[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 213 (Thursday, November 3, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 76582-76583]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-26617]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OGC-2016-0623; FRL-9954-93-OGC]


Proposed Consent Decree, Clean Air Act Citizen Suit

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

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 Citizens for Clean Air and 
Sierra Club (``Plaintiffs'') in the United States District Court for 
the Western District of Washington: Citizens for Clean Air, et al. v. 
McCarthy, et al. No. 2:16-cv-00857-JCC (W.D. WA.). On June 14, 2016, 
Plaintiffs filed a lawsuit alleging that Gina McCarthy, in her official 
capacity as Administrator of the United States Environmental Protection 
Agency (``EPA'') and Dennis McLerran, in his official capacity as 
Regional Administrator of the United States Environmental Protection 
Agency, Region 10 (collectively, ``EPA''), failed to perform duties 
mandated by CAA to take final action to approve, disapprove, or 
conditionally approve, in whole or in part, the Fairbanks North Star 
Borough Moderate Area Attainment Plan for attainment of the 2006 24-
hour fine particulate matter (``PM2.5'') NAAQS, which Alaska 
submitted to EPA in two parts on December 31, 2014 and January 29, 
2015. The proposed consent decree would establish deadlines for EPA to 
take certain specified actions related to the Alaska submissions.

DATES: Written comments on the proposed consent decree must be received 
by December 5, 2016.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID number EPA-HQ-
OGC-2016-0623, online at www.regulations.gov. For comments submitted at 
www.regulations.gov, follow the online instructions for submitting 
comments. Once submitted, comments cannot be edited or removed from 
www.regulations.gov. The EPA

[[Page 76583]]

may publish any comment received to its public docket. Do not submit 
electronically any information you consider to be Confidential Business 
Information (CBI) or other information whose disclosure is restricted 
by statute. Multimedia submissions (audio, video, etc.) must be 
accompanied by a written comment. The written comment is considered the 
official comment and should include discussion of all points you wish 
to make. The EPA generally will not consider comments or comment 
contents located outside of the primary submission (i.e. on the web, 
cloud, or other file sharing system). For additional submission 
methods, please contact the person identified in the ``For Further 
Information Contact'' section. For the full EPA public comment policy, 
information about CBI or multimedia submissions, and general guidance 
on making effective comments, please visit http://www2.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Geoffrey L. Wilcox, Air and Radiation 
Law Office (2344A), Office of General Counsel, U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW., Washington, DC 20460; 
telephone: (202) 564-5601; fax number: (202) 564-5603; email address: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Additional Information About the Proposed Consent Decree

    On June 14, 2016, Plaintiffs filed a lawsuit alleging that EPA has 
a mandatory duty to take final action to approve, disapprove, or 
conditionally approve, in whole or in part, the Fairbanks North Star 
Borough Moderate Area Attainment Plan for the 2006 24-hour 
PM2.5 NAAQS. Alaska made this SIP submission to EPA in two 
parts on December 31, 2014 and January 29, 2015. EPA found the 
submission complete pursuant to CAA section 110(k)(1)(B), 42 U.S.C. 
7410(k)(1)(B), on February 18, 2015. Section 110(k)(2) requires EPA to 
take action on a SIP submission within one year of the date it is 
complete.
    The proposed consent decree would resolve a lawsuit filed by the 
Plaintiffs seeking to compel EPA to take actions required under CAA 
section 110(k)(2)-(4) with respect to the Fairbanks North Star Borough 
Moderate Area Attainment Plan. Under the terms of the proposed consent 
decree, EPA must take proposed action on the SIP submission no later 
than January 19, 2017, and must take final action thereon no later than 
August 28, 2017. See the proposed consent decree for the specific 
details.
    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 proposed 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 proposed consent decree?

    The official public docket for this action (identified by EPA-HQ-
OGC-2016-0623) 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, 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.

Gautam Srinivasan,
Deputy Associate General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2016-26617 Filed 11-2-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6560-50-P