Document 2R7RRGzajpDnxGdb8BE3zBKrp

UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY REGION 6 1201 ELM STREET, SUITE 500 DALLAS, TEXAS 75270 June 2, 2022 TRANSMITTAL VIA EMAIL: Alainna.Mire@cityofalex.com Ms. Alainna Mire Assistant City Attorney City of Alexandria P.O. Box 71 Alexandria, LA 71031 Re: Expedited Settlement Agreement (ESA) for Risk Management Plan Inspection Findings and Proposed Penalty: In the Matter of the City of Alexandria / Highway 28 West Site Docket No. CAA 06-2022-3301 Dear Ms. Mire: The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has authority under Section 113 of the Clean Air Act (the CAA or the Act) to pursue civil penalties for violations of the Section 112(r) Risk Management Program (RMP) regulations found at 40 C.F.R. Part 68. Enclosed is an ESA that addresses RMP violations discovered at the City of Alexandria / Highway 28 West Site located in Alexandria, Louisiana (Respondent), as documented in the enclosed RMP Inspection Findings. The ESA complies with the Consolidated Rules of Practice Governing the Administrative Assessment of Civil Penalties and the Revocation/Termination or Suspension of Permits: Final Rule, 40 C.F.R. Part 22 (2002). The ESA contains a discounted, non-negotiable penalty amount of $3,000, which is lower than the amount that would be derived from the EPA's Combined Enforcement Policy for Section 112(r) of the Act. You may resolve the cited violations by mailing a check for the penalty, certifying the violation(s) have been corrected, and returning the signed original ESA within 30 days of your receipt of this letter. EPA, at its discretion, may grant one 30-day extension for cause upon request. If you do not pay the penalty and return the ESA within 30 days of receipt, the ESA will be automatically withdrawn, without prejudice to EPA's ability to file an enforcement action for the cited violations which can result in penalties up to $51,796 per day per violation. EPA will treat any response to the ESA, other than acceptance of the settlement offer, as an indication that the recipient is not interested in pursuing this expedited settlement procedure. Upon execution of the document, EPA will take no further civil penalty action against you for the violations cited in the ESA. You are required in the ESA to certify that you have corrected the violation(s), provided a brief description of complying action(s), and paid the penalty. The payment for the penalty amount must be in the form of a certified check payable to the "Treasurer, United States of America", with the Docket Number of the ESA on the check. The Docket Number is located at the top of the ESA. Payment of the penalty amount shall be sent via certified mail to: U. S. Environmental Protection Agency Fines and Penalties Cincinnati Finance Center P. O. Box 979077 St. Louis, MO 63197-9000 or by alternate payment method described at http://www.epa.gov/financial/makepayment. The signed original ESA with a copy of the certified check shall be sent by email to flores.carlos@epa.gov. When signing the ESA, please indicate, in the appropriate space, the cost of all actions taken to correct the alleged violations. By terms of the ESA, and upon EPA's receipt of the signed ESA, you waive your opportunity for a hearing pursuant to Section 113 of the Act. Should you have any questions relating to this ESA, please contact Carlos Flores at (214) 665-7113 or flores.carlos@epa.gov. Sincerely, STEVEN THOMPSON Digitally signed by STEVEN THOMPSON Date: 2022.06.02 08:21:50 -05'00' Steve Thompson Chief Air Enforcement Branch Enclosure 2 UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY REGION 6 1201 ELM STREET, SUITE 500 DALLAS, TEXAS 75270 22 JUL -5 Pii /2: I 9 0 EXPEDITED SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT (ESA) f:.I\'; f;i.:. 3\;trlf.RI Docket No: CAA 06-2022-3301 This ESA is issued to: City of Alexandria/ Highway 28 West Site At: 7880 Coliseum Blvd., Alexandria, Lousiana 71301 For: Violating Section 112(r)(7) of the Clean Air Act The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), through its delegated official, the Director of the Enforcement and Compliance Assurance Division, and the City of Alexandria (Respondent) have agreed to a settlement of this action before filing a complaint, and thus this action is simultaneously commenced and concluded pursuant to Rules 22. I 3(b) and 22. I8(b)(2) of the Consolidated Rules of Practice Governing the Administrative Assessment of Civil Penalties and the Revocation/Termination or Suspension ofPermits (Consolidated Rules), 40 C.F.R. Part 22. This ESA is an administrative action for the assessment of civil penalties instituted pursuant to Section l 13(d) of the Clean Air Act (CAA or the Act), 42 U.S.C. 7413(d). Pursuant to Section l 13(d) of the CAA, 42 U.S.C. 74 l3(d), the Administrator and the Attorney Generaljointly determined that cases which meet the criteria set forth in the EPA's Policies I are appropriate for administrative penalty action. ALLEGED VIOLATIONS On June 6, 2019, an authorized representative of the EPA conducted a compliance inspection ofthe Respondent's facility located in Alexandria, Louisiana to determine compliance with the Risk Management Program (RMP) regulations promulgated at 40 C.F.R. Part 68 under Section l 12(r) of the CAA, 42 U.S.C. 7412(r). The EPA found that Respondent had violated the RMP regulations and Section l 12(r)(7) of the CAA, 42 U.S.C. 7412(r)(7), as follows: (1) 40 C.F.R. 68.56(a) - Maintenance. "(a) The owner or operator shall prepare and implement procedures to maintain the on-going mechanical integrity of the process equipment. " (2) 40 C.F.R. 68.56(d) - Maintenance. "(d) The owner or operator shall perform or cause to be performed inspections and tests on process equipment. Inspection and testing procedures shall follow recognized and generally accepted good engineering practices. Thefrequency of inspections and tests of process equipment shall be consistent with applicable manufacturers' recommendations, industry