Notice of Lodging of Proposed Consent Decree Under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, and Notice of Availability and Request for Comments on Draft Restoration Plan/Environmental Assessment, 61927-61928 [2019-24718]
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Federal Register / Vol. 84, No. 220 / Thursday, November 14, 2019 / Notices
INTERNATIONAL TRADE
COMMISSION
[USITC SE–19–042]
Sunshine Act Meetings
Agency Holding the Meeting: United
States International Trade Commission.
TIME AND DATE: November 20, 2019 at
11:00 a.m.
PLACE: Room 101, 500 E Street SW,
Washington, DC 20436, Telephone:
(202) 205–2000.
STATUS: Open to the public.
MATTERS TO BE CONSIDERED:
1. Agendas for future meetings: None.
2. Minutes.
3. Ratification List.
4. Vote on Inv. Nos. 701–TA–611 and
731–TA–1428 (Final) (Aluminum Wire
and Cable from China). The Commission
is currently scheduled to complete and
file its determinations and views of the
Commission by December 16, 2019.
5. Outstanding action jackets: None.
The Commission is holding the
meeting under the Government in the
Sunshine Act, 5 U.S.C. 552(b). In
accordance with Commission policy,
subject matter listed above, not disposed
of at the scheduled meeting, may be
carried over to the agenda of the
following meeting.
By order of the Commission.
Issued: November 8, 2019.
William Bishop,
Supervisory Hearings and Information
Officer.
[FR Doc. 2019–24781 Filed 11–12–19; 11:15 am]
BILLING CODE 7020–02–P
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES
Notice of Lodging of Proposed
Consent Decree Under the
Comprehensive Environmental
Response, Compensation, and Liability
Act, and Notice of Availability and
Request for Comments on Draft
Restoration Plan/Environmental
Assessment
On November 8, 2019, the Department
of Justice filed a Complaint and lodged
a proposed Consent Decree with the
United States District Court for the
Eastern District of Michigan in a lawsuit
entitled United States of America, State
of Michigan, and the Saginaw Chippewa
Indian Tribe of Michigan v. The Dow
Chemical Company, Civil Action No.
1:19–cv–13292. On the same date, the
United States Fish and Wildlife Service
published a Draft Restoration Plan/
Environmental Assessment (‘‘RP/EA’’)
that relates to various natural resource
VerDate Sep<11>2014
17:47 Nov 13, 2019
Jkt 250001
restoration activities that would be
undertaken pursuant to the Consent
Decree.
The proposed Consent Decree would
resolve natural resource damage claims
asserted against The Dow Chemical
Company (‘‘Dow’’) for injuries to natural
resources resulting from releases of
hazardous substances, including
dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans,
into the environment from a facility that
Dow owns and operates in Midland,
Michigan. The filed Complaint in this
action alleges that injured natural
resources include, but are not limited to,
fish, mammals, and birds within an
Assessment Area that includes portions
of the Tittabawassee River and adjacent
riverbank and floodplain areas, the
Saginaw River and adjacent riverbank
and floodplain areas, portions of
Saginaw Bay, and an area within
Midland affected by aerial deposition of
hazardous substances from Dow’s
Midland facility. The Complaint also
alleges that hazardous substances
released from Dow’s Midland facility
resulted in the loss of recreational
fishing and tribal use services provided
by natural resources.
The Complaint asserts claims on
behalf of designated federal, state, and
tribal natural resource trustees to
recover natural resource damages under
Section 107 of the Comprehensive
Environmental Response,
Compensation, and Liability Act, 42
U.S.C. 9607. The Complaint also asserts
claims on behalf of state natural
resource trustees to recover natural
resource damages under Sections
3115(2) and 20126a of the Michigan
Natural Resources and Environmental
Protection Act, MCL 324.3115(2) and
324.20126a. The natural resource
trustees here include the U.S.
Department of the Interior, acting
through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service and the Bureau of Indian
Affairs; the Saginaw Chippewa Indian
Tribe of Michigan; and the State of
Michigan, represented by the Michigan
Department of Environment, Great
Lakes, and Energy (formerly known as
the Michigan Department of
Environmental Quality), the Michigan
Department of Natural Resources, and
the Michigan Attorney General
(collectively, the ‘‘Trustees’’).
