Notice of Lodging of Consent Decree Pursuant to the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act and the Clean Water Act

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

Notice of Lodging of Consent Decree Pursuant to the Comprehensive

Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act and the Clean

Water Act

In accordance with Department of Justice Policy, 28 C.F.R.

Sec. 50.7, 38 Fed. Reg. 19029, and 42 U.S.C. Sec. 9622(d), notice is

hereby given that on November 30, 1995, a proposed amendment to a

Consent Decree was lodged with the United States District Court for the

Western District of Washington in United States v. Simpson Tacoma Kraft

Co., Civil Action No. C91-5260TC. The proposed amendment to the Consent

Decree, Amendment No. 1, settles claims asserted by federal, state, and

tribal natural resources trustees against the Settling Defendants for

damages to natural resources in the Commencement Bay Environment. The

trustees for natural resources in Commencement Bay are the National

Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Department of the

Interior (DOI) (the federal trustees); the State of Washington; the

Puyallup Tribe of Indians; and the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe. The

Settling Defendants involved in Amendment No. 1 to the decree are

Simpson Tacoma Kraft Company (Simpson) and Champion International

Corporation (Champion). The Washington State Department of Natural

Resources (DNR), which was a party to the original consent decree, is

not involved in the settlement set forth in Amendment No. 1 to the

decree.

Under the original consent decree, entered by the Court on December

13, 1991, the natural resource trustees for the Commencement Bay

Nearshore/Tideflats Superfund Site (CB N/T Site) settled claims for

natural resource damages in the St. Paul Waterway Problem Area, one

subpart of the CB N/T Site against Simpson, Champion, and DNR.

Amendment No. 1 extends the natural resource damages settlement with

Simpson and Champion to encompass the Commencement Bay Environment,

which consists of the CB N/T Site plus areas of Commencement Bay

between the Site and a line drawn from Point Defiance to Dash Point,

points at either side of the mouth of the Bay.

Under the Amendment to the Consent Decree, the Settling Defendants

will pay for most of the costs associated with a habitat restoration

project (the Restoration Project) in the Middle Waterway in the CB N/T

Site. Simpson has provided a 3.3 acre piece of property along the

Middle Waterway for the Restoration Project, and will construct the

Restoration Project. Simpson will also pay all but $275,000 of the

costs of constructing, monitoring, and maintaining the Restoration

Project. In addition, Simpson and Champion will reimburse $75,000 of

the Trustee assessment costs for the Site. The total value of the

settlement under Amendment No. 1 is approximately $1 million.

In return for the commitments made by Simpson and Champion in the

Consent Decree Amendment, the United States, the State of Washington,

and the Indian Tribe co-trustees are providing a covenant not to sue

the companies for damages to natural resources with respect to the

Commencement Bay Environment. Specifically, the Trustees are providing

a covenant not to sue for claims under Sections 106 and 107 of the

Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act

(CERCLA), 42 U.S.C. 9606 and 9607; Section 311 of the Clean Water Act

(CWA), 33 U.S.C. 1321; Chapters 70.105d and 90.48 of the Revised Code

of Washington (the State of Washington's Model Toxics Control Act and

the state water pollution control statute); and claims under any other

federal, state, tribal, or common law for damages for injury to,

destruction of, or loss of natural resources, and claims for recovery

of Past Response Costs, Oversight Response Costs, and Future Response

Costs incurred by the Natural Resource Trustees with respect to the

Commencement Bay Environment.

The Department of Justice will receive written comments relating to

the proposed Consent Decree for thirty (30) days from the date of

publication of this notice. Comments should be addressed to the

Assistant Attorney General of the Environment and Natural Resources

Division, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, D.C. 20530, and

should refer to United Statesv. Simpson Tacoma Kraft Co., D.J. Ref. No.

90-11-3-363.

The proposed Amendment No. 1 to the Consent Decree and exhibits to

the amendment may be examined at the following locations: the Region 10

Office of EPA, 7th Floor Records Center, 1200 Sixth Avenue, Seattle, WA

98101; the Tacoma Public Library, Main Branch, 1102 Tacoma Avenue

South, Northwest Room, Tacoma, WA 98402; and Citizens for a Healthy

Bay, 771 Broadway, Tacoma, WA 98402. The complete Administrative Record

for the Ruston/North Tacoma Study Area may be reviewed at the EPA

Region 10 office in Seattle and at the Main Branch of the Tacoma Public

Library.

A copy of Amendment No. 1 and exhibits (if requested) may be

obtained in person or by mail from the Consent Decree Library, 1120 G

Street, N.W., 4th Floor, Washington, D.C. 20005, (202) 624-0892. In

requesting copies, please enclose a check in the amount of $6.75

(without exhibits) or $48.50 (with exhibits) (25 cents per page

reproduction cost) payable to the ``Consent Decree Library.''

Bruce Gelber,

Acting Chief, Environmental Enforcement Section, Environment and

Natural Resources Division.

[FR Doc. 95-30846 Filed 12-19-95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4410-01-M