[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 75 (Wednesday, April 18, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17193-17194]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-08124]


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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE


Notice of Extension of Public Comment Period for Lodging of 
Proposed Consent Decree Under the Clean Water Act

    On April 2, 2018, the Department of Justice (DOJ) lodged a proposed 
Consent Decree with the United States District Court for the Northern 
District of Indiana in United States and State of Indiana v. United 
States Steel Corporation, Civil Action No. 2:18-cv-00127. The lodging 
of the proposed Decree immediately followed DOJ's filing in the same 
court of a civil complaint (Complaint) against United States Steel 
Corporation (U.S. Steel). Notice of lodging was published in the 
Federal Register on April 6, 2018, which opened a thirty (30) day 
period for public comment on the proposed Consent Decree. At the 
request of some members of the public, the Department of Justice is 
extending the public comment period for an additional 30 days.
    The proposed Consent Decree resolves Clean Water Act and Emergency 
Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act claims in the Complaint by the 
United States on behalf of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 
(EPA), the National Park Service (NPS), and the National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and by Co-Plaintiff the State of 
Indiana (State) on behalf of the Indiana Department of Environmental 
Management and the Indiana Department of Natural Resources. Under the 
proposed Decree, U.S. Steel agrees, among other things, to undertake 
measures to improve its wastewater processing monitoring system at its 
steel manufacturing and finishing facility, known as the Midwest Plant, 
in Portage, Indiana. U.S. Steel also agrees to pay a civil penalty to 
EPA and the State and to reimburse EPA and the NPS for response costs 
incurred as a result of an April 2017 spill of wastewater containing 
hexavalent chromium. U.S. Steel will also pay costs to NOAA for 
assessing natural resource damages due to the April 2017 spill, and 
damages to NPS resulting from the closure of several beaches along the 
Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore due to the spill.
    Comments should be addressed to the Assistant Attorney General, 
Environment and Natural Resources Division, and should refer to United 
States et al v. United States Steel Corporation, D.J. Ref. No. 90-5-2-
1-06476/2. All comments must be submitted no later than sixty (60) days 
following the April 6, 2018 publication date. 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].

[[Page 17194]]

 
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 Consent Decree may 
be examined and downloaded at this Justice Department website: http://www.justice.gov/enrd/consent-decrees.
    We will provide a paper copy of the proposed Consent Decree 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 $14.25 (25 cents per page 
reproduction cost), payable to the United States Treasury.

Thomas Carroll,
Assistant Section Chief, Environmental Enforcement Section, Environment 
and Natural Resources Division.
[FR Doc. 2018-08124 Filed 4-17-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4410-15-P