[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 43 (Friday, March 4, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11591-11592]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-04721]
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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Notice of Lodging of Proposed Consent Decree Under the Clean Air
Act
On February 26, 2016, the Department of Justice lodged a proposed
consent decree with the United States District Court for the Northern
District of California in the lawsuit entitled United States and North
Coast Unified Air Quality Management District v. Blue Lake Power, LLC,
Civil Action No. 3:16-cv-00961.
The United States and the North Coast Unified Air Quality
Management District (``District'') filed this lawsuit under the Clean
Air Act. The complaint seeks injunctive relief and civil penalties for
violations of the Clean Air Act's Prevention of Significant
Deterioration provisions, 42 U.S.C. 7470-92, and the North Coast
Unified Air Quality Management District Rules at Defendant Blue Lake
Power, LLC's biomass-fired electric generating plant in Blue Lake,
California. Specifically, the complaint alleges that, when defendant
restarted the plant in 2010, it failed to obtain appropriate permits
and failed to install and operate required pollution control devices to
reduce emissions of carbon monoxide (CO), oxides of nitrogen
(NOX), and/or particulate matter with a diameter of 10
microns (PM10) at its facility.
The proposed consent decree requires the defendant to perform
injunctive relief and pay a $5,000 civil penalty to be shared between
the United States and the District. The defendant is required to
install and operate pollution control equipment at its facility, meet
emission limitations for CO, NOX, and PM10, and
adopt operational procedures to reduce additional emissions of
particulate matter from the facility. In addition, Blue Lake Power will
contribute $10,000 to the District's wood stove replacement program in
order to mitigate the adverse effects of past particulate matter
emissions from the facility.
The publication of this notice opens a period for public comment on
the proposed consent decree. Comments should be addressed to the
Assistant Attorney General, Environment and Natural Resources Division,
and should refer to United States and North Coast Unified Air Quality
Management District v. Blue Lake Power LLC, D.J. Ref. No. 90-5-2-1-
11038. All comments must be submitted no later than thirty (30) days
after the publication date of this notice. Comments may be submitted
either by email or by mail:
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To submit comments: Send them to:
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By e-mail......................... [email protected].
By mail........................... Assistant Attorney General, U.S.
DOJ--ENRD, P.O. Box 7611,
Washington, DC 20044-7611.
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During the public comment period, the consent decree may be
examined and downloaded at this Justice Department Web site: http://
[[Page 11592]]
www.justice.gov/enrd/consent-decrees. We will provide a paper copy of
the consent decree upon written request and payment of reproduction
costs. Please mail your request and payment to: Consent Decree Library,
U.S. DOJ--ENRD, P.O. Box 7611, Washington, DC 20044-7611.
Please enclose a check or money order for $11.25 (25 cents per page
reproduction cost) payable to the United States Treasury.
Henry S. Friedman,
Assistant Section Chief, Environmental Enforcement Section, Environment
and Natural Resources Division.
[FR Doc. 2016-04721 Filed 3-3-16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-15-P