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Public Notice: Proposed Settlement of Safe Drinking Water Act Administrative Penalty and Opportunity to Comment In the Matter of Hawai’i Department of Land and Natural Resources and City and County of Honolulu

How to Comment

Comments accepted through: 12/23/2019

Please provide the following information along with your comments and submit them in accordance with Part 22: Your full name, mailing address, telephone number, email address, the Docket Number (UIC-09-2020-0005), and a concise statement of the basis for and relevant facts supporting any comment for the case to which you are commenting. Persons wishing to comment on this case, including comments on the amount or basis of the proposed penalty, are invited to submit a statement to the EPA Regional Administrator, attention of the Regional Hearing Clerk (address below), within 30 days of the date of this public notice. All comments received within this 30-day period will be considered prior to the issuance of the final order. See 40 C.F.R. § 22.45(b). If the 30th day of the comment period falls on a Saturday, Sunday or federal holiday, the deadline shall be extended to the next business day. See 40 C.F.R. § 22.7(a).

Name, Mailing Address, Telephone Number, and Email of Regional Hearing Clerk
Steven Armsey, Regional Hearing Clerk
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 9
75 Hawthorne Street (ORC-1)
San Francisco, CA 94105
(415) 972-3919
r9hearingclerk@epa.gov

Publish Date: 11/21/2019

Summary

In accordance with Section 1423(c)(3)(B) of the Safe Drinking Water Act (“SDWA” or “Act”), 42 U.S.C. § 300h-2(c)(3)(B), and the “Consolidated Rules of Practice Governing the Administrative Assessment of Civil Penalties and the Revocation/Termination or Suspension of Permits” (“Consolidated Rules”) at 40 C.F.R. Part 22, notice is hereby given of a proposed settlement, recorded in a Consent Agreement and Proposed Final Order (“Proposed Consent Agreement”), between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 9 (“EPA”), and the Hawai’i Department of Land and Natural Resources and the City and County of Honolulu to resolve the following civil administrative proceeding under Sections 1423(c)(3)(B) of the Act.

In the Matter of Hawai’i Department of Land and Natural Resources and City and County of Honolulu, Docket No. UIC-09-2020-0005

Pursuant to 40 C.F.R. §§ 22.13(b) and 22.18(b)(2) - (3), Complainant and Respondents entered into a Proposed Consent Agreement to simultaneously commence and conclude this SDWA civil administrative proceeding. The Proposed Consent Agreement requires Respondents to pay to the United States a penalty of one hundred and thirty-five thousand seven hundred and thirty dollars ($135,730), and close two (2) LCCs by December 31, 2020. Payment of this penalty and closure of the LCCs will resolve EPA’s allegations that the Respondents violated 40 C.F.R. § 144.88 by owning and/or operating two (2) large-capacity cesspools (“LCCs”) after the ban on existing LCCs took effect on April 5, 2005.

Complainant: Amy C. Miller, Director, Enforcement and Compliance Assurance Division, U.S. EPA, Region 9, 75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, CA 94105

Respondents: Hawai’i Department of Land and Natural Resources and City and County of Honolulu

Facility: Helemano Plantation, 64-1510 Kamehameha Hwy, Wahiawa, HI 96786.

Description of Business or Activity Conducted by the Respondent: Gift shop for community-oriented organization for the developmentally disabled.

Alleged Violations: EPA alleges that Respondents own and/or operate two (2) LCCs in violation of the ban that took effect on April 5, 2005 40 C.F.R. § 144.88.

Proposed Order and Penalty: $135,730

Date Filed with Regional Hearing Clerk: November 21, 2019

For More Information

Persons wishing to receive a copy of the Consolidated Rules, review the documents filed by the parties in this proceeding, comment upon the Consent Agreement and Proposed Final Order, or participate in any hearing that may be held, may contact the Regional Hearing Clerk identified above. Please note that the federal regulations are available online at the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) website. Unless otherwise noted, the public record for the proceeding is located at the office of the Regional Hearing Clerk (address above) and the file will be open for public inspection during normal business hours.

Applicants or Respondents

Hawai’i Department of Land and Natural Resources
City and County of Honolulu