[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 200 (Wednesday, October 17, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58887-58888]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 07-5126]
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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Notice of Lodging of the ``AEP'' Proposed Consent Decree Under
the Clean Air Act
Pursuant to 28 CFR 50.7, notice is hereby given that on October 9,
2007 a proposed Consent Decree (``Consent Decree'') in United States,
et al. v. American electric Power Service Corporation, et al., Civil
Actions Nos. C2-99-1182, C2-99-1250, C2-04-1098, and C2-05-360, was
lodged with the United States District Court for the Southern District
of Ohio.
In these civil enforcement actions under the federal Clean Air Act
(``Act''), the United States alleges that several American Electric
Power subsidiaries (collectively (``AEP'') failed to comply with the
New Source Review provisions of the Act and the State Implementation
Plans of Indiana, Ohio, Virginia, and West Virginia. The complaints
allege that AEP violated the Act by failing to (i) seek permits prior
to making major modifications and (ii) install appropriate pollution
control devices to reduce emissions of air pollutants from units at the
following power plants: Tanners Creek in Indiana; Cardinal, Conesville,
and Muskingum River in Ohio; Clinch River in Virginia; Amos, Kammer,
Mitchell, and Sporn in West Virginia. The complaints seek both
injunctive relief and civil penalty.
The Consent Decree lodged with the Court addresses all units at the
nine power plants listed above as well as all units at the following
seven AEP plants that were not part of the litigation: Rockport in
Indiana; Big Sandy in Kentucky; Gavin and Picway in Ohio; Glen Lyn in
Virginia; and Kanawha River and Mountaineer in West Virginia. The
Consent Decree requires installation, upgrading, and continuous
operation of pollution control devices on a number of the 46 units at
the sixteen plants addressed in the settlement. The Consent Decree also
imposes emissions caps that limit the total amount of nitrogen oxides
and sulfur dioxide that can be collectively emitted by all 46 units at
these plants, with a series of increasingly stringent limits beginning
in 2009.
The Consent Decree also requires AEP to pay the United States a
civil fine of $15 million and to pay $60 million for environmental
mitigation projects, including projects to acquire and restore
ecologically sensitive land in eastern states downwind of AEP plants,
restore or improve watersheds and forests in national parks affected by
past emissions, reduce nitrogen loading in Chesapeake Bay, reduce
emissions from sources in AEP's vehicle fleet, and other projects to be
directed by settling states.
The States of Connecticut, Maryland, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New
York, Rhode Island, Vermont, and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts have
signed the Consent Decree as co-plaintiffs, as have the following
citizens groups: Citizens Action Coalition of Indiana, Clean Air
Council, Hossier Environmental Council, Indiana Wildlife Federation,
Izaak Walton League of America, League of Ohio Sportsmen, National
Wildlife Federation, Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., Ohio
Citizen Action, Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition, Sierra Club,
United States Public Interest Research Group, and West Virginia
Environmental Council.
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,
Environment and Natural Resources Division, and either emailed to
[email protected] or mailed to P.O. Box 7611, U.S.
department of Justice. Washington, DC 20044-7611, and should refer to
United States, et al, v. American Electric Power Service Corporation,
et al., D.J. Ref. 90-5-2-1-06893.
The Consent Decree may be examined at the Office of the United
States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, located at 303
Marconi Boulevard, Suite 200, Columbus, Ohio 43215; at U.S. EPA Region
3, 1650 Arch Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103-2029; at U.S. EPA
Region 4, Sam Nunn Atlanta Federal Center, 61 Forsyth Street, SW.,
Atlanta, Georgia 30303-8960; or at U.S. EPA Region 5, 77 W. Jackson
Blvd., Chicago, Illinois 60604-4590. During the public comment period,
the Consent Decree may also be examined on the following Department of
Justice Web site, http://www.usdoj.gov/enrd/Consent_Decrees.html. A
copy of the Consent Decree may also be obtained by mail from the
Consent Decree Library, P.O. Box 7611, U.S. Department of Justice,
Washington, DC 20044-7611 or by faxing or e-mailing a request to Tonia
Fleetwood ([email protected], fax no. (202) 514-0097, phone
confirmation number (202) 514-1547. In
[[Page 58888]]
requesting a copy from the Consent Decree Library, please enclose a
check in the amount of $30.25 (25 cents per page reproduction cost)
payable to the U.S. Treasury.
Bruce S. Gelber,
Chief, Environmental Enforcement Section, Environment and Natural
Resources Division.
[FR Doc. 07-5126 Filed 10-16-07; 8:45 am]
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