Comment submitted by Mark Sokolow, Attorney, Law Office of Mark Sokolow

COMMENTS ON PROPOSED RULES, REGULATIONS OR AGENCY ACTIONS: Your notice indicated that AboveNet violated EPCRA Section 311, 42 U.S.C. 11021, and the regulations found at 40 CFR part 370, when it failed to submit a Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) for a hazardous chemical(s) or, in the alternative, a list of such chemicals, at 48 facilities for varying lengths of time between 2007 and 2011. EPA, as authorized by EPCRA Section 325, 42 U.S.C. 11045, has assessed a civil penalty for these violations. The notice also indicated that AboveNet will pay a civil penalty in the amount of $19,024.00, which is the amount of the economic benefit gained by AboveNet The proposed civil penalty is too low and it will not deter other companies from committing similar violations. They apparently violated the law at 48 facilities for over 4 years. I would recommend that the civil penalty be $5,000 per facility for a total of $ $240,000, with said monies being distributed to local fire departments. It is the local cities who need to have information on hazardous chemicals and by distributing the $240,000 to local fire departments, it will assist them in obtaining needed fire suppression equipment. MARK SOKOLOW ATTORNEY AT LAW 338 Wedgerock Webster, Texas 77598 http://mtsokolow-attorney.com mark@mtsokolow-attorney.com