[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 54 (Monday, March 21, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Page 15341]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-6534]


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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE


Notice of Lodging of a Stipulated Order for Preliminary Relief 
Pursuant to the Clean Water Act

    Notice is hereby given that a proposed Stipulated Order for 
Preliminary Relief was lodged on March 15, 2011, with the United States 
District Court for the Northern District of California in United States 
of America et al. v. City of Alameda, et al., Civ. No. C 09-05684 RS.
    The United States of America and the People of the State of 
California ex rel. California State Water Resources Control Board and 
California Regional Water Quality Control Board, San Francisco Bay 
Region (together ``Water Boards''), and Plaintiff-Intervenor San 
Francisco Baykeeper (``Baykeeper''), brought claims under Sections 301 
and 402 of the Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. 1251, et seq., against seven 
municipal defendants, including the City of Alameda, the City of 
Albany, the City of Berkeley, the City of Emeryville, the City of 
Oakland, the City of Piedmont and the Stege Sanitary District (together 
``Satellite Communities'').
    The United States, the Water Boards and Baykeeper allege that the 
Satellite Communities are in violation of the Clean Water Act and their 
National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (``NPDES'') Permits 
because they have unlawful sanitary sewer overflows (``SSOs'') during 
wet weather. They also allege that the Satellite Communities are in 
violation of the operation and maintenance provisions of their NPDES 
Permits because they contribute excessive flow to treatment systems 
owned and operated by the East Bay Municipal Utilities District 
(``EBMUD''), which causes EBMUD to violate the Clean Water Act and its 
own NPDES permit.
    The proposed Stipulated Order for Preliminary Relief complements a 
January 2009 interim settlement with EBMUD. Among other things, the 
EBMUD settlement requires EBMUD to study flow from the Satellite 
Communities and make recommendations to EPA and the Water Boards as to 
how that flow can be reduced to prevent discharges from three wet 
weather facilities (``WWFs'').
    This Stipulated Order for Preliminary Relief represents an interim 
solution that will move the parties toward a final resolution of the 
claims in the complaint. It will require the Satellite Communities to 
gather information that EBMUD will use to determine how to reduce flows 
to its system. It will also require the Satellite Communities to begin 
taking steps to reduce inflow and infiltration into their collection 
systems. This settlement, together with the earlier interim settlement 
with EBMUD, will provide EBMUD, EPA and the Water Boards with the 
information necessary to achieve a final settlement that will eliminate 
discharges from the WWFs.
    The Department of Justice will receive for a period of thirty (30) 
days from the date of this publication comments relating to the 
proposed Stipulated Order for Preliminary Relief. 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 
et al. v. City of Alameda et al., DJ No. 90-5-1-1-09361/1.
    The proposed Stipulated Order for Preliminary Relief may be 
examined at the Region 9 Office of the Environmental Protection Agency, 
75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, CA, 94105. During the public 
comment period, the proposed Stipulated Order for Preliminary Relief 
may also be examined on the following Department of Justice Web site, 
http://www.usdoj.gov/enrd/Consent_Decrees.html. A copy of the 
Stipulated Order for Preliminary Relief 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 $25.00 
(25 cents per page reproduction cost) payable to the U.S. Treasury. The 
check should refer to United States et al. v. City of Alameda, et al., 
DJ No. 90-5-1-1-09361/1.

Henry Friedman,
Assistant Section Chief, Environmental Enforcement Section, Environment 
and Natural Resources Division.
[FR Doc. 2011-6534 Filed 3-18-11; 8:45 am]
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