[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 31 (Thursday, February 16, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10915-10916]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-03134]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE


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

    On February 13, 2017, the Department of Justice lodged a proposed 
modification to a Consent Decree with the United States District Court 
for the Western District of Louisiana in United States and the 
Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality v. Cabot Corporation, 
Civil Case No. 13-3095 (W.D. La.).
    The original Consent Decree was entered on March 13, 2014, and 
resolved civil claims under the Clean Air Act at the Defendant's three 
carbon black manufacturing facilities located in Louisiana and Texas. 
The Consent Decree imposed various pollution control requirements on 
Defendant's facilities, including requirements related to sulfur 
dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and particulate matter emissions. At the 
Canal and Ville Platte facilities in Louisiana, these pollution control 
requirements included, among other requirements, installation of Wet 
Gas Scrubber (``WGS'') systems designed to reduce sulfur dioxide 
emissions, and Selective Catalytic Reduction (``SCR'') systems to 
reduce nitrogen oxide emissions. The WGS systems are also expected to 
result in an

[[Page 10916]]

ancillary reduction in particulate matter emissions.
    The parties to the Consent Decree have agreed to certain 
modifications to the Decree that reflect a more refined understanding 
of the ancillary particulate matter reductions expected from the sulfur 
dioxide controls, and associated scheduling delays. The modifications 
would extend the deadlines for installing controls by six-and-a-half 
months at the Canal facility and by nine months at the Ville Platte 
facility, and would establish a process for Cabot to petition EPA for 
an alternative particulate matter limit to reflect the ancillary 
particulate reductions expected from the sulfur dioxide controls.
    The publication of this notice opens a period for public comment on 
the proposed modifications to the Consent Decree. Comments should be 
addressed to the Assistant Attorney General, Environment and Natural 
Resources Division, and should refer to United States and the Louisiana 
Department of Environmental Quality v. Cabot Corporation, Civil Case 
No. 13-3095 (W.D. La.), D.J. Ref. No. 90-5-2-1-10355. 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:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
         To submit comments:                     Send them to:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
By e-mail...........................  [email protected].
By mail.............................  Assistant Attorney General, U.S.
                                       DOJ-ENRD, P.O. Box 7611,
                                       Washington, DC 20044-7611.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    During the public comment period, the proposed modifications to the 
Consent Decree may be examined and downloaded at this Justice 
Department Web site: https://www.justice.gov/enrd/consent-decrees. We 
will provide a paper copy of the proposed modifications 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 $4.00 (25 cents per page 
reproduction cost) payable to the United States Treasury.

Thomas P. Carroll,
Assistant Section Chief, Environmental Enforcement Section, Environment 
and Natural Resources Division.
[FR Doc. 2017-03134 Filed 2-15-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4410-15-P