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<br />WHEREAS, these regional and individual commitments are set forth in the <br /> <br />following three documents that have been developed collectively and in consultation with <br /> <br />the staff of the VDEQ: (1) State Water Control Board Enforcement Action: Special <br /> <br />Order by Consent Issued to the Hampton Roads Sanitation District; the cities of <br /> <br />Chesapeake, Hampton, Newport News, Poquoson, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Virginia Beach <br /> <br />and Williamsburg; the counties of Gloucester, Isle of Wight and York; the James City <br /> <br />Service Authority; and the Town of Smithfield ("Regional Consent Order"); (2) <br /> <br />Memorandum of Agreement for Regional Sanitary Sewer System Operation, <br /> <br />Maintenance and Enhancement ("Memorandum of Agreement"); and (3) Attachment I to <br /> <br />the Special Order by Consent: Regional Technical Standards ("Regional Technical <br /> <br />Standards"), (collectively, these documents are referred to as the "Regional Consent <br /> <br />Order Package"); and <br /> <br />WHEREAS, the success of these regional and individual Locality efforts depends <br />upon the cooperative efforts of the HRSD and the Localities, and the approval of the <br />Virginia State Water Control Board ("SWCB") and its VDEQ staff; and <br /> <br />WHEREAS, the ongoing efforts of the Localities and HRSD to maintain, repair <br /> <br /> <br />and improve the sanitary sewer system at substantial cost, for the benefit of the region's <br /> <br />quality oflife, is endorsed and commended; and <br /> <br />WHEREAS, the EPA has recently asked the U. S. Department of Justice to take <br />judicial enforcement action against HRSD on account of such sanitary sewer overflows, <br />and has asked the VDEQ to exclude HRSD from the Regional Consent Order Package; <br />and <br /> <br />WHEREAS, because any such federal judicial action could greatly delay and <br />undermine the collective regional approach to address these overflows, and because <br />HRSD has indicated its willingness to remain a party to this regional effort despite the <br />threat of federal action, the VDEQ staff is prepared to recommend approval by the <br />SWCB of a Regional Consent Order Package with HRSD as a party. <br />