[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 94 (Thursday, May 14, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28984-28985]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-10306]


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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE


Notice of Lodging of Proposed Modification of Consent Decree 
Under the Clean Water Act and Oil Pollution Act

    On May 7, 2020, the Department of Justice lodged with the United 
States District Court for the Western District of Michigan a proposed 
Fifth Modification of Consent Decree in the lawsuit entitled United 
States v. Enbridge Energy, Limited Partnership, et al., Civil Action 
No. 1:16-cv-914.
    On May 23, 2017, the United States District Court for the Western 
District of Michigan approved and entered a Consent Decree that 
resolved specified claims asserted by the United States against 
Enbridge Energy, Limited Partnership and eight affiliated entities 
(``Enbridge'') under the Clean Water Act and Oil Pollution Act arising 
from two separate 2010 oil spills resulting from failures of Enbridge 
oil transmission pipelines near Marshall, Michigan and Romeoville, 
Illinois. The complaint filed by the United States alleged that 
Enbridge's pipelines had unlawfully discharged oil into waters of the 
United States and sought civil penalties, recovery of removal costs, 
and injunctive relief. The Consent Decree established various 
requirements applicable to a network of 14 pipelines that comprise 
Enbridge's Lakehead

[[Page 28985]]

System--including requirements governing excavation, repair or 
mitigation, and imposition of interim pressure restrictions for various 
features, such as dents, corrosion and cracks, that are detected 
through In-Line Inspections (``ILI'') of such pipelines.
    The proposed Fifth Modification of Consent Decree 
(``Modification'') revises several different provisions of the Consent 
Decree. A major focus of the proposed Modification is to clarify and 
revise requirements applicable to one specific type of feature detected 
on Lakehead System pipelines--dent features that intersect or interact 
with corrosion features (``dent/corrosion features''). The Modification 
clarifies that Enbridge must identify all dent features, regardless of 
the dent depth, and determine whether detected dent features intersect 
with corrosion features. The Modification establishes requirements for 
evaluation of dent/corrosion features applying new analytical 
techniques that would be used to determine whether such features 
require excavation, repair or mitigation, or interim pressure 
restrictions. In addition to requiring use of the new methodologies 
going forward, the Modification includes requirements for re-examining 
certain previously collected ILI data to identify shallow dent features 
that Enbridge had not evaluated in the period prior to March 31, 2019, 
as well as requirements to apply the new analytical methodologies to 
any additional dent/corrosion features identified based on the re-
examination of old data.
    In addition to revisions that support new requirements governing 
the evaluation of dent/corrosion features, the proposed Modification 
revises the definition of Established Maximum Operating Pressure 
(``MOP'') to incorporate revised MOP values for Enbridge's Line 61. The 
revised MOP values reflect corrected information on pipe wall thickness 
obtained during a data quality review of Enbridge's pipeline 
information. The proposed Modification also revises and clarifies 
provisions of the Consent Decree relating to Priority Feature 
notifications. In the proposed revision of Appendix A, features 
referred to as ``ovalities'' would be subject to a separate Priority 
Feature notification criterion from the criterion applicable to other 
geometric features. Finally, the proposed Modification would revise 
Table 4 of the Consent Decree to clarify that a dig selection criterion 
applicable to dents on portions of Line 61 is intended to apply only to 
dents with depths greater than a specified depth.
    The publication of this notice opens a period for public comment on 
the proposed Fifth Modification of Consent Decree. Comments should be 
addressed to the Assistant Attorney General, Environment and Natural 
Resources Division, and should refer to United States v. Enbridge 
Energy, Limited Partnership, et al., D.J. Ref. No. 90-5-1-1-10099. 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 proposed Fifth Modification 
of Consent Decree may be examined and downloaded at this Justice 
Department website: https://www.justice.gov/enrd/consent-decrees. The 
Justice Department will provide a paper copy of the proposed Fifth 
Modification of 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.
    In requesting a paper copy, please enclose a check or money order 
for $7.50 (25 cents per page reproduction cost) payable to the United 
States Treasury.

Patricia A. McKenna,
Assistant Section Chief, Environmental Enforcement Section, Environment 
and Natural Resources Division.
[FR Doc. 2020-10306 Filed 5-13-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-15-P