[Federal Register: December 15, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 240)]
[Notices]
[Page 74314-74315]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr15de05-63]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-8008-9]
Proposed Consent Decree, Clean Air Act Citizen Suit
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of proposed settlement and consent order; request for
public comment.
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SUMMARY: In accordance with section 113(g) of the Clean Air Act, as
amended (``Act''), 42 U.S.C. 7413(g), notice is hereby given of a
proposed settlement, which would be entered as a consent order, to
address a lawsuit filed by South Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance
(``SJEJA''), New Jersey Public Interest Research Group, South Camden
Citizens in Action, and New Jersey Environmental Federation
(collectively the ``plaintiffs''): SJEJA v. Johnson, 05-6891 (RJH)
(S.D.N.Y.). On or about August 2, 2005, the plaintiffs filed a
complaint alleging that they had submitted a petition to EPA seeking an
objection to a Clean Air Act Title V permit issued by the New Jersey
Department of Environmental Protection to Camden County Energy Recovery
Associates for its facility in Camden, New Jersey, and that the
Administrator had failed to perform his nondiscretionary duty to
respond to the petition within sixty days of the date it was filed.
Under the terms of the proposed settlement and consent order, EPA has
agreed to respond to the petition by January 20, 2006, and the
plaintiffs have agreed to dismiss their suit with prejudice shortly
thereafter. In addition, EPA has agreed to pay the plaintiffs a
specified amount in settlement of the plaintiffs' claims for attorneys'
fees in this matter.
DATES: Written comments on the proposed settlement and consent order
must be received by January 17, 2006.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID number EPA-HQ-
OGC-2005-0472, online at http://www.regulations.gov (EPA's preferred method); by e-mail to oei.docket@epa.gov; mailed to EPA Docket Center,
Environmental Protection Agency, Mailcode: 2822T, 1200 Pennsylvania
Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460-0001; or by hand delivery or courier to
EPA Docket Center, EPA West, Room B102, 1301 Constitution Ave., NW.,
Washington, DC, between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday,
excluding legal holidays. Comments on a disk or CD-ROM should be
formatted in Wordperfect or ASCII file, avoiding the use of special
characters and any form of encryption, and may be mailed to the mailing
address above.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Amy Huang Branning, Air and Radiation
Law Office (2344A), Office of General Counsel, U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460;
telephone: (202) 564-1744; fax number (202) 564-5603; e-mail address:
branning.amy@epa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Additional Information About the Proposed Settlement and Consent
Order
This proposed settlement and consent order would resolve a lawsuit
seeking a response to a petition to object to a Title V permit issued
by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection to Camden
County Energy Recovery Associates for its facility in Camden, New
Jersey (permit II-2005-01). Under the proposed settlement, if neither
EPA nor the Department of Justice withdraws its consent to the proposed
settlement following the thirty (30)-day comment period provided in
this Notice, the plaintiffs and EPA have agreed to jointly ask that the
Court enter this settlement as a consent order. The consent order, if
entered, would require that the Administrator issue a response to the
petition by January 20, 2006 and that the plaintiffs dismiss their
lawsuit ten (10) days after the Administrator provides notice of its
Order in the Federal Register. The consent order would also require
that EPA pay the plaintiffs a specified amount in settlement of their
claims for attorneys' fees. The proposed settlement and consent order
do not require the Administrator to respond to the petition in any
particular way.
For a period of thirty (30) days following the date of publication
of this notice, the Agency will receive written comments relating to
the proposed settlement and consent order from persons who were not
named as parties or intervenors to the litigation in question. EPA or
the Department of Justice may withdraw or withhold consent to the
proposed settlement and consent order if the comments disclose facts or
considerations that indicate that such consent is inappropriate,
improper, inadequate, or inconsistent
[[Page 74315]]
with the requirements of the Act. Unless EPA or the Department of
Justice determine, based on any comment which may be submitted, that
consent to this proposed settlement and consent order should be
withdrawn, the terms of the proposed consent order will be affirmed.
II. Additional Information About Commenting on the Proposed Settlement
and Consent Order
A. How Can I Get a Copy of the Proposed Settlement?
Direct your comments to the official public docket for this action
under Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OGC-2005-0472 which contains a copy of the
proposed settlement. 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 B102, 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.
An electronic version of the public docket is available through
http://www.regulations.gov You may use the http://www.regulations.gov.
to submit or view public comments, access the index listing of the
contents of the official public docket, and to access those documents
in the public docket that are available electronically. Once in the
system, select ``search,'' then key in the appropriate docket
identification number.
It is important to note that EPA's policy is that public comments,
whether submitted electronically or in paper, will be made available
for public viewing online at http://www.regulations.gov without change,
unless the comment contains copyrighted material, CBI, or other
information whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Information
claimed as CBI and other information whose disclosure is restricted by
statute is not included in the official public docket or in the
electronic public docket. EPA's policy is that copyrighted material,
including copyrighted material contained in a public comment, will not
be placed in EPA's electronic public docket but will be available only
in printed, paper form in the official public docket. Although not all
docket materials may be available electronically, you may still access
any of the publicly available docket materials through the EPA Docket
Center.
B. How and To Whom Do I Submit Comments?
You may submit comments as provided in the ADDRESSES section.
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.
If you submit an electronic comment, EPA recommends that you
include your name, mailing address, and an e-mail address or other
contact information in the body of your comment and with any disk or
CD-ROM you submit. 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 http://www.regulations.gov Web site 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, e-mail address, or other
contact information unless you provide it in the body of your comment.
In contrast to EPA's electronic public docket, EPA's electronic mail
(e-mail) system is not an ``anonymous access'' system. If you send an
e-mail comment directly to the Docket without going through http://www.regulations.gov
, your e-mail address is automatically captured and
included as part of the comment that is placed in the official public
docket, and made available in EPA's electronic public docket.
Dated: December 8, 2005.
Richard B. Ossias,
Associate General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 05-24077 Filed 12-14-05; 8:45 am]
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