[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 29 (Tuesday, February 12, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Page 8064]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-2493]


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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE


Notice of Lodging of Consent Decree Modification In United States 
v. East Kentucky Power Cooperative, Inc. Under the Clean Air Act

    Under 28 CFR 50.7, notice is hereby given that on February 5, 2008, 
a proposed modification (``Modification'') to a consent decree 
(``Consent Decree'') between East Kentucky Power Cooperative, Inc. 
(``EKPC'') and the United States, Civil Action No. 04-34-KSF, was 
lodged with the United States District Court for the Eastern District 
of Kentucky.
    The original Consent Decree was lodged with the United States 
District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky on July 2, 2007, 
and entered by the Court on September 24, 2007. The Consent Decree 
resolved claims asserted by the United States against EKPC pursuant to 
Sections 113(b) and 167 of the Clean Air Act (the ``Act''), 42 U.S.C. 
7413(b) and 7477, seeking injunctive relief and the assessment of civil 
penalties for EKPC's violations of:
    (a) The Prevention of Significant Deterioration (``PSD'') 
provisions in Part C of Subchapter I of the Act, 42 U.S.C. 7470-92;
    (b) The New Source Performance Standards (``NSPS'') provisions of 
the Act, 42 U.S.C. 7411;
    (c) Title V of the Act, 42 U.S.C. 7661, et seq.; and
    (d) The federally-enforceable State Implementation Plan (``SIP'') 
developed by the Commonwealth of Kentucky.

See 72 FR 37797 (July 11, 2007).

    EKPC operates three coal-fired power plants in Kentucky: the 
Spurlock Plant, located near Maysville, Kentucky, the Dale Plant, 
located near Winchester, Kentucky, and the Cooper Plant, located near 
Somerset, Kentucky. The complaint filed by the United States alleged 
that EKPC modified Spurlock Unit 2 and Dale Units 3 and 4 without 
complying with PSD (including the requirements to first obtain a PSD 
permit authorizing the modifications and to install and operate the 
best available technology to control emissions of sulfur dioxide 
(``SO2''), nitrogen oxides (``NOX''), and/or 
particulate matter (``PM'')), and modified Dale Units 3 and 4 without 
complying with NSPS. The Complaint also alleged that EKPC violated 
Title V of the Act by failing to include the PSD and NSPS requirements 
triggered by its modifications in its Title V operating permits for the 
Spurlock and Dale plants. Finally, the Complaint alleged that EKPC 
illegally operated Spurlock Unit 2 at heat input capacities that were 
higher than allowed by its operating permit.
    The Consent Decree entered by the Court on September 24, 2007 
requires, inter alia, that EKPC reduce SO2, NOX 
and PM emissions at its plants through the installation and operation 
of state-of-the-art pollution control technologies and/or the 
retirement or re-powering of certain units. The proposed Modification 
would extend by up to 60 days the time for EKPC to comply with the 
Consent Decree's 30-day rolling average emission rates for 
NOX applicable to Spurlock Unit 1. The extension relates to 
a transformer failure at the Spurlock Plant that altered EKPC's 
scheduled installation of a third catalyst layer for selective 
catalytic reduction (``SCR'') controls at Spurlock Unit 1, which 
resulted in EKPC's inability to operate the SCR in time to meet the 
applicable 30-day rolling average emission rates for NOX. 
The Modification also requires EKPC to mitigate the effect of the 
excess emissions caused by the delay, by retiring NOX 
allowances equal to the amount of excess emissions, plus a premium of 
ten percent.
    The Department of Justice will receive for a period of thirty (30) 
days from the date of this publication comments relating to the 
Modification. Comments should be addressed to the Assistant Attorney 
General, Environment and Natural Resources Division, and either e-
mailed to [email protected] or mailed to P.O. Box 7611, 
U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, DC 20044-7611, and should refer 
to United States v. East Kentucky Power Cooperative, D.J. Ref. No. 90-
5-2-1-08085.
    The Modification may be examined at the Office of the United States 
Attorney, Eastern District of Kentucky, 260 West Vine Street, Suite 
300, Lexington, Kentucky, 40507-1612, and at U.S. EPA Region IV, 61 
Forsyth Street, SW., Atlanta, Georgia, 30303-8960. During the public 
comment period, the Modification may also be examined on the following 
Department of Justice Web site, http://www.usdoj.gov/enrd/Consent_Decrees.html. A copy of the Modification 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 $1.75 
(25 cents per page reproduction cost) payable to the U.S. Treasury or, 
if by e-mail or fax, forward a check in that amount to the Consent 
Decree Library at the stated address.

W. Benjamin Fisherow,
Deputy Chief, Environmental Enforcement Section, Environment and 
Natural Resources Division.
 [FR Doc. E8-2493 Filed 2-11-08; 8:45 am]
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