OGC Notice of New Proposed Consent Decree

US EPA Notice of New Proposed Consent Decree

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has recently published a notice in the Federal Register (86 Fed. Reg. 59383, Oct.27, 2021) regarding a proposed consent decree related to Natural Resources Defense Council v. Michael Regan, Administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency, et al., No. 21-cv-461 (S.D.N.Y.).  On Oct. 27, 2021, EPA opened docket number EPA-HQ-OGC-2021-0753, available at https://www.regulations.gov/search?filter=EPA-HQ-OGC-2021-0753 to receive public comments on this proposal.  The Federal Register notice and the text of the proposed consent decree are available in the docket.  The comment period is open until November 26, 2021.

Under the terms of the proposed consent decree, EPA would agree to a deadline for issuing revisions to the consumer confidence report regulations as described in the Safe Drinking Water Act. 42 U.S.C. 300g-3(c)(4)(F). EPA promulgated consumer confidence report regulations in 1998 to require community water systems to mail an annual report to customers of the system on the level of contaminants in the drinking water (referred to in this paragraph as a “consumer confidence report”).  In 2018, the America’s Water Infrastructure Act amended the Safe Drinking Water Act to require EPA to issue revisions to its consumer confidence report regulations not later than October 23, 2020, including changes to increase the readability, clarity, understandability, and accuracy of the information presented in consumer confidence reports.

EPA encourages your participation in the public comment process on the proposed consent decree mentioned above.  Please submit any comments to EPA docket number EPA-HQ-OGC-2021-0753 by November 26, 2021, pursuant to the process outlined in the Federal Register notice.  We welcome all comments that you may have, including comments indicating concurrence.  Any comments received by EPA via email or other means outside of the regulations.gov platform will be directed to the docket where they will be available for public viewing.  You are under no obligation to submit comments, and this notice does not require you to take any action.

A copy of the proposed consent decree can be found here: https://www.regulations.gov/document/EPA-HQ-OGC-2021-0753-0002.

To view all complaints, petitions for review, and notices of intent to sue filed with the EPA, as well as proposed consent decrees and proposed settlement agreements, please visit  https://www.epa.gov/ogc.

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Disclaimer: Posting does not mean that the notice was properly filed and/or served upon EPA or the United States, and EPA does not waive any defenses related to improper filing or service as it relates to the notices posted.