et al., DOJ Ref. 
No. 90-5-2-1-07829.
    The Amended Consent Decree may be examined at the offices of the 
United States Attorney, Eastern District of Virginia, 2100 Jamieson 
Avenue, Alexandria, VA 22314, and at the offices of U.S. EPA Region 3, 
1650 Arch Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103.
    During the public comment period, the Amended Consent Decree may 
also be examined on the following Department of Justice Web site, 
http://www.usdoj.gov/enrd/open.html. A copy of the Amended Consent 
Decree 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 from the Consent Decree 
Library, please enclose a check in the amount of 25 dollars (25 cents 
per page reproduction cost) payable to the U.S. Treasury.

W. Benjamin Fisherow,
Deputy Chief, Environmental Enforcement Section, Environment and 
Natural Resources Division.
[FR Doc. 06-4835 Filed 5-24-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-15-M