[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 154 (Wednesday, August 9, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Page 48735]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-20077]


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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE


Notice of Lodging of Consent Decree for Payment of Civil Penalty 
and Surrender of Sulfur Dioxide Allowances Under the Clean Air Act

    Under 28 C.F.R. 50.7, notice is hereby given that on July 31, 2000, 
a proposed Consent Decree in United States v. Interstate Power Company, 
Civil Action No. C00-1022MJM, was lodged with the United States 
District Court for the Northern District of Iowa.
    In this action, the United States seeks injunctive relief and civil 
penalties for Interstate Power Company's (``IPC'') violations of the 
Clean Air Act, 42 U.S.C. 7413(b)(2), and regulations promulgated 
pursuant to this Act at 40 CFR 72, 75, and 76. The allegations concern 
IPC's failure to outfit specified boilers at its power plants in 
Lansing and Dubuque, Iowa, with continuous emission monitoring systems 
and to apply for Acid Rain permits. IPC has come into compliance with 
the Clean Air Act by installing the monitoring systems and obtaining 
the Acid Rain permits.
    Under the Consent Decree, IPC will pay a civil penalty of $200,000 
and surrender to the EPA Enforcement Surrender Account 1474 sulfur 
dioxide (``SO2'') allowances as defined under the Acid 
Deposition Control provisions of Title IV of the Clean Air Act. Under 
the provisions of Title IV, each allowance permits a unit to emit, 
during or after a specified calendar year, one ton of ``SO 
2''. The United States and IPC agree that the cost of the 
surrender of allowances to IPC is $135.00 per SO2 allowance, 
based on recent market value combined with a historical five year 
average. Therefore, the total cost to IPC for its surrender of 1474 
SO2 allowances is $198,990. United States and IPC agree that 
the surrender of the SO2 allowances will secure significant 
environmental and public health benefits by preventing the emission of 
1474 tons of sulfur dioxide.
    The Department of Justice will receive, for a period of thirty (30) 
days from the date of this publication, comments relating to the 
Consent Decree. Comments should be addressed to the Assistant Attorney 
General of the Environmental and Natural Resources Division, Department 
of Justice, Washington, D.C. 20530, and should refer to United States v 
Interstate Power Company, DOJ #90-5-2-1-06716.
    The Consent Decree may be examined at the Office of the United 
States Attorney, 401 1st St. SE, Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401; at EPA 
Region VII, 901 N. 5th Street, Kansas City, KS 66101; or can be 
obtained by mail from the Consent Decree Library, P.O. Box 7611, United 
States Department of Justice, Washington, D.C. 20044-7611. In 
requesting a copy, please enclose a check of $4.75 (25 cents per page 
reproduction cost) payable to the Consent Decree Library.

Stephen J. Rapp,
United States Attorney, Northern District Iowa.
[FR Doc. 00-20077 Filed 8-8-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-07-M