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Public Notice: USDA Forest Service, Southwestern Region; Proposed Safe Drinking Water Act Underground Injection Control Program Administrative Order on Consent and Opportunity to Comment

How to Comment

Comments accepted through: 08/15/2019

If you submit comments, please provide with those comments the following information: Your full name, mailing address, telephone number, email address, the Docket Number (SDWA-UIC-AOC-2019-0001), and a concise statement of the basis for and relevant facts supporting any comment you submit.

Any comments should be submitted to the EPA Region IX Enforcement and Compliance Assurance Division, to the attention of the Enforcement Officer identified above (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 finalizing of the Proposed Consent Order. 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.

Name, Mailing Address, Telephone Number, and Email of Region IX Enforcement Officer

EPA Region IX Enforcement and Compliance Assurance Division
Attn: Christina Carroll (carroll.christina@epa.gov)
Enforcement Officer
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region IX
75 Hawthorne Street (ENF-3-3)
San Francisco, CA 94105
(415) 972-3736

Administrative Order on Consent

Publish Date: 07/15/2019

Summary

In accordance with Section 1423(c)(3)(B) of the Safe Drinking Water Act (“SDWA”), 42 U.S.C. § 300h-2(c)(3)(B), notice is hereby given of a proposed agreement, set forth in an Proposed Administrative Order on Consent (“Proposed Consent Order”), between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 9 (“EPA”), and United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service Region 3 (“Respondent”). The Proposed Consent Order requires Respondent to correct alleged ongoing violations of the SDWA as further described below. This notice invites the public to submit comments on the Proposed Consent Order.

In the Matter of USDA Forest Service, Southwestern Region
Docket No. SDWA-UIC-AOC-2019-0001

The Proposed Consent Order requires Respondent to close fifteen (15) large capacity cesspools (“LCCs”) that are currently being operated in violation of the ban codified at 40 C.F.R. § 144.88 on existing LCCs that took effect on April 5, 2005. The Proposed Consent Order provides an enforceable schedule for the Respondent to come into compliance with the ban. Respondent has agreed to bring all non-compliant systems into compliance with the SDWA by December 31, 2024.

EPA: Michael Stoker, Regional Administrator, U.S. EPA, Region 9, 75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, CA 94105

Respondent: USDA Forest Service, Southwestern Region

Facility: Multiple National Forests in Arizona

Description of Business or Activity Conducted by the Respondent: Public Lands

Alleged Violations:  EPA alleges that, since April 5, 2005, Respondent owned and/or operated fifteen LCCs on Forest Service lands in Arizona in violation of the LCC ban. The continued operation of these LCCs is an ongoing violation of 40 C.F.R. § 144.88 and the SDWA.

For More Information

Persons wishing to comment upon the Administrative Order on Consent may contact the EPA Region IX Enforcement Officer for this matter at the address 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 Region IX Enforcement and Compliance Assurance Division (address at right) and the file will be open for public inspection during normal business hours.