standards or codes, good engineering practices, and prior operating experience. (3) 40 C.F.R. 68.58(a) - Compliance Audits. "(a) The owner or operator shall certify that they have evaluated compliance with the provisions of this subpartfor each covered process, at least 1 "Use of Expedited Settlements in Addressing Violations of the Clean Air Act Chemical Accident Prevention Restrictions on the Use of Expedited Settlements in Addressing Violations of the Clean Air Act Chemical Accident Prevention Provisions" (2013) In the matter of the City of Alexandria Docket No. CAA 06-2022-3301 every three years to verify that the procedures and practices developed under the rule are adequate and are beingfollowed. When required as set forth in paragraph(/) of this section, the compliance audit shall be a third-party audit. " SETTLEMENT In consideration of the factors set forth in Section I l3(e) of the Act, 42 U.S.C. 7413(e), the criteria set forth in EPA' s policies 1, and upon consideration of the entire record, EPA and Respondent enter into this ESA in order to settle the violations, described above, for the total penalty amount of $3,000.00. This settlement is subject to the following terms and conditions: Respondent, by signing below, waives any objections that it may have regarding jurisdiction, neither admits nor denies the specific factual allegations contained herein, and consents to the assessment of the penalty as stated above. Respondent waives its rights to a hearing afforded by Section I 13(d)(2)(A) of the Act, 42 U.S.C. 7413(d)(2)(A), and to appeal this ESA. Each party to this action shall bear its own costs and fees, if any. Respondent also certifies; subject to civil and criminal penalties for making a false submission to the United States Government, that Respondent has corrected the violations listed above and has paid the full penalty of $3,000.00 by certified or cashier's check made payable to the "United States Treasury" and sent to: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Fines and Penalties Cincinnati Finance Center P.O. Box 979077 St. Louis, MO 631 97-9000 or by alternate payment method described at http://www.epa.gov/financial/makepayment. The Docket Number of this ESA is CAA 06-2022-3301 and must be included on the payment. The signed ESA and a copy ofpayment must be sent by email to: flores.carlos(a),epa.gov. Full payment of the ESA penalty shall only resolve Respondent's civil monetary liability for the violations alleged above. The EPA does not waive any other enforcement action by EPA for any other past, present, or future violations under the CAA or any other statute. If the signed ESA with a copy of the payment is not returned to EPA Region 6 at the above email address in correct form by Respondent within 30 days of the date of receipt of this ESA, the proposed ESA is withdrawn, without prejudice to EPA 's ability to file additional enforcement actions for the violation identified in this ESA. This ESA is binding on the EPA and Respondent and is effective upon filing with the Regional Hearing Clerk. 2 In the matter ofthe City ofAlexandria Docket No. CAA 06-2022-3301 The EPA and Respondent agree to the use of electronic signatures for this matter. The EPA and Respondent further agree to electronic service of this ESA, pursuant to 40 C.F.R. 22.6, by email to the following addresses: To EPA: _flores.carlos(w,epa.gov To Respondent: Alainna.Mire@citvo(a/ex.com 3 In the matter ofthe City ofAlexandria Docket No. CAA 06-2022-3301 SIGNATURE BY RESPONDENT: Signature: Date: June 29, 2022 Name (print): Alainna Renee' Mire Title (print): Chief Resilience Officer/Assistant City Attorney Cost of Corrective Actions: 0 Respondent's Brief Description of Complying Action: The City of Alexandria Water Department has made modifications to its RMP to ensure that all maintenance, scheduled inspections and tests are performed to ensure the mechanical integrity of our regulated process equipment. All of the mainttenance, scheduled inspec.tions and tests have been incorporated into our Outlook System that will notify multiple RMP team members of these daily, weekly, monthly, semi-annual and annual tasks. We have also entered into a PSA with a third party contractor to facilitate Compliance Audits and Hazard Reviews of all existing facilities- utilizing CL2 with an inventory above the RPM threshold. Again, I appreciate everything that your office has done to bring this to a close. If you need additional space or would like to provide additional supporting documentation, please attach to this document. 4 SIGNATURE BY EPA: Digitally signed by CHERYl ' " A,_,, SEAGER s:,. --l'.) Date: 2022.06.29 15:51:44 -05'00' Cheryl T. Seager Director Enforcement and Compliance Assurance Division U.S. EPA, Region 6 In the matter ofthe City ofAlexandria Docket No. CAA 06-2022-3301 It is so ORDERED. This Order shall become effective upon filing of the fully executed ESA with the Regional Hearing Clerk. THOMAS RUCKI Thomas Rucki Regional Judicial Officer Oigib..'lfy 1Jg.nf'd by THOMA.S RUCX1 ON:c-..uS.oU.S,Gov-tmmmt. OUEnwonmtnllll ProtKtlOn A. en-THOMAS RU00. 0.9.2342.19?001001. OO.l.1 680010036SSS04 O.atr. 2022.06.JO09.:0S;OJ .()4'00' 5 In the matter ofthe City ofAlexandria Docket No. CAA 06-2022-3301 CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I hereby certify, on the date identified below, a true and correct electronic copy of the foregoing Expedited Settlement Agreement was electronically delivered to the Regional Hearing Clerk, U.S. EPA Region 6 (ORC), 1201 Elm Street, Suite 500, Dallas, Texas 75270-2102, and that a true and correct copy was ent this day in the following manner to the addressees: Copy via email to EPA: flores.carlos@epa.gov Copy via email to Respondent: Alainna.Mire@cityofalex.com Ms. Alainna Mire Assistant City Attorney City of Alexandria P.O. Box 71 Alexandria, LA 71031 Copy via email to Regional Hearing Clerk: vaughn.lorena(a),epa.gv United States Environmental Protection Agency Region 6 6