[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 9 (Thursday, January 14, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Page 3199]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-00689]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE


Notice of Lodging of Proposed Consent Decree Under the 
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act

    On December 29, 2020, the Department of Justice lodged a proposed 
Consent Decree with the United States District Court for the Eastern 
District of Texas in the lawsuit entitled United States et al. v. E. I. 
du Pont de Nemours and Company and The Chemours Company FC, LLC, Case 
No. 1:20-cv-00556. The proposed Consent Decree resolves the United 
States' claims, on behalf of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration and the United States Department of the Interior, as 
Federal Trustees, joined by the State of Texas, on behalf of the Texas 
Commission on Environmental Quality, the Texas General Land Office, and 
the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, as State Trustees, pursuant to 
Section 107(a) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, 
Compensation, and Liability Act, 42 U.S.C. 9607(a), and the Texas 
Hazardous Substances Spill Prevention and Control Act, Texas Water Code 
Sec. Sec.  26.261-26.267, for the recovery of damages for injury to, 
destruction of, loss of, and loss of use of natural resources and their 
services resulting from the release of hazardous substances at and from 
the Beaumont Works Industrial Park Complex into the West Marsh Site 
located in Beaumont, Texas. Plaintiffs are trustees for those natural 
resources. The proposed Consent Decree resolving these claims provides 
for Settling Defendants to implement a Restoration Project that entails 
recording a conservation easement on a 500-acre tract of valuable but 
otherwise unprotected habitat near the injured area (the ``Acquisition 
Property'') to compensate for the natural resource damages. The 
Restoration Project also includes the performance of baseline 
biological monitoring of the Acquisition Property, annual monitoring of 
Acquisition Property, and legal enforcement of the Conservation 
Easement. The Decree also provides for payments by Settling Defendants 
totaling $198,853 to reimburse the Trustees' costs of assessment and 
for payment of the Trustees' Future Costs of overseeing the Restoration 
Project.
    The publication of this notice opens a period for public comment on 
the Consent Decree. Comments should be addressed to the Assistant 
Attorney General, Environment and Natural Resources Division, and 
should refer to United States et al. v. E. I. du Pont de Nemours and 
Company and The Chemours Company FC, LLC, Case No. 1:20-cv-00556, D.J. 
Ref. No. 90-11-3-10852. 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 Consent Decree may be 
examined and downloaded at this Justice Department website: http://www.usdoj.gov/enrd/Consent_Decrees.html. We will provide a paper copy 
of the 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 $11.75 (25 cents per page 
reproduction cost) payable to the United States Treasury.

Kenneth G. Long,
Acting Assistant Section Chief, Environmental Enforcement Section, 
Environment and Natural Resources Division.
[FR Doc. 2021-00689 Filed 1-13-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-15-P