[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 54 (Monday, March 21, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Page 15341]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-6534]
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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Notice of Lodging of a Stipulated Order for Preliminary Relief
Pursuant to the Clean Water Act
Notice is hereby given that a proposed Stipulated Order for
Preliminary Relief was lodged on March 15, 2011, with the United States
District Court for the Northern District of California in United States
of America et al. v. City of Alameda, et al., Civ. No. C 09-05684 RS.
The United States of America and the People of the State of
California ex rel. California State Water Resources Control Board and
California Regional Water Quality Control Board, San Francisco Bay
Region (together ``Water Boards''), and Plaintiff-Intervenor San
Francisco Baykeeper (``Baykeeper''), brought claims under Sections 301
and 402 of the Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. 1251, et seq., against seven
municipal defendants, including the City of Alameda, the City of
Albany, the City of Berkeley, the City of Emeryville, the City of
Oakland, the City of Piedmont and the Stege Sanitary District (together
``Satellite Communities'').
The United States, the Water Boards and Baykeeper allege that the
Satellite Communities are in violation of the Clean Water Act and their
National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (``NPDES'') Permits
because they have unlawful sanitary sewer overflows (``SSOs'') during
wet weather. They also allege that the Satellite Communities are in
violation of the operation and maintenance provisions of their NPDES
Permits because they contribute excessive flow to treatment systems
owned and operated by the East Bay Municipal Utilities District
(``EBMUD''), which causes EBMUD to violate the Clean Water Act and its
own NPDES permit.
The proposed Stipulated Order for Preliminary Relief complements a
January 2009 interim settlement with EBMUD. Among other things, the
EBMUD settlement requires EBMUD to study flow from the Satellite
Communities and make recommendations to EPA and the Water Boards as to
how that flow can be reduced to prevent discharges from three wet
weather facilities (``WWFs'').
This Stipulated Order for Preliminary Relief represents an interim
solution that will move the parties toward a final resolution of the
claims in the complaint. It will require the Satellite Communities to
gather information that EBMUD will use to determine how to reduce flows
to its system. It will also require the Satellite Communities to begin
taking steps to reduce inflow and infiltration into their collection
systems. This settlement, together with the earlier interim settlement
with EBMUD, will provide EBMUD, EPA and the Water Boards with the
information necessary to achieve a final settlement that will eliminate
discharges from the WWFs.
The Department of Justice will receive for a period of thirty (30)
days from the date of this publication comments relating to the
proposed Stipulated Order for Preliminary Relief. Comments should be
addressed to the Assistant Attorney General, Environment and Natural
Resources Division, and either e-mailed to [email protected] or mailed to P.O. Box 7611, U.S. Department of
Justice, Washington, DC 20044-7611, and should refer to United States
et al. v. City of Alameda et al., DJ No. 90-5-1-1-09361/1.
The proposed Stipulated Order for Preliminary Relief may be
examined at the Region 9 Office of the Environmental Protection Agency,
75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, CA, 94105. During the public
comment period, the proposed Stipulated Order for Preliminary Relief
may also be examined on the following Department of Justice Web site,
http://www.usdoj.gov/enrd/Consent_Decrees.html. A copy of the
Stipulated Order for Preliminary Relief may also be obtained by mail
from the Consent Decree Library, P.O. Box 7611, U.S. Department of
Justice, Washington, DC 20044-7611, or by faxing or e-mailing a request
to Tonia Fleetwood ([email protected]), fax no. (202) 514-0097,
phone confirmation number (202) 514-1547. In requesting a copy from the
Consent Decree Library, please enclose a check in the amount of $25.00
(25 cents per page reproduction cost) payable to the U.S. Treasury. The
check should refer to United States et al. v. City of Alameda, et al.,
DJ No. 90-5-1-1-09361/1.
Henry Friedman,
Assistant Section Chief, Environmental Enforcement Section, Environment
and Natural Resources Division.
[FR Doc. 2011-6534 Filed 3-18-11; 8:45 am]
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