[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 9 (Friday, January 12, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2253-2254]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-00487]
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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Notice of Lodging of Proposed Stipulation and Order Modifying
Consent Decree Under the Clean Air Act
On January 8, 2024, the Department of Justice lodged a proposed
Stipulation and Order Modifying Consent Decree (``Stipulation'') with
the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana
in the lawsuit entitled United States and the Louisiana Department of
Environmental Quality v. The Dow Chemical Company, Union Carbide Corp.
and Performance Materials, NA, Inc., Civil Action No. 2:21-cv-00114-
MLCF-JVM.
The United States and Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality
filed this lawsuit under the Clean Air Act and Louisiana Environmental
Quality Act in January 2021. The complaint sought injunctive relief and
civil penalties based on violations of the Clean Air Act's New Source
Review requirements, New Source Performance Standards, National
Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants, ``Title V'' program
requirements and operating permits, and related Texas and Louisiana
state implementation plan requirements. The alleged violations involved
flares used at petrochemical manufacturing plants owned and operated by
the defendants, The Dow Chemical Company, Union Carbide Corp. and
Performance Materials, NA, Inc., in Hahnville and Plaquemine,
Louisiana, and Freeport and Orange, Texas. The Consent Decree, approved
and entered by the Court in June 2021, required the defendants to
perform injunctive relief, including (among other things) the
installation and operation of Flare Gas Recovery System (``FGRS'')
compressors at the Orange Facility covered by the Consent Decree, pay a
$3,000,000 civil penalty, and perform three state-authorized Beneficial
Environmental Projects in Louisiana.
The Stipulation lodged today changes the number of FGRS compressors
at the Orange Facility to three from two; modifies the requirements for
FGRS operation time to reflect the additional FGRS compressor
(specifically, once the third compressor is operating, the Stipulation
requires the Orange Facility to have two ``Compressors Available for
Operation or in operation 95% of the time and one Compressor Available
for Operation or in operation at all times,'' increased from ``one
Compressor Available for Operation or in operation 98% of the time and
two Compressors Available for Operation or in operation 90% of the
time''); adds default molecular weights for nitrogen, natural gas, and
methane; and corrects an incorrect paragraph cross reference in
Appendix 1.2, Step 2, of the Consent Decree.
The publication of this notice opens a period for public comment on
the proposed Stipulation. Comments should be addressed to the Assistant
Attorney General, Environment and Natural Resources Division, and
should refer to
[[Page 2254]]
United States and the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality v.
The Dow Chemical Company, Union Carbide Corp. and Performance
Materials, NA, Inc., Civil Action No. 2:21-cv-00114-MLCF-JVM, DOJ
reference number 90-5-2-1-11114. All comments must be submitted no
later than 30 days after the publication date of this notice. Comments
may be submitted either by email or by first-class mail:
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To submit comments: Send them to:
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By email............................ [email protected].
By first-class 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 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 proposed 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 $3.25 (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. 2024-00487 Filed 1-11-24; 8:45 am]
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