[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 220 (Wednesday, November 14, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 67814-67815]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-27704]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-9751-7]
Proposed Settlement Agreement, Clean Air Act Citizen Suit
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of proposed settlement agreement; request for public
comment.
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SUMMARY: In accordance with section 113(g) of the Clean Air Act, as
amended (``CAA'' or the ``Act''), notice is hereby given of a proposed
settlement to address a lawsuit filed by Public Service Company of
Oklahoma (``Plaintiff'') in the United States Appeals Court for the
Tenth Circuit: Public Service Company of Oklahoma v. U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, et al., No. 12-9524. On February 24, 2011, Plaintiff
timely filed a Petition for Review, challenging the issuance of EPA's
final rule entitled, ``Approval and Promulgation of Implementation
Plans; Oklahoma; Federal Implementation Plan for Interstate Transport
of Pollution Affecting Visibility and Best Available Retrofit
Technology Determinations,'' 76 FR 81,728 (Dec. 28, 2011) (the ``Final
Rule''). The Final Rule partially approved and partially disapproved
Oklahoma's state implementation plan (``SIP'') submitted under the
``visibility'' and ``interstate transport'' provisions of the Clean Air
Act (``CAA''). The Final Rule included a federal implementation plan
(``FIP'') establishing Best Available Retrofit Technology (``BART'')
emission limitations on sulfur dioxide (``SO2'') for Units 3
and 4 of Plaintiff's Northeastern plant (``Plaintiff's Units'') to
address the visibility and interstate transport provisions of the CAA.
On March 26, 2012, Sierra Club (``Intervenor'') filed a timely motion
to intervene. The motion was granted March 27, 2012. The proposed
settlement agreement establishes a deadline for EPA to take action on a
SIP to be drafted and submitted by Oklahoma addressing Plaintiff's
Units.
DATES: Written comments on the proposed settlement agreement must be
received by December 14, 2012.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID number EPA-HQ-
OGC-2012-0826, online at www.regulations.gov (EPA's preferred method);
by email to [email protected]; by mail 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 3334, 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 Word 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: Lea Anderson, Air and Radiation Law
Office (2344A), Office of General Counsel, U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW., Washington, DC 20460;
telephone: (202) 564-5571; fax number (202) 564-5603; email address:
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Additional Information About the Proposed Settlement Agreement
The proposed settlement agreement would resolve a lawsuit
challenging the issuance of EPA's final rule partially approving and
partially disapproving Oklahoma's SIP submitted under the
``visibility'' and ``interstate transport'' provisions of the CAA, 42
U.S.C. Sec. 7410, 7491, and 7492. The Final Rule included a FIP
establishing BART emission limitations on SO2 for Units 3
and 4 of Plaintiff's Northeastern plant to address the visibility and
interstate
[[Page 67815]]
transport provisions of the CAA. Specifically, the proposed settlement
agreement outlines the timeframe in which Oklahoma Department of
Environmental Quality (``ODEQ'') develops and the Oklahoma Secretary of
Environment submits to EPA for review SIP revisions containing specific
elements as spelled out in Attachment A of the settlement agreement to
address the ``visibility'' and ``interstate transport'' provisions of
the CAA, 42 U.S.C. Sec. 7410, 7491, and 7492. In turn, the proposed
settlement agreement establishes a deadline for EPA to take final
action on Oklahoma's visibility and interstate transport SIP revisions
addressing Plaintiff's units within six months from the date of EPA's
determination that the revisions meet the requirements of the CAA
consistent with 42 U.S.C. 7410(k)(1)(B). Because this Agreement
requires ODEQ to develop and propose SIP revisions and the Oklahoma
Secretary of Environment (``Secretary'') to submit these SIP revisions
to EPA under the visibility and interstate transport provisions of the
CAA, and because ODEQ and the Secretary prefer to regulate Plaintiff
under such SIP revisions rather than EPA's FIP, ODEQ and the Secretary
are parties to the settlement agreement as are the Plaintiff and the
Intervenor. After EPA fulfills its obligations under the proposed
settlement agreement, Plaintiff, Intervenor, and EPA will file a joint
stipulation of dismissal of Plaintiff's Petition for Review.
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 settlement agreement 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 agreement if the comments disclose facts or considerations
that indicate that such consent is inappropriate, improper, inadequate,
or inconsistent with the requirements of the Act. Unless EPA or the
Department of Justice determines that consent to this settlement
agreement should be withdrawn, the terms of the proposed settlement
agreement will be affirmed.
II. Additional Information About Commenting on the Proposed Settlement
Agreement
How can I get a copy of the settlement agreement?
The official public docket for this action (identified by Docket ID
No. EPA-HQ-OGC-2012-0826) contains a copy of the proposed settlement
agreement. 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.
An electronic version of the public docket is available through
www.regulations.gov. You may use 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, key in
the appropriate docket identification number then select ``search''.
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 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.
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 email 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 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, email 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
(email) system is not an ``anonymous access'' system. If you send an
email comment directly to the Docket without going through
www.regulations.gov, your email 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.
Lorie J. Schmidt,
Associate General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2012-27704 Filed 11-13-12; 8:45 am]
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