[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 216 (Friday, November 7, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 66368-66369]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-26449]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-9918-91-OGC]


Proposed Consent Decree, Clean Air Act Citizen Suit

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.

ACTION: Notice of proposed consent decree; request for public comment.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with section 113(g) of the Clean Air Act, as 
amended (``CAA'' or the ``Act''), notice is hereby given of a proposed 
consent decree to address a lawsuit filed by Sierra Club in the United 
States District Court for the District of Columbia: Sierra Club v. 
McCarthy, Case No. 1:14-cv-00833-ESH (D.D.C.). On May 20, 2014, 
Plaintiff filed a complaint which alleged that Gina McCarthy, in her 
official capacity as Administrator of the United States Environmental 
Protection Agency (``EPA''), failed to perform her nondiscretionary 
duty to take action on a number of Texas state implementation plan 
(``SIP'') submissions for the Dallas/Ft. Worth nonattainment area to 
address the 1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS within one year of the date the 
submissions were deemed complete by operation of law. These SIP 
submissions include a demonstration of attainment, reasonably available 
control technology (``RACT'') requirements for volatile organic 
compounds (``VOCs'') and nitrogen oxides (``NOX''), and 
provisions for reasonable further progress (``RFP'') toward attainment. 
Plaintiff's complaint also alleged that the Administrator failed to 
perform a nondiscretionary duty to determine whether the Dallas/Ft. 
Worth area attained the 1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS by the June 15, 2013 
attainment date and to reclassify the area accordingly. The proposed 
consent decree would establish deadlines for EPA to take these actions.

DATES: Written comments on the proposed consent decree must be received 
by December 8, 2014.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID number EPA-HQ-
OGC-2014-0815, online at www.regulations.gov (EPA's preferred method); 
by email to [email protected]; by mail 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 3334, 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 Word 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: Kaytrue Ting, Air and Radiation Law 
Office (2344A), Office of General Counsel, U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW., Washington, DC 20460; 
telephone: (202) 564-6380; fax number: (202) 564-5603; email address: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Additional Information About the Proposed Consent Decree

    The proposed consent decree would resolve a lawsuit filed by Sierra 
Club seeking to compel the Administrator to take action under CAA 
sections 110(k), 179(c)(1)-(2) and 181(b)(2)(A)-(B). Under the terms of 
the proposed consent decree, EPA would agree to sign one or more 
notices of final rulemaking to approve or disapprove, in whole or in 
part, the Texas SIP submissions for the Dallas/Ft. Worth 1997 8-hour 
ozone nonattainment area identified in Attachment A of the consent 
decree, including: NOX and VOC RACT provisions by July 31, 
2015; an ozone attainment demonstration by August 31, 2015; and the 
remaining SIP submissions identified by Plaintiff, including RFP 
provisions, by December 15, 2014. The proposed consent decree also 
provides that not later than fifteen days after the entry of the 
consent decree, EPA would agree to sign a notice containing the 
Administrator's proposed determination of whether Dallas/Ft. Worth 
attained the 1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS by the applicable attainment date. 
The proposed consent decree further provides that not later than 180 
days after publication of the proposed determination of whether Dallas/
Ft. Worth attained the 1997 ozone NAAQS by the applicable attainment 
date, EPA would agree to sign a notice containing the Administrator's 
final determination of whether Dallas/Ft. Worth attained by

[[Page 66369]]

the applicable attainment date. EPA would not be obligated to make a 
final determination of whether Dallas/Ft. Worth attained the 1997 8-
hour ozone NAAQS if the area is redesignated to attainment or if a 
final rulemaking revoking the 1997 ozone NAAQS becomes effective. Under 
the terms of the proposed consent decree, EPA will deliver notice of 
the above actions to the Office of the Federal Register for review and 
publication within 3 business days of issuance or signature. In 
addition, the proposed consent decree indicates that EPA agrees that 
Sierra Club is entitled to recover its costs of litigation pursuant to 
42. U.S.C. 7604(d) for work incurred prior to the lodging of the 
consent decree.
    For a period of thirty (30) days following the date of publication 
of this notice, the Agency will accept written comments relating to the 
proposed consent decree from persons who are 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 consent decree 
if the comments disclose facts or considerations that indicate that 
such consent is inappropriate, improper, inadequate, or inconsistent 
with the requirements of the Act. Unless EPA or the Department of 
Justice determines that consent to this consent decree should be 
withdrawn, the terms of the consent decree will be affirmed.

II. Additional Information About Commenting on the Proposed Consent 
Decree

A. How can I get a copy of the consent decree?

    The official public docket for this action (identified by EPA-HQ-
OGC-2014-0815) contains a copy of the proposed consent decree. 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 3334, 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 
www.regulations.gov. You may use www.regulations.gov to submit or view 
public comments, access the index listing of the contents of the 
official public docket, and access those documents in the public docket 
that are available electronically. Once in the system, key in the 
appropriate docket identification number then select ``search''.
    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 www.regulations.gov without change, unless 
the comment contains copyrighted material, confidential business 
information (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 email 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 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, email 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 
(email) system is not an ``anonymous access'' system. If you send an 
email comment directly to the Docket without going through 
www.regulations.gov, your email 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: October 29, 2014.
Lorie J. Schmidt,
Associate General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2014-26449 Filed 11-6-14; 8:45 am]
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