[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 75 (Friday, April 17, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Page 21474]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-08132]
[[Page 21474]]
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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Notice of Lodging of Proposed Settlement Agreement Under the
Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act,
and Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act
On April 13, 2020, the Department of Justice lodged a proposed
Stipulation of Settlement and Order (``Agreement'') with the United
States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico in the lawsuit
entitled United States v. TAPI Puerto Rico, Inc., Civil Action No.
3:20-cv-01178.
In this action, the United States filed a Complaint alleging that
TAPI Puerto Rico, Inc. (``TAPI'') violated various provisions of the
Clean Air Act (``CAA''), 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq., the Clean Water Act
(``CWA''), 33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq., the Resource Conservation and
Recovery Act (``RCRA''), 42 U.S.C. 6901 et seq., and the Emergency
Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (``EPCRA''), 42 U.S.C. 11001
et seq., at its pharmaceutical manufacturing facility in Guayama,
Puerto Rico (the ``Facility''). The Complaint alleges that TAPI failed
to comply with the CAA's provisions governing the emission of hazardous
air pollutants (``HAPs'') from its pharmaceutical production process
and hazardous waste equipment, in violation of Sections 112, 502 and
504 of the CAA, 42 U.S.C. 7412, 7661a, and 7661c, and EPA's
implementing regulations; discharged wastewater to the local publicly
owned treatment works without abiding by its industrial discharge
permit requirements, in violation of Section 307 of the CWA, 33 U.S.C.
1317, and EPA's implementing regulations; stored hazardous waste in
tanks, containers and an aeration basin either without a RCRA permit or
in violation of its permit, failed to comply with its RCRA permit
record-keeping obligations, failed to meet the permit exemptions for
its less than 90-day storage tanks, and failed to comply with its RCRA
permit obligation to minimize risk of releases of hazardous waste, all
in violation of Section 3005 of RCRA, 42 U.S.C. 6925, and EPA's
implementing regulations; and failed to timely submit a Toxic Release
Inventory report form to EPA for calendar years 2010 and 2011, in
violation of Section 313 of EPCRA, 42 U.S.C. 11023, and EPA's
implementing regulations. The Complaint seeks the imposition of civil
penalties for these violations.
Pursuant to the proposed Agreement, TAPI will pay a penalty in the
amount of $539,784. The proposed Agreement resolves the civil claims of
the United States for the violations alleged in the Complaint through
the date of lodging of the Stipulation.
The publication of this notice opens a period for public comment on
the Agreement. Comments should be addressed to the Assistant Attorney
General, Environment and Natural Resources Division, and should refer
to United States v. TAPI Puerto Rico, Inc., No. 3:20-cv-01178 (D.P.R.),
D.J. Ref. No. 90-5-2-1-11448. 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 Agreement may be examined and
downloaded at this Justice Department website: https://www.justice.gov/enrd/consent-decrees. We will provide a paper copy of the Agreement
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 $3.25 (25 cents per page
reproduction cost) payable to the United States Treasury.
Henry Friedman,
Assistant Section Chief, Environmental Enforcement Section, Environment
and Natural Resources Division.
[FR Doc. 2020-08132 Filed 4-16-20; 8:45 am]
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