Proposed Settlement Agreement, Petition for Writ of Mandamus

Issuing agencies

Abstract

Notice is given of a proposed settlement agreement to address a petition for writ of mandamus filed by the Ecology Center, the Center for Environmental Health, United Parents Against Lead & Other Environmental Hazards, and the Sierra Club (collectively, "Petitioners") in the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit: Ecology Center, et al. v. U.S. EPA, No. 23-70158 (9th Cir.). Petitioners filed a petition for writ of mandamus on August 22, 2023, requesting that the Ninth Circuit direct the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to "conclude a rulemaking under [TSCA] regulating lead wheel weights within six months." The mandamus petition alleges that EPA's 14-year delay violated the APA's requirement that a Federal agency "conclude a matter presented to it . . . within a reasonable time," and that the court has the authority to "compel agency action unlawfully withheld or unreasonably delayed." EPA is providing notice of this proposed settlement agreement, which would resolve all claims in the case by establishing deadlines for EPA to take final action.