[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 143 (Thursday, July 29, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 40825-40826]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-16155]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[EPA-HQ-OGC-2021-0444; FRL-8780-01-OGC]
Proposed Consent Decree, Clean Air Act Citizen Suit
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of proposed consent decree; request for public comment.
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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Clean Air Act, as amended (CAA or the
Act), notice is given of a proposed consent decree in State of New
York, et al. v. Regan et al., No. 21 Civ. 252 (ALC) (S.D.N.Y.). On
January 12, 2021, the States of New York, Connecticut, Delaware,
Massachusetts, and New Jersey, and the City of New York (Plaintiffs)
filed a complaint in the United States District Court for the Southern
District of New York. Plaintiffs alleged that the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA or the Agency) failed to perform certain non-
discretionary duties in accordance with the Act to take final action to
approve or disapprove, in whole or in part, certain 2015 ozone national
ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) infrastructure state
implementation plan (SIP) submissions addressing the good neighbor
provision from the States of Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, Texas,
and West Virginia. The proposed consent decree would establish
deadlines for EPA to act on these six SIP submissions.
DATES: Written comments on the proposed consent decree must be received
by August 30, 2021.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-
OGC-2021-0444, online at https://www.regulations.gov (EPA's preferred
method). Follow the online instructions for submitting comments.
Instructions: All submissions received must include the Docket ID
number for this action. Comments received may be posted without change
to https://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information
provided. For detailed instructions on sending comments and additional
information on the rulemaking process, see the ``Additional Information
about Commenting on the Proposed Consent Decree'' heading under the
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document. Out of an abundance
of caution for members of the public and our staff, the EPA Docket
Center and Reading Room are closed to the public, with limited
exceptions, to reduce the risk of transmitting COVID-19. Our Docket
Center staff will continue to provide remote customer service via
email, phone, and webform. We encourage the public to submit comments
via https://www.regulations.gov, as there may be a delay in processing
mail and faxes. Hand-deliveries and couriers may be received by
scheduled appointment only. For further information on EPA Docket
Center services and the current status, please visit us online at
https://www.epa.gov/dockets.
EPA continues to carefully and continuously monitor information
from the CDC, local area health departments, and our federal partners
so that we can respond rapidly as conditions change regarding COVID-19.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rosemary E. Hambright, Air and
Radiation Law Office (2344A), Office of General Counsel, U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington,
DC 20460; telephone (202) 564-8829; email address
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Obtaining a Copy of the Proposed Consent Decree
The official public docket for this action (identified by Docket ID
No. EPA-HQ-OGC-2021-0444) contains a copy of the proposed consent
decree.
The electronic version of the public docket for this action
contains a copy of the proposed consent decree and is available through
https://www.regulations.gov. You may use https://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.''
II. Additional Information About the Proposed Consent Decree
The proposed consent decree would establish deadlines for EPA to
take action pursuant to CAA section 110(k) on certain SIP submissions
addressing the requirements of CAA section 110(a)(2)(D)(i)(I), 42
U.S.C. 7410(a)(2)(D)(i)(I) (the good neighbor provision), to resolve a
lawsuit filed by the States of New York, Connecticut, Delaware,
Massachusetts, and New Jersey, and the City of New York. Pursuant to
CAA section 110(k), 42 U.S.C. 7410(k), SIP submission are deemed
complete by operation of law 6 months after receipt by EPA. EPA must
approve or disapprove, in whole or in a part, SIP submissions within 12
months of being deemed complete.
The proposed consent decree would require the EPA, pursuant to CAA
sections 110(k)(2)-(4), 42 U.S.C. 7410(k)(2)-(4), to take final action
to approve or disapprove, in whole or in part, the portion of six 2015
ozone NAAQS infrastructure SIP submissions addressing the good neighbor
provision from the States of Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, Texas,
and West Virginia. EPA received the good neighbor SIP submissions at
issue on the following dates: Indiana on November 2, 2018, Kentucky on
January 9, 2019, Michigan on March 8, 2019,
[[Page 40826]]
Ohio on September 28, 2018, Texas on September 12, 2018, and West
Virginia on February 4, 2019.
Under the terms of the proposed consent decree, no later than April
30, 2022, EPA shall sign a final rule to approve, disapprove,
conditionally approve, or approve in part and conditionally approve or
disapprove in part, the 2015 ozone NAAQS good neighbor SIP submissions
from Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, Texas, and West Virginia.
However, under the proposed consent decree, if, by February 28, 2022,
EPA signs a proposal of full or partial disapproval of any of the six
good neighbor SIP submissions and signs a proposal for a federal
implementation plan to implement any such fully or partially
disapproved SIP submission, EPA shall have until December 15, 2022, to
sign a final action to approve, disapprove, conditionally approve, or
approve in part and conditionally approve or disapprove in part, each
such good neighbor SIP submission.
In accordance with section 113(g) of the CAA, for a period of
thirty (30) days following the date of publication of this document,
the Agency will accept written comments relating to the proposed
consent decree. EPA or the Department of Justice may withdraw or
withhold consent to the proposed consent decree if the comments
disclose facts or considerations that indicate that such consent is
inappropriate, improper, inadequate, or inconsistent with the
requirements of the Act.
III. Additional Information About Commenting on the Proposed Consent
Decree
Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OGC-2021-
0444, via https://www.regulations.gov. Once submitted, comments cannot
be edited or removed from this docket. EPA may publish any comment
received to its public docket. Do not submit to EPA's docket at https://www.regulations.gov 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. 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, the full EPA public comment policy, information about CBI or
multimedia submissions, and general guidance on making effective
comments, please visit https://www.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets. For additional information about submitting information
identified as CBI, please contact the person listed in the FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT section of this document. Note that written
comments containing CBI and submitted by mail may be delayed and
deliveries or couriers will be received by scheduled appointment only.
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. 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 https://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.
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 these late
comments.
Gautam Srinivasan,
Associate General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2021-16155 Filed 7-28-21; 8:45 am]
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