[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 230 (Monday, December 1, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Page 71128]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-28203]


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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE


Notice of Lodging of Proposed Consent Decree Modification Under 
the Clean Water Act

    On November 21, 2014, the Department of Justice lodged a proposed 
Agreed Consent Decree Modification with the United States District 
Court for the Northern District of Indiana in the lawsuit entitled 
United States and State of Indiana v. The City of Fort Wayne, Indiana, 
Civil Action No. 2:07-cv-00445-PPS-APR.
    The United States and State of Indiana (State) previously filed a 
complaint against Fort Wayne for violations of the Clean Water Act, 33 
U.S.C. Sec. 1251 et seq., in connection with the City of Fort Wayne's 
operation of its municipal wastewater and sewer system. On April 1, 
2008, the Court entered a Consent Decree between the parties that 
required Fort Wayne to implement various injunctive measures to address 
its combined sewer overflows (CSOs) and sanitary sewer overflows 
(SSOs). Under the Consent Decree, the injunctive relief is to be 
implemented over an 18-year period and is designed to eliminate SSOs 
and reduce the number of CSOs to approximately one per year on the St. 
Joseph River and four per year on the St. Marys and Maumee Rivers.
    In the process of implementing the injunctive relief, Fort Wayne 
developed, and proposed to the regulators, an alternative remedy for 
CSOs 45, 51, 53, 68, and 52, which discharge to the St. Joseph River. 
The alternative approach will achieve the same level of control as 
required by the Decree, but will cost less and be completed 
considerably sooner--by December 2015 instead of December 2019. In 
addition, Fort Wayne is in the process of developing an alternative 
approach for CSO Control Measure 9 to address CSOs 54, 61, and 62, 
which discharge to the St. Marys and Maumee Rivers. The parties have 
agreed to revise the Consent Decree to allow Fort Wayne to propose a 
revised solution, subject to the regulators' approval in accordance 
with a process set forth in the Decree, as long as any such proposal is 
submitted by December 15, 2016 and meets the Performance Criteria and 
Critical Milestones previously agreed to for Control Measure 9. 
Finally, the parties have agreed to correct a typographical error 
concerning CSO Control Measure 9. This Control Measure must be designed 
to achieve a Performance Criterion of 4 CSO events in a typical year as 
correctly set forth in Appendix 3, footnote 7, and not one overflow per 
year, as incorrectly set forth in the text box of Appendix 3 that 
describes CSO Control Measure 9. The proposed Agreed Consent Decree 
Modification incorporates all of these changes.
    The publication of this notice opens a period for public comment on 
the proposed Agreed Consent Decree Modification. Comments should be 
addressed to the Assistant Attorney General, Environment and Natural 
Resources Division, and should refer to United States and State of 
Indiana v. The City of Fort Wayne, Indiana, D.J. Ref. No. 90-5-1-1-
07653. All comments must be submitted no later than thirty (30) days 
after the publication date of this notice. Comments may be submitted 
either by email or by mail:

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         To submit comments:                     Send them to:
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By email............................  [email protected].
By mail.............................  Assistant Attorney General, U.S.
                                       DOJ-ENRD, P.O. Box 7611,
                                       Washington, DC 20044-7611.
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    During the public comment period, the proposed Agreed Consent 
Decree Modification may be examined and downloaded at this Justice 
Department Web site: http://www.usdoj.gov/enrd/Consent_Decrees.html. We 
will provide a paper copy of the Agreed Consent Decree Modification 
upon written request and payment of reproduction costs. Please mail 
your request and payment to: Consent Decree Library, U.S. DOJ-ENRD, 
P.O. Box 7611, Washington, DC 20044-7611.
    Please enclose a check or money order for $8.50 (25 cents per page 
reproduction cost) payable to the United States Treasury.

Randall M. Stone,
Acting Assistant Section Chief, Environmental Enforcement Section, 
Environment and Natural Resources Division.
[FR Doc. 2014-28203 Filed 11-28-14; 8:45 am]
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