[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 121 (Monday, June 24, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 29514-29515]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-13400]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[EPA-HQ-OGC-2018-0767; FRL-9995-53-OGC]
Proposed Settlement Agreement, Challenge to Clean Air Act SIP
Action
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
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 resolve a case filed by ArcelorMittal Burns
Harbor, L.L.C. (``ArcelorMittal''), involving an EPA action on a State
Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the State of Indiana.
On February 25, 2014, ArcelorMittal filed a petition with the United
States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit challenging EPA's
disapproval of Indiana's SIP revision which would have removed the
emissions limit for SO2 from the blast furnace gas flare at
ArcelorMittal's steel mill in Porter County, Indiana. ArcelorMittal
Burns Harbor LLC v. EPA (14-1412, 7th Cir.). Under the proposed
settlement agreement, the parties agree to take certain specified
actions.
DATES: Written comments on the proposed settlement agreement must be
received by July 24, 2019.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID number EPA-HQ-
OGC-2018-0767, online at www.regulations.gov (EPA's preferred method).
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 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
will generally 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: Mike Thrift, Air and Radiation Law
Office, Office of General Counsel, c/o U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency, San Diego Border Office, 610 West Ash Street, San Diego, CA
92101; telephone: (619) 321-1960; email address: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Additional Information About the Proposed Settlement Agreement
The proposed settlement agreement would resolve the case filed by
ArcelorMittal challenging EPA Region 5's disapproval of the State of
Indiana's SIP revision, submitted on December 10, 2009. EPA issued a
final rule disapproving the SIP revision on December 27, 2013. On
February 25, 2014, ArcelorMittal filed a petition for review of EPA's
disapproval action in the United States Circuit Court of Appeals for
the Seventh Circuit. ArcelorMittal Burns Harbor LLC v. EPA (No. 14-
1412). The State of Indiana intervened in the case on petitioner's
behalf and is also a party to the settlement agreement.
Under the terms of the proposed settlement agreement, Indiana
agrees to submit to EPA a SIP revision which contains numeric emissions
limits, a blast furnace gas testing protocol, and other specified
provisions. EPA agrees to propose and take final action on the SIP
submittal. If EPA approves a SIP submittal with numeric emissions
limits and blast furnace gas testing protocol which are identical to
those in the agreement, and otherwise contains terms substantially
consistent with those in the agreement, ArcelorMittal agrees to dismiss
its petition for review with prejudice. The proposed settlement
agreement also provides that nothing in the settlement agreement limits
the discretion of EPA to alter, amend, or revise its action under the
agreement, nor does the agreement limit or modify any discretion
afforded EPA by the Act or by general principles of administrative law.
See the proposed settlement agreement for specific details.
[[Page 29515]]
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 may withdraw or
withhold consent to the proposed 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.
II. Additional Information About Commenting on the Proposed Settlement
Agreement
A. How can I get a copy of the settlement agreement?
The official public docket for this action (identified by Docket ID
No. EPA-HQ-OGC-2018-0767) 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 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 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 website 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: June 11, 2019.
Gautam Srinivasan,
Acting Associate General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2019-13400 Filed 6-21-19; 8:45 am]
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