[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 223 (Tuesday, November 23, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 66590-66591]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-25552]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Notice of Lodging of Proposed Consent Decree Under the Clean
Water Act
On November 17, 2021, the Department of Justice lodged a proposed
consent decree with the United States District Court for the Northern
District of West Virginia in the lawsuit entitled United States and the
State of West Virginia by and through the West Virginia Department of
Environmental Protection v. Berkeley County Public Service Sewer
District and Berkeley County Public Service Storm Water District, Civil
Action No. 3:21-CV-179.
This is a civil action for injunctive relief and civil penalties
brought against the Berkeley County Public Service Sewer District (the
``Sewer District'') pursuant to Sections 309(b) and (d) of the Clean
Water Act (``CWA''), 33 U.S.C. 1319(b) and (d); and chapter 16, article
1, section 9a of the West Virginia Code, W. Va. Code 16-1-9a. The
claims are based on violations of the CWA and the West Virginia Water
Pollution Control Act (``WPCA'') in connection with the Sewer
District's ownership and operation of sewage collection systems, a
pretreatment plant and multiple wastewater treatment plants, and a
municipal separate storm sewer system (``MS4'') in Berkeley County,
West Virginia. The Berkeley County Public Service Storm Water District
(``Storm Water District'') is included as a party to implement
injunctive relief measures, because it has taken over operation of the
MS4 from the Sewer District.
Under the consent decree, the Sewer District will implement:
Comprehensive performance evaluations, corrective action plans, and
standard operating procedures for certain treatment plants; a sewage
collection systems inspection and maintenance program; pump station
compliance requirements; a fats, oil, and grease public education
program; and an asset management software system designed to record and
track each asset through its life cycle. The Storm Water District will
develop and implement an MS4 Manual detailing general programmatic
requirements and including plans for implementing measures to ensure
compliance with the MS4 Permit. Both Defendants will implement regular
training programs. In
[[Page 66591]]
addition, the Sewer District will pay a civil penalty of $432,000 to
the United States and $86,400 to the West Virginia Department of
Environmental Protection, and will complete a state supplemental
environmental project which will ensure treatment of sewage from two
facilities that regularly operate in noncompliance with the West
Virginia Water Pollution Control Act.
The publication of this notice opens a period for public comment on
the proposed consent decree. Comments should be addressed to the
Assistant Attorney General, Environment and Natural Resources Division,
and should refer to United States and the State of West Virginia by and
through the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection v.
Berkeley County Public Service Sewer District and Berkeley County
Public Service Storm Water District, D.J. Ref. No. 90-5-1-1-11893. 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 email............................ [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: https://www.justice.gov/enrd/consent-decrees. 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 $24.00 (25 cents per page
reproduction cost) payable to the United States Treasury. For a paper
copy without the exhibits and signature pages, the cost is $16.75.
Jeffrey Sands,
Assistant Section Chief, Environmental Enforcement Section, Environment
and Natural Resources Division.
[FR Doc. 2021-25552 Filed 11-22-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-15-P