[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 219 (Thursday, November 13, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 67431-67432]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-26866]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-9919-19-OGC]


Proposed Settlement Agreement, Clean Air Act Citizen Suit

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.

ACTION: Notice of proposed settlement agreement; 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 
settlement agreement to address a lawsuit filed by Environmental 
Integrity Project and Sierra Club in the United States District Court 
for the District of Columbia: Environmental Integrity Project v. 
McCarthy, Case No. 1:14-cv-01196 (D.D.C.). On July 16, 2014, Plaintiffs 
filed this complaint alleging that Gina McCarthy, in her official 
capacity as Administrator of the United States Environmental Protection 
Agency (``EPA''), failed to perform a non-discretionary duty to grant 
or deny within 60 days three petitions submitted by Environmental 
Integrity Project and Sierra Club requesting that EPA object to three 
CAA Title V permits issued by the Texas Commission on Environmental 
Quality to Luminant Generating Company to operate three power plants in 
Texas. The proposed settlement agreement would establish deadlines for 
EPA to take such action.

DATES: Written comments on the proposed settlement agreement must be 
received by December 15, 2014.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID number EPA-HQ-
OGC-2014-0825, 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: Karen Bianco, Air and Radiation Law 
Office (2344A), Office of General Counsel, U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW., Washington, DC 20460; 
telephone: (202) 564-3298; fax number (202) 564-5603; email address: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Additional information about the proposed settlement agreement

    This proposed settlement agreement would resolve a lawsuit filed by 
Environmental Integrity Project and Sierra Club seeking to compel the 
Administrator to take actions under CAA section 505(b)(2). Under the 
terms of the proposed settlement agreement, EPA would agree to sign a 
response addressing the following issues from Environmental Integrity 
Project and Sierra Club's Title V petitions by no later than January 
23, 2015:
    a. Petition for Objection to Texas Title V Permit No. 065 for the 
Operation of the Big Brown Steam Electric Station, Freestone County, 
Texas (Mar. 3, 2014) (attached as Exhibit 1 to the proposed settlement 
agreement)(``Big Brown Petition''), Issue V.A (pp. 7-14);
    b. Petition for Objection to Texas Title V Permit No. 064 for the 
Operation of the Monticello Steam Electric Station, Titus County, Texas 
(Mar. 3, 2014) (attached as Exhibit 2 to the proposed settlement 
agreement) (``Monticello Petition''), Issue V.A (pp. 5-11); and
    c. Petition for Objection to Texas Title V Permit No. 053 for the 
Operation of the Martin Lake Steam Electric Station in Rusk County, 
Texas (Feb. 24, 2014) (attached as Exhibit 3 to the proposed settlement 
agreement) (``Martin Lake Petition''), Issue V.A (pp. 5-9).
    EPA would also agree to sign a response addressing the following 
issues from Environmental Integrity Project and Sierra Club's Title V 
petitions by no later than May 15, 2015:
    a. Big Brown Petition, Issue V.D (pp. 17-20);
    b. Monticello Petition, Issue V.B (pp. 11-14); and
    c. Martin Lake Petition, Issue V.B (pp. 9-14).
    EPA would have no obligation to respond to any issue in the title V 
petitions except those specifically identified. Further, under the 
terms of the proposed agreement, Plaintiffs would send a letter to the 
EPA Administrator within 60 days of the execution of the settlement 
agreement withdrawing the remaining portions of their Big Brown 
petition, namely:
    a. Big Brown Petition, Issue V.B (pp. 14-15); and
    b. Big Brown Petition, Issue V.C (pp. 15-17).
    Under the terms of the proposed settlement agreement, EPA will 
expeditiously deliver notice of EPA's responses to the Office of the 
Federal Register for review and publication following signature of such 
response. In addition, the proposed settlement agreement outlines the 
procedure for the Plaintiffs to request costs of litigation, including 
attorney fees.
    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 settlement agreement 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

[[Page 67432]]

settlement agreement 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 settlement 
agreement should be withdrawn, the terms of the settlement agreement 
will be affirmed.

II. Additional Information About Commenting on the Proposed Settlement 
Agreement

A. How can I get a copy of the proposed settlement agreement?

    The official public docket for this action (identified by Docket ID 
No. EPA-HQ-OGC-2014-0825) contains a copy of the proposed settlement 
agreement. 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 the 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, 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: November 4, 2014.
Lorie J. Schmidt,
Associate General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2014-26866 Filed 11-12-14; 8:45 am]
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