Under the proposed Consent Decree,
Dow would: (1) Implement eight natural
resource restoration projects in
accordance with requirements set forth
in Statements of Work attached to the
Consent Decree and subject to oversight
and approval of the Trustees; (2) pay
$6.75 million to a restoration account
that will be used by the Trustees to fund
five additional natural resource
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Frm 00060
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
61927
restoration projects described in the
Consent Decree; (3) pay an additional
$15 million to a restoration account—of
which at least $5 million will be used
to fund additional natural resource
restoration projects that will be selected
by the Trustees in the future, with
public input; (4) reimburse the Trustees
for past assessment costs not already
reimbursed under a memorandum of
agreement; and (5) implement two other
projects as part of the resolution of a
separate State claim for reimbursement
of certain State response costs. In
addition, under the proposed Consent
Decree, the United States, on behalf of
Settling Federal Agencies, would pay
$21 million to Dow in exchange for a
comprehensive resolution of potential
liability of Settling Federal Agencies for
both natural resource damages and for
past and future response costs relating
to releases or discharges from Dow’s
Midland, Michigan facility.
Subject to specific reservations of
rights set forth in the proposed Consent
Decree, the proposed settlement would
resolve (1) Dow’s potential liability for
natural resource damages resulting from
releases of hazardous substances or
discharges of oil from Dow’s Midland
facility, (2) Dow’s potential liability for
reimbursement of a limited set of State
response costs identified in the
proposed Consent Decree, and (3)
specified claims of Dow against the
other Settling Parties, including claims
against Settling Federal Agencies that
Dow contends are also liable for releases
or discharges of hazardous substances or
discharges of oil from the Midland
facility. The proposed Consent Decree
does not resolve potential liability of
Dow to perform response actions to
clean up hazardous substances or
discharges of oil released from the
Midland facility or to reimburse any
response costs incurred by the Settling
Parties in connection with releases from
the Midland facility.
Consistent with the Department of the
Interior’s Natural Resource Damage
Assessment and Restoration regulations,
43 CFR part 11, and the National
Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as
amended, 42 U.S.C. 4321–4347, and its
implementing regulations at 40 CFR
parts 1500–1508, the Trustees evaluated
a suite of three alternatives for
conducting the type, quality, and
quantity of restoration sufficient to
compensate the public for natural
resource injuries and service losses
resulting from releases of hazardous
substances from Dow’s Midland facility.
Based on selection factors including
location, technical feasibility, cost
effectiveness, and types and timing of
benefits, the Trustees identified a
E:\FR\FM\14NON1.SGM
14NON1
61928
Federal Register / Vol. 84, No. 220 / Thursday, November 14, 2019 / Notices
preferred alternative. The Draft RP/EA
describes the Trustees’ natural resource
damage assessment, identifies and
evaluates various alternatives
considered by the Trustees to restore,
replace or acquire the equivalent of
injured natural resources, and identifies
the Trustees’ preferred alternative.
Under the preferred alternative
described in the Draft RP/EA, Dow
would implement a set of projects to
protect, enhance, and restore habitat for
natural resources as well as provide
recreational fishing, hunting, park-use,
and tribal-use services relevant to the
impacted area; provide funding for a set
of projects for the Trustees to implement
either directly or through partnerships;
and provide funding for future projects
to be selected by the Trustees with
public input, as well as funding to
support long-term stewardship of the
projects beyond Dow’s obligations.
The publication of this notice opens
a period for public comment on both the
proposed Consent Decree and the Draft
RP/EA.
Comments on the proposed Consent
Decree should be addressed to the
Deputy Assistant Attorney General,
Environment and Natural Resources
Division, and should refer to United
States of America, State of Michigan,
and the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe
of Michigan v. The Dow Chemical
Company, D.J. Ref. No. 90–11–3–08593.
All comments on the Consent Decree
must be submitted no later than forty
five (45) days after the publication date
of this notice. Comments may be
submitted either by email or by mail:
States Treasury. For a paper copy of the
Consent Decree without the Draft RP/
EA, the cost is $64.00. For a paper copy
of only the Draft RP/EA, the cost is
$43.50.
