[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 62 (Friday, March 29, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 22141-22143]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-06722]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OGC-2024-0149; FRL-11857-01-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''), the Environmental Protection Agency (``EPA'' or ``the 
Agency'') is providing notice of a proposed consent decree in Sierra 
Club, et al. v. United States Environmental Protection Agency, et al., 
No. 1:23-cv-01744-JDB (D. DC). Plaintiffs Sierra Club, National Parks 
Conservation Association, and Environmental Integrity Project 
(collectively, ``Plaintiffs''), brought suit in the United States 
District Court for the District of Columbia alleging that and the U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency (``EPA'') and Michael Regan, in his 
official capacity as Administrator of the U.S. EPA (``the 
Administrator'') (collectively, ``Defendants''), failed to take final 
action on the second planning period regional haze state implementation 
plan (``SIP'') revisions submitted by the following 34 states: Alaska, 
Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, 
Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Maryland, 
Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York, 
North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, 
South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Washington, West Virginia, 
Wisconsin, and Wyoming. There are three intervenors in this action. 
PacifiCorp is acting as an intervenor-plaintiff and the State of North 
Dakota and the State of Nevada are acting as intervenor-defendants. The 
proposed consent decree would establish deadlines for the

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EPA to sign a notice of proposed rulemaking for certain SIPs included 
in this action and a notice of final rulemaking for each of the SIPs 
included in this action.

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-2024-0149, 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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Yasm[iacute]n P[eacute]rez Ortiz, Air 
and Radiation Law Office, Office of General Counsel, U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency; telephone: (202) 564-1077; 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-2024-0149) 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.''

II. Additional Information About the Proposed Consent Decree

    Plaintiffs initially filed a complaint in the United States 
District Court for the District of Columbia alleging that EPA failed to 
perform its nondiscretionary duty under CAA section 110(k)(2)-(4) to 
approve, disapprove, or conditionally approve, in whole or in part the 
second planning period regional haze SIP revisions for seven states, 
Kansas, Massachusetts, Michigan, Ohio, Texas, and Wisconsin, within 12 
months of a determination of completeness by EPA or a submittal being 
deemed complete by operation of law. Plaintiffs then filed an Amended 
Complaint challenging the same failure from Defendants to perform a 
nondiscretionary duty under 110(k)(2)-(4) to approve, disapprove, or 
conditionally approve, in whole or in part the second planning period 
regional haze for 27 additional states, for a total of 34 states: 
Alaska, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, 
Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Maryland, 
Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York, 
North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, 
South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Washington, West Virginia, 
Wisconsin, and Wyoming, within 12 months of a determination of 
completeness by EPA or a submittal being deemed complete by operation 
of law.
    Under the terms of the proposed consent decree, no later than the 
dates set forth in the proposed consent decree, the Administrator or 
appropriate EPA official with delegated authority shall sign a notice 
of proposed rulemaking to approve, disapprove, conditionally approve, 
or approve in part and disapprove in part, pursuant to sections 
110(k)(2)-(4) of the CAA, 42 U.S.C. 7410(k)(2)-(4), certain SIP 
submittals set forth in the proposed consent decree. In addition, under 
the terms of the proposed consent decree, no later than the dates set 
forth in the proposed consent decree, the Administrator or appropriate 
EPA official with delegated authority shall sign a notice of final 
rulemaking to approve, disapprove, conditionally approve, or approve in 
part and disapprove in part, pursuant to sections 110(k)(2)-(4) of the 
CAA, 42 U.S.C. 7410(k)(2)-(4), the SIP submittals set forth in the 
proposed consent decree.
    In accordance with section 113(g) of the CAA, for a period of 
thirty (30) days following the date of publication of this notice, 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-2024-
0149, via https://www.regulations.gov. Once submitted, comments cannot 
be edited or removed from this docket. The 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. The 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

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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. 2024-06722 Filed 3-28-24; 8:45 am]
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