What are Consent Decrees?
Because resolving sewer overflows is a long-term project and can be very expensive, the Metropolitan Sewer District of Greater Cincinnati (MSD) began negotiating with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Department of Justice and the State of Ohio in 1997 to develop an overflow reduction plan that would be supported by the government but also affordable for local ratepayers. This process resulted in a Global Consent Decree, which is an agreement among all parties about what will be accomplished and when, and is enforced and monitored by a federal judge.
Consent Decrees (CDs) are legal agreements between regulatory agencies and private parties in which private parties agree to do – or refrain from doing – certain activities. EPA and state agencies use CDs to ensure that landowners use their property in a manner that does not interfere with remedial action. CDs are enforcement tools that can have LUC components.
