[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 77 (Friday, April 21, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 24613-24614]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-08510]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OGC-2023-0243; FRL-10914-01-OGC]


Proposed Settlement Agreement, Clean Water Act and Administrative 
Procedure Act Claims

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of proposed settlement agreement; request for public 
comment.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the EPA Administrator's March 18, 2022, 
memorandum regarding ``Consent Decrees and Settlement Agreements to 
resolve Environmental Claims Against the Agency,'' notice is hereby 
given of a proposed settlement agreement that would resolve Chesapeake 
Bay Foundation, Inc. et al. v. U.S. EPA et al., No. 1:20-cv-2529 
(D.D.C.). On September 10, 2020, four states--Maryland, Virginia, 
Delaware, and the District of Columbia--and a number of non-state 
plaintiffs including the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (``CBF'') and Anne 
Arundel County (``Plaintiffs'') filed complaints in the U.S. District 
Court for the District of Columbia. The Plaintiffs asserted that EPA 
has a mandatory duty under the Clean Water Act (``CWA'') to ensure that 
the goals of the Chesapeake Bay Agreement are met, and that EPA failed 
to perform that duty. Plaintiffs also asserted that EPA's evaluation of 
Pennsylvania's 2019 plan for implementing the Chesapeake Bay TMDL was 
arbitrary and capricious in violation of the Administrative Procedure 
Act (``APA''). EPA seeks public input on a proposed settlement 
agreement prior to its final decision-making with regard to potential 
settlement of the litigation.

DATES: Written comments on the proposed settlement agreement must be 
received by May 22, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-
OGC-2023-0243 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 Settlement 
Agreement'' heading under the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this 
document.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Alec Mullee, Water Law Office, Office 
of General Counsel, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency telephone: 
(202) 564-9616; email address: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Additional Information About the Proposed Settlement Agreement

    The Chesapeake Bay Program (CBP) partnership collaborates to 
restore the water quality of the Chesapeake Bay, primarily through a 
series of Chesapeake Bay Agreements. The CBP partnership includes the 
states in the Chesapeake Bay watershed--Delaware, Maryland, 
Pennsylvania, New York, Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of 
Columbia--the Federal government led by EPA, and numerous other 
stakeholders. The CBP partnership agreed upon a goal of having all 
practices and controls installed by 2025 to achieve the Bay's dissolved 
oxygen, water clarity/submerged aquatic vegetation and chlorophyll-a 
water quality standards (2025 Goal). The 2025 Goal is reflected in the 
latest Chesapeake Bay Agreement. In 2010, in collaboration with the Bay 
states, EPA established a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) for the 
entire Chesapeake Bay watershed for nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment 
to address the aquatic life use impairments of tidal Bay waters and 
tidal tributaries. In 2019, the Bay states submitted their latest plans 
for implementing the Bay TMDL to EPA for evaluation. EPA's evaluation 
of Pennsylvania's plan concluded that, while the state plan would meet 
its numeric planning target for phosphorus, it would not meet its 
target for nitrogen by 2025. In 2022, Pennsylvania submitted an amended 
plan to EPA for evaluation, which EPA found still did not meet the 
state's nutrient goals.
    On September 10, 2020, the Plaintiffs filed complaints, later 
consolidated, against EPA in the U.S. District Court for the District 
of Columbia. The parties have negotiated this proposed settlement 
agreement. EPA would agree in the proposed settlement agreement to take 
a number of steps regarding EPA oversight and funding of Pennsylvania's 
efforts under its CWA programs to reduce nutrient and sediment 
discharges within Pennsylvania's portion of the Bay watershed. EPA 
would also agree to evaluate by the end of 2026 how each Bay state 
fared in meeting the 2025 Goal.
    For a period of thirty (30) days following the date of publication 
of this notice, EPA will accept written comments relating to the 
proposed settlement agreement from persons who are not parties to the 
litigation. EPA or the Department of Justice may withdraw or withhold 
consent to the proposed settlement agreement if the comments received 
disclose facts or considerations that indicate that such consent is 
inappropriate, improper, inadequate, or inconsistent with the 
requirements of the Clean Water Act or Administrative Procedure Act.

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 Docket ID 
No. EPA-HQ-OGC-2023-0243) 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.

[[Page 24614]]

    The electronic version of the public docket for this action 
contains a copy of the proposed settlement agreement 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.''

B. How and to whom do I submit comments?

    Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OGC-2023-
0243 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.
    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. 
We strongly encourage you to send your comments electronically to 
ensure that they are received prior to the close of the comment period. 
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 does not plan to consider these late 
comments.

Steven Neugeboren,
Associate General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2023-08510 Filed 4-20-23; 8:45 am]
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