[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 143 (Wednesday, July 27, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45104-45105]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-16029]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OGC-2022-0627; FRL-10084-01-OGC]


Proposed Consent Decree, Clean Air Act Citizen Suit

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of proposed consent decree; request for public comment.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Clean Air Act, as amended (CAA or the 
Act), notice is given of a proposed consent decree in Center for 
Biological Diversity, et al. v. Regan, No. 3:22-cv-01855-WHO (N.D. 
Cal.). On March 24, 2022, Plaintiffs Center for Biological Diversity, 
Center for Environmental Health, Environmental Integrity Project, and 
WildEarth Guardians filed a complaint in the United States District 
Court for the Northern District of California. Plaintiffs alleged that 
the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or the Agency) failed to 
perform certain non-discretionary duties in accordance with the Act to 
timely determine the attainment status of certain areas with respect to 
the 2008 ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards (2008 Ozone 
NAAQS). The proposed consent decree would establish deadlines for EPA 
to sign notices of final action.

DATES: Written comments on the proposed consent decree must be received 
by August 26, 2022.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-
OGC-2022-0627, online at https://www.regulations.gov (EPA's preferred 
method). Follow the online instructions for submitting comments.
    Instructions: All submissions received must include the Docket ID 
number for this action. Comments received may be posted without change 
to https://www.regulations.gov/, including any personal information 
provided. For detailed instructions on sending comments and additional 
information on the rulemaking process, see the ``Additional Information 
about Commenting on the Proposed Consent Decree'' heading under the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Elizabeth Pettit, Air and Radiation 
Law Office, Office of General Counsel, U.S. Environmental Protection 
Agency; telephone (202) 566-2879; email address 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Obtaining a Copy of the Proposed Consent Decree

    The official public docket for this action (identified by Docket ID 
No. EPA-HQ-OGC-2022-0627) contains a copy of the proposed consent 
decree. 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.
    The electronic version of the public docket for this action 
contains a copy of the proposed consent decree and is available through 
https://www.regulations.gov. You may use https://www.regulations.gov to 
submit or view public comments, access the index listing of the 
contents of the official public docket, and 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.''

II. Additional Information About the Proposed Consent Decree

    The proposed consent decree would establish deadlines for EPA to 
take action pursuant to CAA sections 107(d), 179(c)(1), 181(b)(2)(A), 
179(c)(2), and 181(b)(2)(B) to sign notices of final action determining 
whether certain areas attained the 2008 NAAQS by the attainment date, 
in this case, July 20, 2021. First, on April 13, 2022, EPA published a 
proposed rulemaking that proposes to determine that Chicago-Naperville, 
Illinois-Indiana-Wisconsin; Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas; Houston-
Galveston-Brazoria, Texas; New York-North New Jersey-Long Island, New

[[Page 45105]]

York-New Jersey-Connecticut; and Denver-Boulder-Greeley-Ft. Collins-
Loveland, Colorado failed to attain the 2008 Ozone NAAQS by July 20, 
2021 and that Greater Connecticut, Connecticut attained the 2008 Ozone 
NAAQS by July 20, 2021; all of these areas had been classified as 
Serious nonattainment for the 2008 Ozone NAAQS (87 FR 21825). The 
proposed consent decree would require EPA to sign a final rule on these 
areas \1\ by September 15, 2022.
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    \1\ With the exception of Chicago-Naperville, Illinois-Indiana-
Wisconsin, which EPA determined attained the 2008 Ozone NAAQS in 
three separate final rules (87 FR 21027, April 11, 2022; 87 FR 30821 
and 30828, May 20, 2022), rendering this claim moot.
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    Second, on July 14, 2022, EPA published a proposed rulemaking that 
proposes to determine that the Nevada County (Western part) and Ventura 
County areas in California, both classified as Serious for the 2008 
Ozone NAAQS, attained the 2008 Ozone NAAQS by the July 20, 2021 
attainment date. (87 FR 42126). The proposed consent decree would 
require EPA to sign a final rule on these two California areas by 
December 16, 2022.
    In accordance with section 113(g) of the CAA, for a period of 
thirty (30) days following the date of publication of this document, 
the Agency will accept written comments relating to the proposed 
consent decree. EPA or the Department of Justice may withdraw or 
withhold consent to the proposed consent decree if the comments 
disclose facts or considerations that indicate that such consent is 
inappropriate, improper, inadequate, or inconsistent with the 
requirements of the Act.

III. Additional Information About Commenting on the Proposed Consent 
Decree

    Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OGC-2022-
0627, via https://www.regulations.gov. Once submitted, comments cannot 
be edited or removed from this docket. EPA may publish any comment 
received to its public docket. Do not submit to EPA's docket at https://www.regulations.gov 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. 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, the full EPA public comment policy, information about CBI or 
multimedia submissions, and general guidance on making effective 
comments, please visit https://www.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets. For additional information about submitting information 
identified as CBI, please contact the person listed in the FOR FURTHER 
INFORMATION CONTACT section of this document. Note that written 
comments containing CBI and submitted by mail may be delayed and 
deliveries or couriers will be received by scheduled appointment only.
    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. 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 https://www.regulations.gov website 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.
    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.

Gautam Srinivasan,
Associate General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2022-16029 Filed 7-26-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P


