[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 74 (Thursday, April 16, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 21230-21232]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-07980]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OGC-2020-0140; FRL-10008-42-OGC]


Proposed Settlement Agreements, Safe Drinking Water Act Claims

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice; request for public comment.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: In accordance with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 
Administrator's October 16, 2017, Directive Promoting Transparency and 
Public Participation in Consent Decrees and Settlement Agreements, 
notice is hereby given of a proposed settlement agreement to address 
several claims in a lawsuit filed by the Waterkeeper Alliance, Inc., 
Waterkeeper Chesapeake, Inc. and California Coastkeeper (d/b/a 
California Coastkeeper Alliance)(``Plaintiffs'') in the United States 
District Court for the Southern District of New York. On January 30, 
2019, the Plaintiffs filed a complaint pursuant to the Safe Drinking 
Water Act and the Administrative Procedure Act seeking declaratory and 
injunctive relief to resolve the claims regarding EPA's obligations to 
develop new and revised National Primary Drinking Water Regulations. 
Under the proposed settlement agreement, the EPA would agree to 
deadlines with respect to certain actions under the Safe Drinking Water 
Act.

DATES: Written comments on the proposed settlement agreements must be 
received by May 18, 2020.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID number EPA-HQ-
OGC-2020-0140, online at www.regulations.gov (EPA's preferred method). 
For comments submitted at

[[Page 21231]]

www.regulations.gov, follow the online instructions for submitting 
comments. Once submitted, comments cannot be edited or removed from 
www.regulations.gov. The EPA may publish any comment received to its 
public docket. Do not submit electronically 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. The EPA 
generally will not consider comments or comment contents located 
outside of the primary submission (i.e. on the web, cloud, or other 
file sharing system). The EPA encourages the public to submit comments 
via www.Regulations.gov, as there will be a delay in processing mail 
and no hand deliveries will be accepted. For additional submission 
methods, please contact the person identified in the For Further 
Information Contact section. For the full EPA public comment policy, 
information about CBI or multimedia submissions, and general guidance 
on making effective comments, please visit http://www2.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Leslie Darman, Water Law Office, 
Office of General Counsel, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 
Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20460; telephone: (202) 564-5452; 
email address: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Additional Information About the Proposed Settlement Agreement

    On January 30, 2019, the Plaintiffs filed a complaint pursuant to 
the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) and the Administrative Procedure Act 
(APA) seeking declaratory and injunctive relief to resolve several 
claims regarding EPA's obligations to develop new and revised National 
Primary Drinking Water Regulations (NPDWRs). First, the Plaintiffs 
allege that the deadlines in Section 1412(b)(1)(B)(i) of the SDWA for 
publishing the Contaminant Candidate List (CCL) is based on fixed five-
year intervals and therefore, the EPA failed to perform a mandatory 
duty to publish the fifth CCL by February 6, 2018, and the EPA has 
unreasonably delayed publication of the CCL. Second, the Plaintiffs 
allege that the deadlines in Section 1412(b)(1)(B)(ii) of the SDWA for 
publishing regulatory determinations are based on fixed five-year 
intervals and therefore, the EPA failed to perform a mandatory duty to 
publish the fourth regulatory determination by August 6, 2016, and the 
EPA has unreasonably delayed its publication.
    Finally, the Plaintiffs' complaint also includes claims under the 
SDWA and the APA with respect to EPA's treatment of certain 
contaminants covered by the Six-Year Review process in Section 
1412(b)(9) of the SDWA: Chromium, trichlorethylene (TCE), 
tetrachloroethylene (PCE), and a group of microbial and disinfection 
byproducts (MDBPs). The Plaintiffs allege that EPA unreasonably delayed 
and failed to perform a mandatory duty to review the NPDWR for total 
chromium and determine whether to revise it. The Plaintiffs also allege 
the EPA violated the APA because the Agency has unreasonably delayed 
completion of the health assessment of chromium. The Plaintiffs claim 
that the EPA unreasonably delayed and failed to perform an alleged 
mandatory duty to revise the NPDWRs for TCE, PCE, and the MDBPs within 
the same six-year review period in which EPA identified the 
contaminants as appropriate for revision, or to meet the deadlines for 
proposal and promulgation of NPDWRs in Section 1412(b)(1)(E) of the 
SDWA.
    Under the proposed settlement agreement, the EPA would agree to 
deadlines for (1) publishing a proposed regulatory determination for at 
least five contaminants that are listed on the Fourth CCL; (2) signing 
for publication in the Federal Register the Fifth and Sixth CCLs; (3) 
making a determination as to whether the existing NPDWR for chromium is 
appropriate for revision; (4) signing for publication in the Federal 
Register a proposal to revise the NPDWRs for the MDBP contaminants 
identified as candidates for revision in the EPA's Six-Year Review 3, 
published on January 11, 2017; and (5) signing for publication in the 
Federal Register a notice of final action on the proposal to revise the 
NPDWRs for the MDBPs. If the EPA fails to meet any of these deadlines, 
Plaintiffs' sole remedy under this Agreement shall be to reopen this 
lawsuit after undertaking the informal dispute-resolution procedures.
    For a period of thirty (30) days following the date of publication 
of this document, the Agency will accept written comments relating to 
the proposed settlement from persons who are not named as parties to 
the litigation in question. If so requested, EPA will also consider 
holding a public hearing on whether to enter into the proposed 
settlement agreement. EPA or the Department of Justice may withdraw or 
withhold consent to the proposed settlement agreement if the comments 
disclose facts or considerations that indicate that such consent is 
inappropriate, improper, inadequate, or inconsistent with the 
requirements of the SDWA. Unless EPA or the Department of Justice 
determines that consent to this proposed settlement agreement should be 
withdrawn, the settlement agreement will be signed, and the parties 
will notify the Court of the settlement agreement and seek a court 
order dismissing with prejudice all claims in this action. If the Court 
does not enter such an order, the settlement agreement will have no 
force or effect.

