1. A. Consent judgments in actions in which the complaint seeks to enjoin the discharge or emission of pollutants, after being approved by the Assistant Attorney General, are to be lodged with the court and made available for public comment for a period of 30 days prior to their entry. This is required by Departmental Order No. 529-73, 38 Fed. Reg. 19029, dated July 17, 1973, 28 C.F.R. § 50.7. Certain statutes enforced by the Environmental Enforcement Section also require public notice and comment; furthermore, as a matter of Environmental Enforcement Section Policy, settlements in many additional cases are lodged with the court and made available for public comment, as appropriate.
2. B. The purpose of the practice is to allow the public to comment and to allow the Executive Branch to receive the benefit of such input, and to allow it to withdraw or modify its consent to the decree based upon such information.
3. C. Whenever a proposed consent decree is lodged with the court pursuant to 28 C.F.R. § 50.7, the United States Attorney shall notify the Environmental Enforcement Section of that fact immediately. In most cases, the Environmental Enforcement Section will undertake publishing notice of the proposed settlement in the Federal Register and collecting any comments that are submitted.
4. D. In some instances, district judges have proceeded to enter consent decrees prior to the expiration of the public notice and comment period. If this should occur, the United States Attorney must notify the Environmental Enforcement Section of that fact immediately. In general, the appropriate response is to move to vacate the order.
5. E. When the public comment period has expired, the Environmental Enforcement Section will notify the United States Attorney as to whether any comments have been received and will coordinate with the United States Attorney on the appropriate next steps for seeking entry of the decree. It is the policy of the Environmental Enforcement Section to respond to the public comments received and to provide a memorandum in support of a Motion to Enter the Consent Decree that contains or attaches such response.
6. F. After the court has approved the consent decree, the United States Attorney should provide hard or electronic copies of the file-stamped and court-signed decree to the Environmental Enforcement Section and to the appropriate regional EPA office. The mailing list for these offices is as follows:

Case Management Unit
Environmental Enforcement Section
Environment and Natural Resources Division
Department of Justice
P.O. Box 7611
Washington, D.C. 20044-7611

[updated May 2018]