[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 62 (Friday, March 29, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 22140-22141]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-06661]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OGC-2024-0145; FRL-11854-01-OGC]


Proposed Consent Decree, Clean Water Act Claim

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of proposed consent decree; request for public comment.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 
Administrator's March 18, 2022, memorandum regarding ``Consent Decrees 
and Settlement Agreements to resolve Environmental Claims Against the 
Agency,'' notice is hereby given of a proposed consent decree in Sierra 
Club, et al. v. EPA, et al., No. 3:24-cv-00130 (S.D.W. Va. 2024). On 
March 18, 2024, the Sierra Club, the West Virginia Highlands 
Conservancy, Inc., and the West Virginia Rivers Coalition, Inc. 
(collectively, ``Plaintiffs'') filed a complaint in the United States 
District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia against EPA 
alleging that the Agency failed to perform a mandatory duty under the 
Clean Water Act (CWA) to establish Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) 
for certain waters located in the Lower Guyandotte River Watershed in 
West Virginia that are impaired due to ionic toxicity. This complaint 
followed Plaintiffs' submission to EPA of a Notice of Intent to Sue on 
March 21, 2023. EPA seeks public input on a proposed consent decree 
prior to its final decision-making with regard to potential settlement 
of the litigation.

DATES: Written comments on the proposed consent decree must be received 
by April 29, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-
OGC-2024-0145 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, see the 
``Additional Information About Commenting on the Proposed Consent 
Decree'' heading under the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this 
document.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Alec Mullee, Water Law Office, Office 
of General Counsel, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; telephone: 
(202) 564-9616; email address: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Additional Information About the Proposed Consent Decree

    On March 18, 2024, Plaintiffs filed a complaint in Federal district 
court asserting that EPA failed to perform a mandatory duty under the 
CWA to establish TMDLs for certain waters located in the Lower 
Guyandotte River Watershed in West Virginia that are biologically 
impaired due to ionic toxicity (Ionic Toxicity TMDLs). This complaint 
followed Plaintiffs' submission to EPA of a Notice of Intent to Sue 
(NOI) on March 21, 2023. Following submission of the NOI, Plaintiffs 
and EPA initiated settlement discussions, which resulted in the 
proposed consent decree. Under the consent decree, EPA would be 
obligated to establish Ionic Toxicity TMDLs for 11 waterbody segments 
in the Lower Guyandotte River Watershed by January

[[Page 22141]]

15, 2025. In exchange, Plaintiffs would permanently release any and all 
claims against EPA that the Agency must establish ionic toxicity TMDLs 
for any other waterbody segments within the Lower Guyandotte River 
Watershed except for six identified waterbody segments and any 
waterbody segments that are listed as biologically impaired for the 
first time after June 1, 2023. For those six waterbody segments and any 
waterbody segments listed as biologically impaired for the first time 
after June 1, 2023, Plaintiffs would refrain from bringing any such 
claims against EPA until January 15, 2039. Further, Plaintiffs would 
not bring such claims against EPA for any West Virginia waterbody 
segment outside the Lower Guyandotte River Watershed until after 
January 15, 2025.
    For a period of thirty (30) days following the date of publication 
of this notice, EPA will accept written comments relating to the 
proposed consent decree from persons who are not parties to the 
litigation. EPA or the Department of Justice may withdraw or withhold 
consent to the proposed consent decree if the comments received 
disclose facts or considerations that indicate that such consent is 
inappropriate, improper, inadequate, or inconsistent with the 
requirements of the CWA.

II. Additional Information About Commenting on the Proposed Consent 
Decree

A. How can I get a copy of the proposed consent decree?

    The official public docket for this action (identified by Docket ID 
No. EPA-HQ-OGC-2024-0145) contains a copy of the proposed consent 
decree. The official public docket is available for public viewing at 
the Office of Environmental Information (OEI) Docket in the EPA Docket 
Center, EPA West, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Ave. NW, Washington, DC. 
The EPA Docket Center Public Reading Room is open from 8:30 a.m. to 
4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal holidays. The 
telephone number for the Public Reading Room is (202) 566-1744, and the 
telephone number for the OEI Docket is (202) 566-1752.
    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.''

B. How and to whom do I submit comments?

    Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OGC-2024-
0145 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.
    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 does not plan to consider these late 
comments.

Steven M. Neugeboren,
Associate General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2024-06661 Filed 3-28-24; 8:45 am]
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