Comments on the Draft RP/EA should
be addressed to Lisa L. Williams, U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service, and reference
‘‘TR RP/EA comment’’ in the subject
line. All comments on the Draft RP/EA
must be submitted no later than fortyfive (45) days after the publication date
of this notice. Comments may be
submitted either by email or by mail:
To submit
comments:
Send them to:
By email ......
By mail ........
t.river.nrda@fws.gov.
Lisa L. Williams, U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service, 2651
Coolidge Road, East Lansing, MI 48823.
During the public comment period, the
Draft RP/EA may be examined and
downloaded at this U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service Midwest Region
Natural Resource Damage Assessment
website: https://www.fws.gov/Midwest/
es/ec/nrda/TittabawasseeRiverNRDA/.
As described above, a paper copy of the
Draft RP/EA may be obtained from the
Department of Justice upon written
request and payment of reproduction
costs.
Randall M. Stone,
Acting Assistant Section Chief,
Environmental Enforcement Section,
Environment and Natural Resources Division.
[FR Doc. 2019–24718 Filed 11–13–19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410–15–P
To submit
comments:
Send them to:
By email ......
pubcomment-ees.enrd@
usdoj.gov.
Deputy Assistant Attorney
General, U.S. DOJ—ENRD,
P.O. Box 7611, Washington,
DC 20044–7611.
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES
By mail ........
During the public comment period,
the Consent Decree may be examined
and downloaded at this Justice
Department website: https://
www.justice.gov/enrd/consent-decrees.
The Justice Department will provide a
paper copy of the Consent Decree and/
or the Draft RP/EA upon written request
and payment of reproduction costs.
Please mail your request and payment
to: Consent Decree Library, U.S. DOJ—
ENRD, P.O. Box 7611, Washington, DC
20044–7611.
If requesting a paper copy of both the
Consent Decree and the Draft RP/EA,
please enclose a check or money order
for $107.50 (25 cents per page
reproduction cost) payable to the United
VerDate Sep<11>2014
17:47 Nov 13, 2019
Jkt 250001
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Employee Benefits Security
Administration
and/or the Internal Revenue Code of
1986 (the Code). This notice is for the
following granted exemption: 2019–07,
Credit Suisse AG, D–11962.
DATES: This five-year exemption will be
in effect for five years beginning on the
expiration of PTE 2015–14.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mrs.
Blessed Chuksorji-Keefe of the
Department, telephone (202) 693–8567.
(This is not a toll-free number.)
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: A notice
was published in the Federal Register of
the pendency before the Department of
a proposal to grant this exemption. The
notice set forth a summary of facts and
representations contained in the
application for exemption and referred
interested persons to the application for
a complete statement of the facts and
representations. The application has
been available for public inspection at
the Department in Washington, DC. The
notice also invited interested persons to
submit comments on the requested
exemption to the Department. In
addition, the notice stated that any
interested person might submit a
written request that a public hearing be
held (where appropriate). The applicant
has represented that it has complied
with the requirements of the notification
to interested persons. One request for a
hearing was received by the
Department. Public comments were
received by the Department as described
in the granted exemption.
The notice of proposed exemption
was issued and the exemption is being
granted solely by the Department
because, effective December 31, 1978,
section 102 of Reorganization Plan No.
4 of 1978, 5 U.S.C. App. 1 (1996),
transferred the authority of the Secretary
of the Treasury to issue exemptions of
the type proposed to the Secretary of
Labor.
Employee Benefits Security
Administration, U.S. Department of
Labor.
ACTION: Notice of individual exemption.
Discussion
On July 16, 2019, the Department of
Labor (the Department) published a
notice of proposed exemption in the
Federal Register at 84 FR 33966, for
certain entities with specified
relationships to CSAG (CS Affiliated
QPAMs) to continue to rely upon the
relief provided by PTE 84–14 for a
period of five years,1 notwithstanding
CSAG’s criminal conviction, as
described herein. The Department is
granting this exemption in order to
ensure that Covered Plans 2 whose
This document contains an
exemption issued by the Department of
Labor (the Department) from certain of
the prohibited transaction restrictions of
the Employee Retirement Income
Security Act of 1974 (ERISA or the Act)
1 49 FR 9494 (March 13, 1984), as corrected at 50
FR 41430 (October 10, 1985), as amended at 70 FR
49305 (August 23, 2005) and as amended at 75 FR
38837 (July 6, 2010), hereinafter referred to as PTE
84–14 or the QPAM exemption.
