[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 193 (Thursday, October 6, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58470-58471]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-20142]


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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE


Amended Notice of Lodging of Settlement Agreement Pursuant to the 
Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act and the 
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act

    In accordance with 28 CFR 50.7 and 42 U.S.C. 9622(i), notice is 
hereby given that on September 13, 2005, a Settlement Agreement was 
lodged with the United States District Court for the District of Puerto 
Rico in United States v. Tropical Fruit, S.E., et al., Civil Action No. 
97-1442-DRD. On October 25, 2001, the Court entered a Consent Decree 
between the United States, on behalf of the U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency (``EPA''), and Defendants pursuant to the Federal 
Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (``FIFRA''), 7 U.S.C. 136 
et seq., and the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, 
and Liability Act (``CERCLA''), 42 U.S.C. 9601 et seq., with respect to 
a Farm located in Rural Zone Boca, Guayanilla, Puerto Rico. The Consent 
Decree required Defendants to pay $35,000 in penalties and CERCLA 
response costs and to comply with extensive injunctive relief measures, 
including the creation of a no-spray buffer zone on the northern and a 
portion of the western perimeter of the Farm which will vary in width 
up to 173 feet. In December 2004, the United States filed a Motion to 
Enforce the Consent Decree and for stipulated penalties in that the 
United States alleged that Defendants violated certain provisions of 
the Consent Decree

[[Page 58471]]

including the requirement that Defendants remove or relocate mango 
trees and banana trees from the buffer zone area, and replace them with 
plaintain trees which would not be sprayed.
    The United States and Defendants have reached a proposed agreement 
to resolve the United States' Motion to Enforce the Consent Decree and 
its request for stipulated penalties, which Settlement Agreement 
requires Defendants, inter alia, to remove or relocate the mango trees 
they were required to remove or relocate under the Decree by April 1, 
2006, which schedule will allow Defendants to transplant the mango 
trees elsewhere at the Farm, and to replace them with bananas or 
plaintains. The Settlement Agreement authorizes the Farm to plant, in 
two perimeter areas, an extra row of neem trees as a barrier instead of 
planting bananas or plaintains. The Settlement Agreement allows 
Defendants to apply low-toxicity pesticides in limited circumstances 
and under application restrictions in buffer zone areas to address an 
outbreak of Sigatoka Negra. The Settlement Agreement also requires the 
Farm to pay a stipulated penalty of $50,000 over a one year period, 
plus interest.
    The Department of Justice will receive, for a period of fifteen 
(15) days from the date of this publication, written comments relating 
to the proposed Settlement Agreement. Comments should be addressed to 
the Assistant Attorney General, Environmental and Natural Resources 
Division, Post Office Box 7611, United States Department of Justice, 
Washington, DC 20044-7611, and should refer to United States v. 
Tropical Fruit, S.E., et al., DOJ Ref. 90-1-1700/1. The United 
States published notice of the proposed Settlement Agreement on 
September 22, 2005 (70 Fed. Reg. 55627), but did not specify that the 
comment period was for a period of 15 days.
    The proposed Settlement Agreement may be examined at the office of 
the United States Attorney, Federal Building 452, Carlos Chardon 
Avenue, Hato Rey, PR 00918, and at two offices of the Environmental 
Protection Agency, Region II: EPA, 290 Broadway, 17th floor, New York, 
NY 10007-1866 or EPA, Carribean Environmental Protection Division, 
Centro Europa Building, Suite 417, 1492 Ponce de Leon, Stop 22, 
Santurce, Puerto Rico, 00907-4127. During the public comment period, 
the Settlement Agreement may also be examined on the following 
Department of Justice Website, http://www.usdoj.gov/enrd/open.html. A 
copy of the proposed Settlement Agreement may also be obtained by mail 
from the Consent Decree Library, P.O. Box 7611, U.S. Department of 
Justice, Washington, DC. 20044-7611 or by faxing or e-mailing a request 
to Tonia Fleetwood ([email protected]), fax no. (202) 514-0097, 
phone confirmation no. (202) 514-1547, referencing DOJ No. 1-1700/1. 
For a copy of the proposed Settlement Agreement including the signature 
pages and attachments, please enclose a check (there is a 25 cent per 
page reproduction cost) in the amount of $3.50 payable to the U.S. 
Treasury.

Ronald G. Gluck,
Assistant Chief, Environmental Enforcement Section, Environment & 
Natural Resources Division.
[FR Doc. 05-20142 Filed 10-5-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-15-M