[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 68 (Friday, April 8, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20853-20854]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-07595]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OGC-2022-0343; FRL-9709-01-OGC]


Proposed Consent Decree, Unreasonable Delay Claim Regarding 
Toxics Release Inventory Listing

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of proposed consent decree; request for public comment.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 
Administrator's March 18, 2022, Memorandum entitled Consent Decrees and 
Settlement Agreements to Resolve Environmental Claims Against the 
Agency, notice is hereby given of a proposed consent decree that 
resolves Breast Cancer Prevention Partners, et al. v. U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency, et al., a case in the United States 
District Court for the Northern District of California (4:21-cv-07360-
HSG) that alleges EPA unreasonably delayed taking final action on its 
proposed rulemaking to list diisononyl phthalate (DINP) on the Toxics 
Release Inventory (TRI) pursuant to the Emergency Planning and 
Community Right-to-Know-Act (EPCRA).

DATES: Written comments on the proposed consent decree must be received 
by May 9, 2022.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-
OGC-2022-0343 online at https://www.regulations.gov (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 https://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information 
provided. For detailed instructions on sending comments, see the 
``Additional Information about Commenting on the Proposed Consent 
Decree'' heading under the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this 
document. Out of an abundance of caution for members of the public and 
our staff, the EPA Docket Center and Reading Room is open to visitors 
by appointment only. Our Docket Center staff continues to provide 
remote customer service via email, phone, and webform. We encourage the 
public to submit comments via https://www.regulations.gov, as there may 
be a delay in processing mail and faxes. Hand-deliveries and couriers 
may be received by scheduled appointment only. For further information 
on EPA

[[Page 20854]]

Docket Center services and the latest status information, please visit 
us online at https://www.epa.gov/dockets.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Benjamin Wakefield, Pesticides and 
Toxic Substances Law Office MC-2333A, Office of General Counsel, U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, 
DC 20460; telephone (202) 564-3186; email address 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Obtaining a Copy of the Proposed Consent Decree

    The official public docket for this action (identified by Docket ID 
No. EPA-HQ-OGC-2022-0343) contains a copy of the proposed consent 
decree.
    The electronic version of the public docket for this action 
contains a copy of the proposed consent decree and is available through 
https://www.regulations.gov. You may use https://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.''

II. Additional Information About the Proposed Consent Decree

    Prior to this lawsuit being filed, EPA received a petition in 
February 2000 to add a plastic additive called diisononyl phthalate 
(DINP) to the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act 
(EPCRA) section 313 toxic chemical list (i.e., the Toxics Release 
Inventory (TRI)). EPA issued a proposed regulation to list DINP on the 
TRI on September 5, 2000. EPA published a Notice of Data Availability 
(NODA) with a revised hazard assessment for DINP in the Federal 
Register on June 14, 2005 (70 FR 34437) and invited public comment on 
the revised assessment.
    Plaintiffs filed a Complaint on September 22, 2021, alleging that 
EPA's failure to conclude the rulemaking it initiated in 2000 
constitutes an unreasonable delay under Section 706(1) of the 
Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. 706(1).
    This proposed consent decree states that no later than January 31, 
2023, EPA shall either sign a final rule that lists DINP on the TRI or 
sign a notice for publication in the Federal Register to withdraw the 
proposed rulemaking to list DINP on the TRI. The proposed consent 
decree further states that if the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 
determines that a rule to list DINP warrants review under Executive 
Order 12866 at the supplemental proposal and/or final rule stage, the 
deadline shall be extended by 90 days for each stage of review that OMB 
initiates, for a total extension of 180 days if OMB initiates review at 
both the supplemental proposal and the final rule stages. Court 
approval of this proposed consent decree would resolve all claims in 
this case except for any claim for the costs of litigation, including 
attorneys' fees.
    For a period of thirty (30) days following the date of publication 
of this notice, the Agency will accept written comments relating to the 
proposed consent decree 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 the proposed consent decree if the 
comments disclose facts or considerations that indicate that such 
consent is inappropriate, improper, inadequate, or inconsistent with 
the requirements of the APA or EPCRA. Unless EPA or the Department of 
Justice determines that consent should be withdrawn, the terms of the 
proposed consent decree will be affirmed.

III. Additional Information About Commenting on the Proposed Consent 
Decree

    Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OGC-2022-
0343 via https://www.regulations.gov. 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 https://www.regulations.gov 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 https://www.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets. For additional information about submitting information 
identified as CBI, please contact the person listed in the FOR FURTHER 
INFORMATION CONTACT section of this document. Note that written 
comments containing CBI and submitted by mail may be delayed and 
deliveries or couriers will be received by scheduled appointment only.
    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 https://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.
    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.

Christopher E. Kaczmarek,
Acting Associate General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2022-07595 Filed 4-7-22; 8:45 am]
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