[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 243 (Monday, December 19, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 91931-91932]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-30058]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[EPA-HQ-OGC-2016-0642; FRL 9956-69-OGC]
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''), notice is hereby given of a proposed settlement
agreement to settle a lawsuit filed by American Chemistry Council
(``Petitioner''), in the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C.
Circuit: American Chemistry Council v. EPA (Case Number 15-1146). On
May 18, 2015, Petitioner and Eastman Chemical Company (``Eastman'')
filed petitions for review of an EPA rule titled ``National Emission
Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants for Major Sources: Off-Site
Waste Recovery Operations,'' published in the Federal Register on March
18, 2015 (the ``Final Rule''). The proposed settlement agreement would
establish deadlines for EPA to take specified actions.
DATES: Written comments on the proposed settlement agreement must be
received by January 18, 2017.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID number EPA-HQ-
OGC-2016-0642, online at www.regulations.gov. For comments submitted at
www.regulations.gov, follow the online instructions for submitting
comments. Once submitted, comments cannot be edited or removed from
www.regulations.gov. The EPA may publish any comment received to its
public docket. Do not submit electronically 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, please contact the person
identified in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section. For the full
EPA public comment policy, information about CBI or multimedia
submissions, and general guidance on making effective comments, please
visit http://www2.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Emily Seidman, Air and Radiation Law
Office (2344A), Office of General Counsel, U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW., Washington, DC 20460;
telephone: (202) 564-0906; fax number (202) 564-5603; email address:
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Additional Information About the Proposed Settlement Agreement
On May 18, 2015, Petitioner and Eastman filed petitions for review
of an EPA rule titled ``National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air
Pollutants for Major Sources: Off-Site Waste Recovery Operations,''
published at 80 FR 14,248 (March 18, 2015) (the ``Final Rule''). In
addition, Petitioner and Eastman submitted to the EPA a Petition for
Reconsideration of the Final Rule of two issues: (1) equipment leak
detection provisions for connectors; and (2) monitoring requirements
for pressure relief devices (``PRD'') on portable containers. The EPA
granted the request for reconsideration of the Final Rule on the issue
of PRD monitoring requirements for portable containers but denied the
request for reconsideration of the equipment leak detection provisions
for connectors. The EPA provided public notice of this denial through a
Federal Register notice published on May 16, 2016 at 81 FR 30,182. On
September 26, 2016, Eastman filed an unopposed motion for voluntary
dismissal which the court granted.
The proposed settlement agreement would settle Petitioner's
lawsuit. Under the terms of the proposed settlement agreement, the EPA
will reconsider the Final Rule's provisions relating to PRDs and take
an initial action no later than July 20, 2017 and a final action no
later than January 18, 2018, as long as Petitioner provides the EPA
with the requested data on PRDs identified in Appendix A of the
settlement agreement by no later than October 28, 2016, or a later
date, as provided for in the settlement agreement. Please review the
settlement agreement for additional details, available in the public
docket at EPA-HQ-OGC-2016-0642.
For a period of 30 days following the date of publication of this
notice, the Agency will receive 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
[[Page 91932]]
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 the agreement should
be withdrawn or withheld, the terms of the agreement will be affirmed.
II. Additional Information About Commenting on the Proposed Settlement
Agreement
A. How can I get a copy of the proposed settlement agreement?
The official public docket for this action under Docket ID No. EPA-
HQ-OGC-2016- 0642 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 the 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.
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 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.
Dated: December 7, 2016.
Lorie J. Schmidt,
Associate General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2016-30058 Filed 12-16-16; 8:45 am]
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