[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 151 (Friday, August 6, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Page 47627]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-19362]


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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE


Notice of Lodging of Proposed Consent Decree With Hoosier Energy 
Rural Electric Cooperative, Inc. Under The Clean Air Act

    Pursuant to 28 CFR 50.7, notice is hereby given that on July 23, 
2010, a proposed Consent Decree in United States of America et al. v. 
Hoosier Energy Rural Electric Cooperative, Inc., (``Hoosier''), Civil 
Action No. 1:10-cv-0935-LJM-TAB, was lodged with the United States 
District Court for the Southern District of Indiana.
    In this civil enforcement action under the federal Clean Air Act 
(``Act''), the United States and the State of Indiana allege that 
Hoosier--an electric utility--failed to comply with certain 
requirements of the Act intended to protect air quality. The complaint 
alleges that Hoosier violated the Prevention of Significant 
Deterioration (``PSD'') and Title V provisions of the Act, 42 U.S.C. 
7401-7671 et seq., and related state and federal implementing 
regulations, at the Merom Generating Station, a coal-fired power plant 
in Sullivan County, Indiana. The alleged violations arise from the 
construction of modifications at the power plant and operation of the 
plant in violation of PSD and Title V requirements. The complaint 
alleges that Hoosier failed to obtain appropriate permits and failed to 
install and apply required pollution control devices to reduce 
emissions of various air pollutants. The complaint seeks both 
injunctive relief and civil penalties.
    The proposed Decree lodged with the Court addresses the Merom 
Station as well as Hoosier's Ratts Generating Station, a coal-fired 
power plant located in Pike County, Indiana. The proposed Decree 
requires installation, upgrading, and operation of certain pollution 
control devices at the Merom and Ratts plants on a schedule running 
through 2013. The settlement will reduce emissions of sulfur dioxide 
(``SO2''), nitrogen oxides (``NOX''), particular 
matter (``PM''), and sulfuric acid mist through emission control 
requirements and limitations specified by the proposed Decree. Hoosier 
will also fund environmental projects at a cost of at least $5 million 
to mitigate the alleged adverse effects of its past violations, and 
will pay a civil penalty of $950,00.
    The Department of Justice will receive for a period of thirty (30) 
days from the date of this publication comments relating to the Consent 
Decree. 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. Hoosier Energy Rural Electric Cooperative, Inc., D.J. 
Ref. 90-5-2-1-09864.
    The Consent Decree may be examined at the Office of the United 
States Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana, located at 10 W. 
Market Street, Suite 2100, Indianapolis, Indiana 46204; or at U.S. EPA 
Region 5, 77 W. Jackson Blvd., Chicago, Illinois 60604-4590. During the 
public comment period, the Consent Decree may also be examined on the 
following Department of Justice Web site, http://www.usdoj.gov/enrd/Consent_Decrees.html. A copy of the 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 $22.00 (25 cents per page reproduction cost) 
payable to the U.S. Treasury.

Maureen Katz,
Assistant Chief, Environmental Enforcement Section, Environment and 
Natural Resources Division.
[FR Doc. 2010-19362 Filed 8-5-10; 8:45 am]
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