2 The term ‘‘Covered Plan’’ is a plan subject to
Part 4 of Title 1 of ERISA (‘‘ERISA-covered plan’’)
[Prohibited Transaction Exemption 2019–
07; Exemption Application No. D–11962]
Notice of Exemption Involving Credit
Suisse Group AG (CSG) and Its
Current and Future Affiliates, Including
Credit Suisse AG (CSAG) (Collectively,
Credit Suisse or the Applicant),
Located in Zurich, Switzerland
AGENCY:
SUMMARY:
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 220 (Thursday, November 14, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 61927-61928]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-24718]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Notice of Lodging of Proposed Consent Decree Under the
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act,
and Notice of Availability and Request for Comments on Draft
Restoration Plan/Environmental Assessment
On November 8, 2019, the Department of Justice filed a Complaint
and lodged a proposed Consent Decree with the United States District
Court for the Eastern District of Michigan in a lawsuit entitled United
States of America, State of Michigan, and the Saginaw Chippewa Indian
Tribe of Michigan v. The Dow Chemical Company, Civil Action No. 1:19-
cv-13292. On the same date, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service
published a Draft Restoration Plan/Environmental Assessment (``RP/EA'')
that relates to various natural resource restoration activities that
would be undertaken pursuant to the Consent Decree.
The proposed Consent Decree would resolve natural resource damage
claims asserted against The Dow Chemical Company (``Dow'') for injuries
to natural resources resulting from releases of hazardous substances,
including dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans, into the environment
from a facility that Dow owns and operates in Midland, Michigan. The
filed Complaint in this action alleges that injured natural resources
include, but are not limited to, fish, mammals, and birds within an
Assessment Area that includes portions of the Tittabawassee River and
adjacent riverbank and floodplain areas, the Saginaw River and adjacent
riverbank and floodplain areas, portions of Saginaw Bay, and an area
within Midland affected by aerial deposition of hazardous substances
from Dow's Midland facility. The Complaint also alleges that hazardous
substances released from Dow's Midland facility resulted in the loss of
recreational fishing and tribal use services provided by natural
resources.
The Complaint asserts claims on behalf of designated federal,
state, and tribal natural resource trustees to recover natural resource
damages under Section 107 of the Comprehensive Environmental Response,
Compensation, and Liability Act, 42 U.S.C. 9607. The Complaint also
asserts claims on behalf of state natural resource trustees to recover
natural resource damages under Sections 3115(2) and 20126a of the
Michigan Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act, MCL
324.3115(2) and 324.20126a. The natural resource trustees here include
the U.S. Department of the Interior, acting through the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service and the Bureau of Indian Affairs; the Saginaw Chippewa
Indian Tribe of Michigan; and the State of Michigan, represented by the
Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (formerly
known as the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality), the
Michigan Department of Natural Resources, and the Michigan Attorney
General (collectively, the ``Trustees'').
Under the proposed Consent Decree, Dow would: (1) Implement eight
natural resource restoration projects in accordance with requirements
set forth in Statements of Work attached to the Consent Decree and
subject to oversight and approval of the Trustees; (2) pay $6.75
million to a restoration account that will be used by the Trustees to
fund five additional natural resource restoration projects described in
the Consent Decree; (3) pay an additional $15 million to a restoration
account--of which at least $5 million will be used to fund additional
natural resource restoration projects that will be selected by the
Trustees in the future, with public input; (4) reimburse the Trustees
for past assessment costs not already reimbursed under a memorandum of
agreement; and (5) implement two other projects as part of the
resolution of a separate State claim for reimbursement of certain State
response costs. In addition, under the proposed Consent Decree, the
United States, on behalf of Settling Federal Agencies, would pay $21
million to Dow in exchange for a comprehensive resolution of potential
liability of Settling Federal Agencies for both natural resource
damages and for past and future response costs relating to releases or
discharges from Dow's Midland, Michigan facility.
