[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 135 (Monday, July 17, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45418-45419]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-15084]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OGC-2019-0478; FRL-11160-01-OGC]


Proposed Stipulated Partial Settlement Agreement, Endangered 
Species Act Claims

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

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

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 
Administrator's March 18, 2022 Memorandum, Consent Decrees and 
Settlement Agreements to Resolve Environmental Claims Against the 
Agency, notice is hereby given of a proposed stipulated settlement 
agreement in the United States District Court for the Northern District 
of California in the case of Center for Biological Diversity, et. al., 
v. United States Environmental Protection Agency, et al., No. 3:11-cv-
0293 (N.D. Cal.). Plaintiffs alleged that EPA failed to comply with 
certain duties under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Defendant-
Intervenors join this proposed stipulated settlement agreement.

DATES: Written comments on the proposed stipulated settlement agreement 
must be received by August 16, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID number EPA-HQ-
OGC-2019-0478 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 Stipulation 
and Stipulated Dismissal'' heading under the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION 
section of this document.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michele Knorr, Pesticides and Toxic 
Substances Law Office, Office of General Counsel, U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency; telephone: (202) 564-5631; email address: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Obtaining a Copy of the Proposed Stipulated Settlement Agreement

    The official public docket for this action (identified by EPA-HQ-
OGC-2019-0478) contains a copy of the proposed stipulated 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 
contains a copy of the proposed stipulated 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.''

II. Additional Information About the Proposed Stipulated Settlement 
Agreement

    On January 20, 2011, Plaintiffs (non-governmental environmental 
organizations) filed a complaint in the United States District Court in 
the Northern District of California asserting

[[Page 45419]]

a single claim against EPA for allegedly violating section 7(a)(2) of 
the ESA by failing to initiate and reinitiate consultation with the 
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (``FWS'') and National Marine Fisheries 
Service (``NMFS'') with respect to 382 pesticide active ingredients. 
After motions practice and an appeal to the Ninth Circuit Court of 
Appeals, the plaintiffs filed their fourth amended complaint on June 
29, 2018 for failure to initiate consultation under ESA section 7(a)(2) 
for certain pesticide products containing 35 pesticide active 
ingredients. In October 2019, the parties entered a partial settlement 
agreement, in which EPA committed to a schedule to complete effects 
determinations for eight active ingredients and request initiation of 
any necessary ESA Section 7(a)(2) consultations with NMFS and/or FWS. 
This proposed stipulated settlement agreement incorporates all still 
outstanding obligations from the prior partial settlement agreement and 
resolves the remaining claims.
    Among other provisions, the proposed agreement sets a deadline of 
no later than September 30, 2027 for EPA to complete final Biological 
Evaluations on the potential effects of the following eight active 
ingredients on ESA-listed species and designated critical habitat: 
acephate, bensulide, dimethoate, ethoprop, naled, phorate, phosmet, and 
s,s,s-tributyl phosphorotrithioate (tribufos); and to request 
initiation of any necessary ESA section 7(a)(2) consultations with NMFS 
and/or FWS. The proposed agreement also includes statements of EPA's 
intent to take preceding actions, including: to complete draft 
biological evaluations no later than one year prior to the deadline for 
the final biological evaluations; to provide notice and a 60-day 
opportunity for public comment on any such draft; and, consistent with 
current practice, to conduct nationwide-scale effects determinations.
    Additionally, the proposed agreement sets deadlines for EPA to 
issue certain ESA ``strategies'' that were contemplated in its work 
plan issued on April 12, 2022, entitled Balancing Wildlife Protection 
and Responsible Pesticide Use: How EPA's Pesticide Program Will Meet 
its Endangered Species Act Obligations. These strategies aim to 
identify mitigation measures to address the effects of pesticides to 
ESA-listed species based on certain criteria that EPA has or expects to 
develop based on what it has learned from its ESA section 7 
consultations to date.
    The proposed agreement also includes, as well as other related 
commitments, a commitment by the agricultural industry Defendant-
Intervenors to organize and fund a workshop for interested stakeholders 
to explore how offsets may be used to address the effects of pesticide 
registrations on ESA-listed species and how such offsets could be 
incorporated into the pesticide registration process.
    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 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 enter the proposed agreement if the comments 
disclose facts or considerations that indicate that such consent is 
inappropriate, improper, inadequate, or inconsistent with the 
requirements of the ESA or the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and 
Rodenticide Act. Unless EPA or the Department of Justice determines 
that consent should be withdrawn, the terms of the proposed agreement 
will be affirmed.

III. Additional Information About Commenting on the Proposed Stipulated 
Settlement Agreement

    Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OGC-2019-
0478 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. 
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: July 11, 2023.
Randolph L. Hill,
Associate General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2023-15084 Filed 7-14-23; 8:45 am]
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