Notice2023-15084
Proposed Stipulated Partial Settlement Agreement, Endangered Species Act Claims
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
July 17, 2023
Issuing agencies
Environmental Protection Agency
Abstract
In accordance with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator's March 18, 2022 Memorandum, Consent Decrees and Settlement Agreements to Resolve Environmental Claims Against the Agency, notice is hereby given of a proposed stipulated settlement agreement in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California in the case of Center for Biological Diversity, et. al., v. United States Environmental Protection Agency, et al., No. 3:11-cv- 0293 (N.D. Cal.). Plaintiffs alleged that EPA failed to comply with certain duties under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Defendant- Intervenors join this proposed stipulated settlement agreement.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 135 (Monday, July 17, 2023)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 135 (Monday, July 17, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45418-45419]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-15084]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[EPA-HQ-OGC-2019-0478; FRL-11160-01-OGC]
Proposed Stipulated Partial Settlement Agreement, Endangered
Species Act Claims
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of proposed stipulated settlement agreement; request for
public comment.
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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Administrator's March 18, 2022 Memorandum, Consent Decrees and
Settlement Agreements to Resolve Environmental Claims Against the
Agency, notice is hereby given of a proposed stipulated settlement
agreement in the United States District Court for the Northern District
of California in the case of Center for Biological Diversity, et. al.,
v. United States Environmental Protection Agency, et al., No. 3:11-cv-
0293 (N.D. Cal.). Plaintiffs alleged that EPA failed to comply with
certain duties under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Defendant-
Intervenors join this proposed stipulated settlement agreement.
DATES: Written comments on the proposed stipulated settlement agreement
must be received by August 16, 2023.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID number EPA-HQ-
OGC-2019-0478 online at <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a> (EPA's preferred
method). Follow the online instructions for submitting comments.
Instructions: All submissions received must include the Docket ID
number for this action. Comments received may be posted without change
to <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a>, including any personal information
provided. For detailed instructions on sending comments, see the
``Additional Information about Commenting on the Proposed Stipulation
and Stipulated Dismissal'' heading under the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION
section of this document.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michele Knorr, Pesticides and Toxic
Substances Law Office, Office of General Counsel, U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency; telephone: (202) 564-5631; email address:
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#d8b3b6b7aaaaf6b5b1bbb0bdb4bd98bda8b9f6bfb7ae"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="d8b3b6b7aaaaf6b5b1bbb0bdb4bd98bda8b9f6bfb7ae">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Obtaining a Copy of the Proposed Stipulated Settlement Agreement
The official public docket for this action (identified by EPA-HQ-
OGC-2019-0478) contains a copy of the proposed stipulated settlement
agreement. The official public docket is available for public viewing
at the Office of Environmental Information (OEI) Docket in the EPA
Docket Center, EPA West, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Ave. NW,
Washington, DC. The EPA Docket Center Public Reading Room is open from
8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal
holidays. The telephone number for the Public Reading Room is (202)
566-1744, and the telephone number for the OEI Docket is (202) 566-
1752.
The electronic version of the public docket for this action
contains a copy of the proposed stipulated settlement agreement and is
available through <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a>. You may use <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a> to submit or view public comments, access the index
listing of the contents of the official public docket, and access those
documents in the public docket that are available electronically. Once
in the system, key in the appropriate docket identification number then
select ``search.''
II. Additional Information About the Proposed Stipulated Settlement
Agreement
On January 20, 2011, Plaintiffs (non-governmental environmental
organizations) filed a complaint in the United States District Court in
the Northern District of California asserting
[[Page 45419]]
a single claim against EPA for allegedly violating section 7(a)(2) of
the ESA by failing to initiate and reinitiate consultation with the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (``FWS'') and National Marine Fisheries
Service (``NMFS'') with respect to 382 pesticide active ingredients.
After motions practice and an appeal to the Ninth Circuit Court of
Appeals, the plaintiffs filed their fourth amended complaint on June
29, 2018 for failure to initiate consultation under ESA section 7(a)(2)
for certain pesticide products containing 35 pesticide active
ingredients. In October 2019, the parties entered a partial settlement
agreement, in which EPA committed to a schedule to complete effects
determinations for eight active ingredients and request initiation of
any necessary ESA Section 7(a)(2) consultations with NMFS and/or FWS.