Subject to specific reservations of rights set forth in the
proposed Consent Decree, the proposed settlement would resolve (1)
Dow's potential liability for natural resource damages resulting from
releases of hazardous substances or discharges of oil from Dow's
Midland facility, (2) Dow's potential liability for reimbursement of a
limited set of State response costs identified in the proposed Consent
Decree, and (3) specified claims of Dow against the other Settling
Parties, including claims against Settling Federal Agencies that Dow
contends are also liable for releases or discharges of hazardous
substances or discharges of oil from the Midland facility. The proposed
Consent Decree does not resolve potential liability of Dow to perform
response actions to clean up hazardous substances or discharges of oil
released from the Midland facility or to reimburse any response costs
incurred by the Settling Parties in connection with releases from the
Midland facility.
Consistent with the Department of the Interior's Natural Resource
Damage Assessment and Restoration regulations, 43 CFR part 11, and the
National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 4321-
4347, and its implementing regulations at 40 CFR parts 1500-1508, the
Trustees evaluated a suite of three alternatives for conducting the
type, quality, and quantity of restoration sufficient to compensate the
public for natural resource injuries and service losses resulting from
releases of hazardous substances from Dow's Midland facility. Based on
selection factors including location, technical feasibility, cost
effectiveness, and types and timing of benefits, the Trustees
identified a
[[Page 61928]]
preferred alternative. The Draft RP/EA describes the Trustees' natural
resource damage assessment, identifies and evaluates various
alternatives considered by the Trustees to restore, replace or acquire
the equivalent of injured natural resources, and identifies the
Trustees' preferred alternative.
Under the preferred alternative described in the Draft RP/EA, Dow
would implement a set of projects to protect, enhance, and restore
habitat for natural resources as well as provide recreational fishing,
hunting, park-use, and tribal-use services relevant to the impacted
area; provide funding for a set of projects for the Trustees to
implement either directly or through partnerships; and provide funding
for future projects to be selected by the Trustees with public input,
as well as funding to support long-term stewardship of the projects
beyond Dow's obligations.
The publication of this notice opens a period for public comment on
both the proposed Consent Decree and the Draft RP/EA.
Comments on the proposed Consent Decree should be addressed to the
Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Environment and Natural Resources
Division, and should refer to United States of America, State of
Michigan, and the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan v. The Dow
Chemical Company, D.J. Ref. No. 90-11-3-08593. All comments on the
Consent Decree must be submitted no later than forty five (45) days
after the publication date of this notice. Comments may be submitted
either by email or by mail:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
To submit comments: Send them to:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
By email.................................. [email protected].
By mail................................... Deputy Assistant Attorney
General, U.S. DOJ--ENRD,
P.O. Box 7611, Washington,
DC 20044-7611.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
During the public comment period, the Consent Decree may be
examined and downloaded at this Justice Department website: https://www.justice.gov/enrd/consent-decrees.
The Justice Department will provide a paper copy of the Consent
Decree and/or the Draft RP/EA upon written request and payment of
reproduction costs. Please mail your request and payment to: Consent
Decree Library, U.S. DOJ--ENRD, P.O. Box 7611, Washington, DC 20044-
7611.
If requesting a paper copy of both the Consent Decree and the Draft RP/
EA, please enclose a check or money order for $107.50 (25 cents per
page reproduction cost) payable to the United States Treasury. For a
paper copy of the Consent Decree without the Draft RP/EA, the cost is
$64.00. For a paper copy of only the Draft RP/EA, the cost is $43.50.
Comments on the Draft RP/EA should be addressed to Lisa L.
Williams, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and reference ``TR RP/EA
comment'' in the subject line. All comments on the Draft RP/EA must be
submitted no later than forty-five (45) days after the publication date
of this notice. Comments may be submitted either by email or by mail:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
To submit comments: Send them to:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
By email.................................. [email protected].
By mail................................... Lisa L. Williams, U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service, 2651
Coolidge Road, East
Lansing, MI 48823.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
During the public comment period, the Draft RP/EA may be examined and
downloaded at this U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Midwest Region
Natural Resource Damage Assessment website: https://www.fws.gov/Midwest/es/ec/nrda/TittabawasseeRiverNRDA/. As described above, a paper
copy of the Draft RP/EA may be obtained from the Department of Justice
upon written request and payment of reproduction costs.
Randall M. Stone,
Acting Assistant Section Chief, Environmental Enforcement Section,
Environment and Natural Resources Division.
[FR Doc. 2019-24718 Filed 11-13-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-15-P
