Document YGx3qLeOv66OXmgLrx53O265y

UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY WASHINGTON, D.C. 20460 VIA Electronic Mail Pam M. Cox Director, Environment, Health and Safety Verizon Communications, Inc. One Verizon Way, 33E039D Basking Ridge, NJ 07920 pam.m.cox@verizon.com Re: Notification of Sampling and Information Request pursuant to Section 3007(a) of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act and Section 308 of the Clean Water Act ("Information Request") Dear Ms. Cox: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") is providing advance notification of its intent to sample some or all of the segments of lead-sheathed cables identified in the table associated with Information Request No. 1 of Enclosure B in or around late January 2024. This sampling is intended to include both obtaining a scraping from the lead sheathing and sampling soil or other media in the vicinity of the cable segment. EPA is providing this advance notification to ensure that EPA and Verizon Communications, Inc. ("Verizon") can address access, health, and safety procedures prior to the sampling event. 1 Additionally, EPA is requesting information pursuant to Section 3007(a) of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act ("RCRA"), 42 U.S.C. 6927(a), and Section 308 of the Clean Water Act ("CWA"), 33 U.S.C. 1318. Specifically, EPA requests that Verizon respond to the enclosed questions in Enclosure B using the instructions and definitions set forth in Enclosure A. Included within these information requests is the formal reiteration of certain requests previously made to you informally by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York ("SDNY"). Information Request No. 1 seeks specific information regarding cable sites to be included in the sampling described above. Please note that the enclosed Information Request requires Verizon to produce all information and documents specified in the request to EPA by January 12, 2024, which will share the material with SDNY, which is jointly conducting this investigation with EPA. Please produce records electronically by e-mail to EPA attorney Laura Welles at welles.laura@epa.gov. Failure to comply with or respond adequately to an information request may result in 1 EPA reserves the right to sample other lead-sheathed cable segments not identified in Enclosure B, or at other times. I. INSTRUCTIONS Enclosure A: Instructions and Definitions 1. Your response to the Information Request must be provided by Friday, January 12, 2024. 2. Identify the person to contact regarding your response, including title, address, and phone number. 3. Identify the person(s) responding to each question in this Information Request. 4. Number each answer with the corresponding number of the question. 5. Respond to all questions using the following native electronic formats, as appropriate: MS Word Document, MS Excel Spreadsheet, MS Access Database, Geographic Information System (GIS) data, Adobe Acrobat Reader PDF format, or pictures and images in JPEG format. 6. If information not known or not available to you as of the date of submission of a response to this Information Request should later become known or available to you, you must supplement your response. Moreover, should you find at any time after the submission of your response that any portion of the submitted information is false or misrepresents the truth, you must notify EPA and SDNY thereof as soon as possible. 7. Provide all information in your possession that is responsive to this Information Request, regardless of whether the response relates to your activities or the activities of another entity. 8. Preserve, until further notice, all records (either written or electronic), which exist at the time of receipt of this Information Request that relate to any of the matters set forth in this request. The term "records" shall be interpreted in the broadest sense to include information of every sort. The response to this Information Request shall include assurance that these record protection provisions were put into place, as required. No such records shall be disposed of until written authorization is received from EPA. 9. If information responsive to this Information Request is not in your possession, custody, or control, then identify the person(s) from whom such information may be obtained. 10. If you have reason to believe that there may be persons able to provide a more detailed or complete response to any question or who may be able to provide additional responsive documents, identify such persons and the additional information or documents that they may have. 11. If any question relates to activities undertaken by entities other than the recipient of this Information Request, and to the extent that you have information pertaining to such activities, provide such information for each entity. i 12. Your response must include the signed and dated certification found in Enclosure C. 13. Confidential Business Information. You should provide the information requested even if you consider it confidential information or trade secrets. You may assert a business confidentiality claim for part or all of the information requested, as described below and set forth in 40 C.F.R. Part 2, Subpart B. You may assert a business confidentiality claim covering all or part of the information you provide in response to this Information Request for any business information entitled to confidential treatment under Section 308(b) of the CWA, 33 U.S.C. 1318(b), Section 3007(b), 42 U.S.C. 6927(b), and 40 C.F.R. Part 2, subpart B. Information covered by a claim of business confidentiality will be disclosed by the EPA only to the extent, and by means of the procedures, set forth in Section 308(b) of the CWA, Section 3007(b) of RCRA, 42 U.S.C. 6927(b), and 40 C.F.R. Part 2, subpart B. EPA will construe your failure to furnish a business confidentiality claim with your response to this Information Request as a waiver of that claim, and the information may be made available to the public without further notice to you. To assert a business confidentiality claim, you must place on (or attach to) all information you desire to assert as business confidential either a cover sheet, stamped or typed legend, or other suitable form of notice employing language such as "trade secret," "proprietary," or "company confidential" at the time you submit your response to this Information Request. Allegedly confidential portions of otherwise non-confidential documents should be clearly identified and may be submitted separately to facilitate identification and handling by the EPA. You should indicate if you desire confidential treatment only until a certain date or until the occurrence of a certain event. EPA will ask you to substantiate each claim of confidential business information by separate letter in accordance with applicable EPA regulations, 40 C.F.R. Part 2, Subpart B. II. DEFINITIONS 1. "Document" includes any writings, drawings, graphs, maps, charts, photographs, phone records, field records, operation logs/notes/field rounds sheets, electronic mail, facsimile, supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) information, and other data compilations from which information can be obtained, translated if necessary, through detection devices into reasonably usable form. Documents should be produced as they are kept in the usual course of business. 2. The terms "and" and "or" shall be construed either disjunctively or conjunctively as necessary to bring within the scope of this Information Request any information which might otherwise be construed outside its scope. 3. The term "identify" means, with respect to a natural person, to set forth the person's name, job title, position or business, business address and business telephone number. ii 4. The term "identify" means, with respect to a document, to provide its customary business description, its date, its number if any (invoice or purchase order number), the identity of the author, addressee and/or recipient, and substance of the subject matter. 5. The term "identify" means, with respect to a corporation, partnership, business trust or other association or business entity (including a sole proprietorship), to set forth its full name, address, legal form (e.g., corporation, partnership), organization, if any, and a brief description of its business. 6. The term "you" and "your" shall mean Verizon and/or any of its agents, employees or contractors, and/or any company, entity, or corporation that has directed work by or for Verizon. iii c. inspection, maintenance, control of inactive, retired, or discontinued Cables that remain in place; and d. management (e.g., recycling) of Cables that have been physically removed. 3 Enclosure C: Certification of Answers to Request for Information I certify that the information contained in this response to EPA's request for information and the accompanying documents is true, accurate and complete. As to the identified portions of this response for which I cannot personally verify their accuracy, I certify under penalty of law that this response and all attachments were prepared in accordance with a system designed to assure that qualified personnel properly gather and evaluate the information submitted. Based on my inquiry of the person or persons who manage the system, or those persons directly responsible for gathering the information, the information submitted is, to the best of my knowledge and belief, true, accurate and complete. I am aware that there are significant penalties for submitting false information, including the possibility of fines and imprisonment for knowing violations. Signature: Name: Title: ____________________________ ____________________________ ____________________________ 4