This proposed stipulated settlement agreement incorporates all still
outstanding obligations from the prior partial settlement agreement and
resolves the remaining claims.
Among other provisions, the proposed agreement sets a deadline of
no later than September 30, 2027 for EPA to complete final Biological
Evaluations on the potential effects of the following eight active
ingredients on ESA-listed species and designated critical habitat:
acephate, bensulide, dimethoate, ethoprop, naled, phorate, phosmet, and
s,s,s-tributyl phosphorotrithioate (tribufos); and to request
initiation of any necessary ESA section 7(a)(2) consultations with NMFS
and/or FWS. The proposed agreement also includes statements of EPA's
intent to take preceding actions, including: to complete draft
biological evaluations no later than one year prior to the deadline for
the final biological evaluations; to provide notice and a 60-day
opportunity for public comment on any such draft; and, consistent with
current practice, to conduct nationwide-scale effects determinations.
Additionally, the proposed agreement sets deadlines for EPA to
issue certain ESA ``strategies'' that were contemplated in its work
plan issued on April 12, 2022, entitled Balancing Wildlife Protection
and Responsible Pesticide Use: How EPA's Pesticide Program Will Meet
its Endangered Species Act Obligations. These strategies aim to
identify mitigation measures to address the effects of pesticides to
ESA-listed species based on certain criteria that EPA has or expects to
develop based on what it has learned from its ESA section 7
consultations to date.
The proposed agreement also includes, as well as other related
commitments, a commitment by the agricultural industry Defendant-
Intervenors to organize and fund a workshop for interested stakeholders
to explore how offsets may be used to address the effects of pesticide
registrations on ESA-listed species and how such offsets could be
incorporated into the pesticide registration process.
For a period of thirty (30) days following the date of publication
of this notice, EPA will accept written comments relating to the
proposed settlement from persons who are not named as parties to the
litigation in question. EPA or the Department of Justice may withdraw
or withhold consent to enter the proposed agreement if the comments
disclose facts or considerations that indicate that such consent is
inappropriate, improper, inadequate, or inconsistent with the
requirements of the ESA or the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and
Rodenticide Act. Unless EPA or the Department of Justice determines
that consent should be withdrawn, the terms of the proposed agreement
will be affirmed.
III. Additional Information About Commenting on the Proposed Stipulated
Settlement Agreement
Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OGC-2019-
0478 via <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a>. Once submitted, comments cannot
be edited or removed from this docket. EPA may publish any comment
received to its public docket. Do not submit to EPA's docket at <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a> any information you consider to be Confidential
Business Information (CBI) or other information whose disclosure is
restricted by statute. Multimedia submissions (audio, video, etc.) must
be accompanied by a written comment. The written comment is considered
the official comment and should include discussion of all points you
wish to make. EPA will generally not consider comments or comment
contents located outside of the primary submission (i.e., on the web,
cloud, or other file sharing system). For additional submission
methods, the full EPA public comment policy, information about CBI or
multimedia submissions, and general guidance on making effective
comments, please visit <a href="https://www.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets">https://www.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets</a>. For additional information about submitting information
identified as CBI, please contact the person listed in the FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT section of this document.
If you submit an electronic comment, EPA recommends that you
include your name, mailing address, and an email address or other
contact information in the body of your comment. This ensures that you
can be identified as the submitter of the comment and allows EPA to
contact you in case EPA cannot read your comment due to technical
difficulties or needs further information on the substance of your
comment. Any identifying or contact information provided in the body of
a comment will be included as part of the comment that is placed in the
official public docket and made available in EPA's electronic public
docket. If EPA cannot read your comment due to technical difficulties
and cannot contact you for clarification, EPA may not be able to
consider your comment.
Use of the <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a> website to submit comments
to EPA electronically is EPA's preferred method for receiving comments.
The electronic public docket system is an ``anonymous access'' system,
which means EPA will not know your identity, email address, or other
contact information unless you provide it in the body of your comment.
Please ensure that your comments are submitted within the specified
comment period. Comments received after the close of the comment period
will be marked ``late.'' EPA is not required to consider these late
comments.
Dated: July 11, 2023.
Randolph L. Hill,
Associate General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2023-15084 Filed 7-14-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
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