Notice2024-28121
Proposed Settlement Agreement, Federal Insecticide, Rodenticide, and Fungicide Act
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
December 2, 2024
Issuing agencies
Environmental Protection Agency
Abstract
Consistent with Consent Decrees and Settlement Agreements to Resolve Environmental Claims Against the Agency (March 18, 2022), EPA is giving notice of and seeking comment on a proposed settlement agreement for In re Center for Biological Diversity, No. 21-1270 (D.C. Circuit) and Center for Biological Diversity v. Environmental Protection Agency, No. 23-1329 (D.C. Circuit). Defendant-Intervenors-- who represent the registrants for products contain cyantraniliprole--do not oppose this proposed settlement agreement.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 231 (Monday, December 2, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 231 (Monday, December 2, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 95208-95209]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-28121]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[EPA-HQ-OGC-2024-0251; FRL-12440-01-OGC]
Proposed Settlement Agreement, Federal Insecticide, Rodenticide,
and Fungicide Act
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of proposed settlement agreement and request for public
comment.
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SUMMARY: Consistent with Consent Decrees and Settlement Agreements to
Resolve Environmental Claims Against the Agency (March 18, 2022), EPA
is giving notice of and seeking comment on a proposed settlement
agreement for In re Center for Biological Diversity, No. 21-1270 (D.C.
Circuit) and Center for Biological Diversity v. Environmental
Protection Agency, No. 23-1329 (D.C. Circuit). Defendant-Intervenors--
who represent the registrants for products contain cyantraniliprole--do
not oppose this proposed settlement agreement.
DATES: Comments are due by January 2, 2025.
ADDRESSES: Please submit your comments online at <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a>. Follow the online instructions for submitting
comments.
Instructions: All comments should include the Docket ID (EPA-HQ-
OGC-2024-0251) for this action. Submitted comments will 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 commenting, see the
``Public Comment on the Proposed Settlement Agreement'' heading of the
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jori Reilly-Diakun (Pesticides and
Toxic Substances Law Office, Office of General Counsel, U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency), (202) 564-9567,
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#ec9e898580809588858d879982c286839e85ac899c8dc28b839a"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="f486919d98988d909d959f819ada9e9b869db4918495da939b82">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Obtaining a Copy of the Proposed Stipulated Settlement Agreement
The official public docket for this action contains a copy of the
proposed 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 also
contains a copy of the proposed settlement agreement. The electronic
version of the public docket is available at <a href="https://www.regulations.gov/docket/EPA-HQ-OGC-2024-0251">https://www.regulations.gov/docket/EPA-HQ-OGC-2024-0251</a>.
II. Background on the Proposed Settlement Agreement
This proposed settlement agreement follows petitions for review in
the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia (D.C.
Circuit) of EPA's decisions granting pesticide registrations and
amendments to those registrations under the Federal Insecticide,
Rodenticide, and Fungicide Act (FIFRA) for products containing the
active ingredient cyantraniliprole.
On June 30, 2017, the D.C. Circuit addressed the initial petition
for review and remanded the registration decisions to EPA without
vacatur for EPA to address its obligations under the Endangered Species
Act (ESA). Center for Biological Diversity v. Environmental Protection
Agency, 861 F.3d 174 (D.C. Cir. 2017). In 2021, Petitioners filed a
writ of mandamus with the D.C. Circuit, seeking to compel action by EPA
in accordance with the Court's 2017 order. On November 22, 2022, the
D.C. Circuit held that EPA had unreasonably delayed in complying with
its 2017 order and ordered EPA to complete effects determinations for
cyantraniliprole and replace its previous registration orders with
orders consistent with the ESA by September 2023. In re Center for
Biological Diversity, 53 F.4th 665 (D.C. Cir. 2022).
In September 2023, EPA completed its final biological evaluation
for cyantraniliprole and initiated ESA section 7 consultation with the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries
Service, before granting registrants' requests to amend the
registrations for products containing cyantraniliprole. See EPA-HQ-OPP-
2011-0668. EPA filed a Notice of Completion with the D.C. Circuit in In
re Center for Biological Diversity on October 4, 2023. Petitioners
filed a new petition for review challenging EPA's September 2023
registration amendments. Center for Biological Diversity v.
Environmental Protection Agency, No. 23-1329 (D.C. Circuit).
This proposed settlement agreement would resolve any remaining
claims against EPA in these cases. In the proposed settlement, EPA
would agree to implement any final Biological Opinion for
cyantraniliprole no later than 12 months from the date that each
Service issues a final Biological Opinion or the deadline set by each
Service for implementing its final Biological Opinion--whichever is
earlier--with several options for extension, if appropriate.
III. Public Comment on the Proposed Settlement Agreement
EPA will accept written comments on the proposed settlement until
January 2, 2025 from anyone who is not a named party to the litigation
in question. EPA or the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) may decide to
withdraw consent to enter the proposed settlement agreement if the
comments indicate that such consent is inappropriate. However, the
terms of the proposed settlement agreement will be affirmed unless EPA
or DOJ so decide based on the comments.
[[Page 95209]]
Please submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-
OGC-2024-0251, through <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 any
information you consider to be Confidential Business Information (CBI)
or other information whose disclosure is restricted by statute.
Multimedia submissions (e.g., audio, video) must be accompanied by a
written comment. EPA will consider the written comment to be the
official comment, and it 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 (e.g., 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: November 25, 2024.
Randolph L. Hill,
Associate General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2024-28121 Filed 11-29-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
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