[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 12 (Thursday, January 19, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Page 3439]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-00960]


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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE


Notice of Lodging of Proposed Second Amendment to Consent Decree 
Under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act

    On January 11, 2022, the Department of Justice lodged a proposed 
second amendment to a consent decree with the United States District 
Court for the Southern District of Texas in the lawsuit entitled United 
States v. Formosa Plastics Corporation, Texas, et al., Civil Action No. 
09-00061.
    Under the original 2010 consent decree, Formosa Plastics 
Corporation, Texas, Formosa Hydrocarbons, Inc. (now Formosa 
Hydrocarbons Company, Inc.) (collectively ``FPC TX''), and Formosa 
Plastics Corporation, Louisiana (collectively ``Defendants'') agreed to 
undertake numerous measures to come into compliance with various 
environmental statutes and regulations at their facilities in Point 
Comfort, Texas, and Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The Defendants still are in 
the process of complying with the 2010 Decree and the 2013 First 
Amendment to the Consent Decree. Under the 2010 consent decree, 
Defendant FPC TX is required to manage and dispose of its wastewater 
treatment system sludge as a listed hazardous waste under the Resource 
Conservation and Recovery Act, 42 U.S.C. 6901 et seq. (``RCRA''), 
because the company treats a RCRA listed hazardous waste (recovered 
groundwater from its contaminated groundwater treatment system) in its 
wastewater system. Under the proposed Second Amendment, FPC TX will 
cease treating the recovered groundwater onsite, and instead send the 
recovered wastewater offsite to a RCRA permitted hazardous waste 
treatment, storage, and disposal facility. Accordingly, the RCRA 
hazardous waste listing will no longer carry through to the wastewater 
sludge. In doing so, FPC TX will eliminate the wastewater sludge 
hazardous waste stream. FPC TX also will clean the wastewater treatment 
system to eliminate hazardous waste residue.
    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 v. Formosa Plastics Corporation, 
Texas, et al., D.J. Ref. No. 90-5-2-1-08995. 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 second amendment 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 proposed amendments 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 $ 2.25 (25 cents per page 
reproduction cost) payable to the United States Treasury.

Thomas Carroll,
Assistant Section Chief, Environmental Enforcement Section, Environment 
and Natural Resources Division.
[FR Doc. 2023-00960 Filed 1-18-23; 8:45 am]
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