II. Additional Information About Commenting on the Proposed Settlement 
Agreement

A. How can I get a copy of the proposed settlement agreement?

    The official public docket for this action (identified by EPA-HQ-
OGC-2020-0140) contains a copy of the proposed settlement agreement. 
The official public docket is located at the Office of Environmental 
Information (OEI) Docket in the EPA Docket Center, EPA West, Room 3334, 
1301 Constitution Ave. NW, Washington, DC. The regular hours of the EPA 
Docket Center Public Reading Room are from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., 
Monday through Friday, excluding legal holidays; however, due to the 
COVID-19 pandemic, there may be limited or no opportunity to enter the 
docket center. At the time of this printing, the docket center is 
closed to public visitors out of an abundance of caution for members of 
the public and EPA staff to reduce the risk of transmitting COVID-19. 
During the closure, Docket Center staff will continue to provide remote 
customer service via email, phone, and webform. For further information 
on EPA Docket Center services, see https://www.epa.gov/dockets. The 
telephone number for the Public Reading Room is (202) 566-1744, and the 
telephone number for the OEI Docket is (202) 566-1752.
    An electronic version of the public docket is available on EPA's 
website at www.regulations.gov. You may use www.regulations.gov 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.'' It is important to note that EPA's policy is that public 
comments, whether submitted electronically or in

[[Page 21232]]

paper, will be made available for public viewing online at 
www.regulations.gov without change, unless the comment contains 
copyrighted material, CBI, or other information whose disclosure is 
restricted by statute. Information claimed as CBI and other information 
whose disclosure is restricted by statute is not included in the 
official public docket or in the electronic public docket.
    EPA's policy is that copyrighted material, including copyrighted 
material contained in a public comment, will not be placed in EPA's 
electronic public docket but will be available only in printed, paper 
form in the official public docket. EPA has not included any 
copyrighted material in the docket for this proposed settlement. If 
commenters submit copyrighted material in a public comment, it will be 
placed in the official public docket and made available for public 
viewing when the EPA Docket Center is open.

B. How and to whom do I submit comments?

    You may submit comments as provided in the ADDRESSES section. 
Please ensure that your comments are submitted within the specified 
comment period. The EPA encourages the public to submit comments via 
www.Regulations.gov. There will be a delay in processing mail and no 
hand deliveries will be accepted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
    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 www.regulations.gov 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. 
In contrast to EPA's electronic public docket, EPA's electronic mail 
(email) system is not an ``anonymous access'' system. If you send an 
email comment directly to the Docket without going through 
www.regulations.gov, your email address is automatically captured and 
included as part of the comment that is placed in the official public 
docket, and made available in EPA's electronic public docket.

    Dated: April 10, 2020.
Steven Neugeboren,
Associate General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2020-07980 Filed 4-15-20; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6560-50-P