Public Notice: CEMEX Construction Materials Pacific LLC, Wadsworth, NV; Proposed Settlement of Clean Water Act Class II Administrative Penalty
Summary
EPA is providing public notice of a proposed administrative penalty settlement with CEMEX Construction Materials, Pacific, LLC (Respondent) for violations of the Clean Water Act at its facility in Wadsworth, Nevada. EPA alleges the Respondent discharged pollutants in pit dewatering water and stormwater associated with industrial activity to the Truckee River in Wadsworth, Nevada without obtaining National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit authorization.
In accordance with Section 309(g) of the Clean Water Act (CWA), 33 U.S.C. § 1319(g), and the Consolidated Rules of Practice at 40 C.F.R. Part 22, notice is hereby given of a proposed settlement, recorded in a Consent Agreement and Final Order (Proposed CA/FO), between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region IX (EPA or Complainant), and CEMEX Construction Materials, Pacific, LLC (Respondent) to resolve the following civil administrative penalty proceeding under Section 309(g) of the CWA.
The Respondent operates a sand and gravel mine in Wadsworth, NV. CWA Section 301(a), 33 U.S.C. §1311(a), makes it unlawful for a person to discharge pollutants from a point source into waters of the United States, except as authorized by a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit issued pursuant to CWA Section 402, 33 U.S.C. § 1342. Respondent operates the mine pursuant to a Mineral Materials Lease with the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe and approved by the United States Department of Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs. The facility is located entirely on Indian lands held in trust. EPA has primacy for CWA Section 402 on Indian Country within the state of Nevada.
The proposed Consent Agreement requires Respondent to pay the United States an administrative penalty of three hundred and ten thousand dollars ($310,000) and spend no less than eight hundred thousand dollars ($800,000) to implement a supplemental environmental project (SEP) in the upper Truckee River watershed. The project will restore wetland habitat, stabilize streambanks, and restore floodplains in the Cold Creek Canyon area previously impacted by gravel mining, forest roads, and logging. The project is an environmentally beneficial project or activity that is not required by law, but that a party agrees to undertake as part of the settlement of an enforcement action. Such projects or activities go beyond what could legally be required of the Respondent, and secure environmental and/or public health benefits in addition to those achieved by compliance with the law.
Payment of this administrative penalty and completion of the SEP project will resolve the EPA’s allegations that Respondent violated the CWA.
In the Matter of CEMEX Construction Materials, Pacific, LLC; CWA-09-2025-0005
Complainant: Amy C. Miller-Bowen, Director, Enforcement and Compliance Assurance Division, U.S. EPA, Region 9, 75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, CA 94105.
Respondent: CEMEX Construction Materials Pacific, LLC, 10 Hill Ranch Road, Wadsworth, NV 89442.
Description of Business or Activity Conducted by the Respondent: Respondent operates a sand and gravel mine in Wadsworth, Nevada on Tribal land owned by the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe.
Summary of Alleged Violations: EPA alleges that Respondent violated the NPDES regulations of the Clean Water Act by failing to obtain a NPDES permit and discharging pollutants to the Truckee River without authorization.
Proposed Penalty: $310,00 penalty plus $800,000 for implementation of a Supplemental Environmental Project.
Applicants or Respondents
CEMEX Construction Materials Pacific, LLC10 Hill Ranch Road
Wadsworth, NV 89442
United States