[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 108 (Thursday, June 5, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Page 30881]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-14704]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Notice of Lodging of Consent Decree Pursuant to the Clean Water
Act
In accordance with Departmental policy, 28 CFR 50.7, notice is
hereby given that a consent decree was lodged in U.S. v. Pacific Gas
and Electric Company, Civil Action No. C97-1969-MHP (N.D. Cal.) on May
27, 1997 with the United States District Court for the Northern
District of California. The case is a civil action under Section 309 of
the Clean Water Act (``Act''), 33 U.S.C. 1319, for violations of
provisions of the Act and of National Pollution Elimination Discharge
System (``NPDES'') permits that required Pacific Gas and Electric
Company (``PG&E'') to demonstrate that the cooling water system at the
Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant employed the best technology
available to minimize adverse environmental impacts.
The United States' complaint alleges that PG&E submitted an
incorrect, incomplete, and misleading report on the environmental
effects of the Diablo Canyon cooling water system and that PG&E also
failed to promptly submit missing information after it discovered that
it had submitted incorrect information in a report. The State of
California has also filed a complaint against PG&E. The State of
California and the United States have entered into a joint consent
decree with PG&E that resolves the allegations of both complaints.
Under the Consent Decree, PG&E will pay the state and federal
governments $14.04 million dollars. That sum includes $7.1 million in
state and federal penalties, $6.19 million in environmental projects,
and $750,000 in State fees and costs. The $6.19 million environmental
enhancement component of the settlement comprises three projects: $3.66
million to be devoted to the Morro Bay State and National Estuary
Program, $2.50 million for the State of California Mussel Watch
Program, and $30,000 for a stream enhancement project. The League for
Coastal Protection, which also filed a law suit against PG&E, assisted
in securing the environmental enhancement components of the proposed
settlement.
The Department of Justice will receive, for a period of thirty (30)
days from the date of this publication, comments relating to the
proposed consent decree. Comments should be addressed to the Assistant
Attorney General for the Environment and Natural Resources Division,
Department of Justice, Washington, DC 20530, and copied to Robert R.
Klotz, Environmental Enforcement Section, U.S. Department of Justice,
301 Howard Street, Suite 870, San Francisco, CA 94105. Comments should
refer to U.S. v. Pacific Gas and Electric Company, DOJ No. 90-5-1-1-
4348.
The proposed PG&E consent decree may be examined at the office of
the United States Attorney, Northern District of California, 450 Golden
Gate Avenue, San Francisco, California 94102; the Region IX Office of
the Environmental Protection Agency, 75 Hawthorne Street, San
Francisco, California 94105; and at the Consent Decree Library, 1120 G
Street, NW., 4th Floor, Washington, DC 20005, (202) 624-0892. A copy of
the proposed consent decree may be obtained in person or by mail from
the Consent Decree Library, 1120 G Street, NW., 4th Floor, Washington,
DC 20005. To request a copy of the consent decree in U.S. v. Pacific
Gas and Electric Company, please refer to that case and DOJ No. 90-5-1-
1-4348 and enclose a check for the amount of $9.75 (25 cents per page
reproduction cost) payable to the Consent Decree Library.
Joel Gross,
Chief, Environmental Enforcement Section, Environment and Natural
Resources Division.
[FR Doc. 97-14704 Filed 6-4-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-15-M
