Clean Water Act Class II: Proposed Administrative Penalty Assessment and Opportunity to Comment Regarding Southwestern Bell Telephone Company

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-6228-6; CWA-HQ-99-002]

Clean Water Act Class II: Proposed Administrative Penalty

Assessment and Opportunity to Comment Regarding Southwestern Bell

Telephone Company

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: EPA has filed a civil administrative complaint against

Southwestern Bell Telephone Company (SWBT) for failure to prepare a

Spill Prevention Control and Countermeasure (SPCC) plan for 117

facilities where it stored diesel oil in above ground tanks in

violation of the Clean Water Act (CWA) and its implementing

regulations. EPA, pursuant to CWA section 311, has proposed to assess a

civil penalty and provided notice to SWBT of its right to request a

hearing. The Administrator, as required by CWA section 311, is

providing public notice and opportunity for interested persons to

comment on the complaint and the final proposed order.

DATES: Comments on the complaint and proposed order are due on or

before March 3, 1999.

ADDRESSES: Mail written comments to Enforcement & Compliance Docket and

Information Center (2201A), Docket Number EC-1999-02, Office of

Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, U.S. Environmental Protection

Agency, 401 M St., SW., Washington, DC 20460. In person, deliver

comments to Enforcement & Compliance Docket Information Center, U.S.

Environmental Protection Agency, Rm. 4033, Ariel Rios Bldg., 1200

Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC. Comments may also be submitted

electronically to: [email protected]. Comments may be submitted on

disk in WordPerfect 8.0 or earlier version. Electronic comments on the

complaint and proposed order may be filed online at many Federal

Depository Libraries.

The complaint, the consent agreement, the proposed final order, and

public comments, if any, may be reviewed at the Enforcement &

Compliance Docket Information Center, U.S. Environmental Protection

Agency, Rm. 4033, Ariel Rios Bldg., 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW.,

Washington, DC. Persons interested in reviewing the materials must make

advance arrangements to do so by calling 202-564-2614. A reasonable fee

may be charged by EPA for copying docket materials.

The public record of the administrative enforcement proceeding is

located in the Office of the EPA Headquarters Hearing Clerk, Ms. Bessie

Hammiel, Rm. C-400, 401 M St., SW., Washington, DC, Monday through

Friday, excluding legal holidays from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; telephone

(202) 260-4865.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Philip Milton, Multimedia

Enforcement Division (2248-A), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,

401 M St., SW., Washington, DC 20460; telephone (202) 564-2235; fax

(202) 564-0010; e-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

[[Page 4872]]

Electronic Availability: Electronic copies of this document are

available from the EPA Home Page under the link ``Laws and

Regulations'' at the Federal Register--Environmental Documents entry

(http://www.epa.gov/fedrgstr/).

I. Background

Southwestern Bell Telephone Company (``SWBT''), 530 McCullough,

Room 1460, San Antonio, TX 78215, self-disclosed to EPA that it had

failed to prepare Spill Prevention Control and Countermeasure

(``SPCC'') plans for 117 facilities where it stored diesel oil in above

ground storage tanks in violation of Section 311 of the Clean Water Act

(``CWA'') and 40 CFR Part 112. The disclosure was made pursuant to the

EPA ``Incentives for Self-Policing: Discovery, Disclosures, Correction

and Prevention of Violations' (``Audit Policy''), 60 FR 66,706,

(December 22, 1995). EPA filed an administrative civil complaint

against SWBT on January 25, 1999 (In the Matter of Southwestern Bell

Telephone Company, Docket No. CWA-HQ-99-002). The CWA administrative

penalty proposed in the complaint is $137,500. EPA intends to settle

this action pursuant to the Audit Policy. Using the criteria set forth

in the policy, EPA intends to waive any gravity based penalty and to

assess a penalty equivalent to the economic benefit gained by the

Respondent because of delayed compliance with the SPCC regulations. The

proposed settlement figure for this matter is $48,453. This settlement

is subject to public notice and comment under CWA section 311, 33

U.S.C. 1321.

Under CWA section 311(b)(6)(A), 33 U.S.C. 1321(b)(6)(A), any owner,

operator, or person in charge of a vessel, onshore facility, or

offshore facility from which oil is discharged in violation of CWA

section 311(b)(3), 33 U.S.C. 1321(b)(3), or who fails or refuses to

comply with any regulations that have been issued under CWA section

311(j), 33 U.S.C. 1321(j) may be administratively assessed a civil

penalty of up to $137,500 by EPA. Class II proceedings under CWA

section 311(b)(6) are conducted in accordance with 40 CFR Part 22.

The procedures by which the public may submit written comments on

the complaint and on a proposed Class II penalty order or participate

in a Class II penalty proceeding are set forth in 40 CFR 22.38. The

deadline for submitting public comment on the complaint and this

proposed Class II order is March 3, 1999. All comments will be

transferred to the Environmental Appeals Board (``EAB'') of EPA for

consideration and/or incorporation into the final order. The powers and

duties of the EAB are outlined in 40 CFR 22.04(a).

In order to provide an opportunity for public comment, EPA will not

take final action in this proceeding prior to the close of the public

comment period.

List of Subjects

Environmental protection.

Dated: January 27, 1999.

Melissa P. Marshall,

Director, Multimedia Enforcement Division, Office of Enforcement and

Compliance Assurance.

[FR Doc. 99-2317 Filed 1-29-99; 8:45 am]

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