76564 Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 230 / Monday, November 30, 2020 / Notices 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

[EPA–HQ–OGC–2020–0520; FRL 10016–54– 

OGC] 

Proposed Stipulated Partial Settlement 

Agreement, Endangered Species Act 

Claims 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Notice of proposed stipulated 

partial settlement agreement; 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 stipulated 

partial settlement agreement in the case 

of Natural Resources Defense Council v. 

Wheeler, et al., in the United States 

District Court for the District of 

Columbia (1:17–CV–02034). The 

Plaintiff filed its original case on 

October 3, 2017, alleging that EPA 

violated Section 7(a)(2) of the 

Endangered Species Act (ESA) by failing 

to consult on the effects to listed species 

of certain pesticide product registrations 

containing one of three pesticide active 

ingredients—acetamiprid (Claim One), 

dinotefuran (Claim Two), and 

imidacloprid (Claim Three). EPA and 

Natural Resources Defense Council 

(NRDC) are proposing to reach a 

settlement in the form of a Partial 

Stipulated Settlement Agreement. 

Defendant-Intervenor indicated that it 

takes no position on this proposed 

partial agreement. Among other 

provisions, the proposed partial 

stipulated settlement agreement 

between EPA and NRDC calls for EPA 

to complete an endangered species 

effects determination with respect to 

imidacloprid (Claim Three) by June 30, 

2022. And, as appropriate, EPA will 

initiate consultation with the National 

Marine Fisheries Service and/or the 

Fish and Wildlife Service (Services). 

DATES: Written comments on the 

proposed stipulated partial settlement 

agreement must be received by 

December 30, 2020. 

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, 

identified by Docket ID number EPA– 

HQ–OGC–2020- 0520 online at 

www.regulations.gov (EPA’s preferred 

method). For comments submitted at 

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). 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: 

Michele Knorr, Pesticides and Toxic 

Substances Law Office (2333A), Office 

of General Counsel, U.S. Environmental 

Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania 

Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20460; 

telephone: (202) 564–5631; email 

address: knorr.michele@epa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Additional Information About the 

Proposed Stipulated Settlement 

Agreement 

On October 3, 2017, Plaintiff (a nongovernmental environmental 

organization) filed a complaint in the 

United States District Court in the 

District of Columbia asserting three 

claims against EPA for allegedly 

violating section 7(a)(2) of the ESA by 

failing to initiate and reinitiate 

consultation with the Services. 

Specifically, Plaintiffs alleged that the 

EPA failed to consult on the effects to 

listed species of 95 pesticide product 

registrations containing one of three 

pesticide active ingredients— 

acetamiprid (Claim One), dinotefuran 

(Claim Two), and imidacloprid (Claim 

Three). On February 8, 2018, the parties 

in this case entered into a stipulation of 

partial dismissal of any and all claims 

related to 36 pesticide product 

registrations identified in the complaint. 

The Court approved this stipulation of 

partial dismissal, leaving 59 pesticide 

product registrations at issue. Of the 59 

product registrations remaining, 46 of 

them contain the active ingredient 

imidacloprid. Following the stipulated 

dismissal, EPA filed a motion to dismiss 

the case based on standing. After an 

adverse decision on the motion to 

dismiss, the parties had several 

settlement discussions. At the end of 

these discussions the Plaintiff and EPA 

reached a partial agreement in this case. 

Specifically, Paragraph 1 of the 

proposed stipulated partial settlement 

provides that EPA would agree to 

complete ESA section 7(a)(2) effects 

determination, compiled into a 

biological evaluation, for imidacloprid 

by June 30, 2022, and, as appropriate, 

request initiation of any ESA section 

7(a)(2) consultation with the Services. 

The date for the effects determination 

aligns with the same deadline for two 

other neonicotinoid chemicals— 

clothianidin and thiamethoxam—that 

were agreed upon in a settlement in 

Ellis v. Keigwin, No. 3:13–CV–1266 

(N.D. Cal). Paragraph 3 would include 

provisions for modifying the final 

biological evaluation deadlines. The 

stipulated partial settlement agreement 

would also require that within 10 

business days after the Court enters any 

Order approving this proposed 

agreement that the Plaintiff, EPA, and 

Intervenor-Defendant to meet and confer 

regarding the remaining two claims in 

the complaint concerning certain 

pesticide products containing 

acetamiprid or dinotefuran. 

Consistent with current practice, the 

agreement would also include 

statements of EPA’s intent to take 

certain actions in addition to the 

deadlines associated with specific 

biological evaluations, including: (1) To 

complete a draft biological evaluation 

no later than one year prior to the 

deadline for the final biological 

evaluation, as well as to provide notice 

and a 60-day opportunity for public 

comment on any such draft, and (2) 

conduct the effects determination on a 

nationwide-scale. 

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 

stipulated partial 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 the proposed 

stipulated partial settlement 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 

stipulation and stipulated notice of 

dismissal will be affirmed. 


TKELLEY on DSKBCP9HB2PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 230 / Monday, November 30, 2020 / Notices 76565 

II. Additional Information About 

Commenting on the Proposed 

Stipulation and Stipulated Notice of 

Dismissal. 

A. How can I get a copy of the proposed 

stipulated partial settlement agreement? 

The official public docket for this 

action (identified by EPA–HQ–OGC– 

2020–0520) contains a copy of the 

proposed stipulated partial settlement 

agreement. The EPA is temporarily 

suspending its Docket Center and 

Reading Room for public visitors, with 

limited exceptions, to reduce the risk of 

transmitting COVID–19. Our Docket 

Center staff will continue 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 or couriers will be 

received by scheduled appointment 

only. For further information and 

updates on EPA Docket Center services, 

please visit us online at https://

www.epa.gov/dockets. 

The EPA continues to carefully and 

continuously monitor information from 

the Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention (CDC), local area health 

departments, and our Federal partners 

so that we can respond rapidly as 

conditions change regarding COVID–19. 

The electronic version of the public 

docket for this action contains a copy of 

the proposed stipulated partial 

settlement agreement, and is available 

through https://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 

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. Please refer to the information 

above about the current status of the 

EPA Docket Center. 

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. 

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 and with any 

disk or CD ROM you submit. 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. 

Joseph E. Cole, 

Associate General Counsel. 

[FR Doc. 2020–26311 Filed 11–27–20; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

[EPA–HQ–OGC–2020–0561; FRL–10016–63– 

OGC] 

Proposed Settlement Agreements, 

Clean Water Act and Endangered 

Species Act 

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 stipulated 

order of partial dismissal to address 

several claims in a lawsuit filed by 

Northwest Environmental Advocates in 

the U.S. District Court for the District of 

Idaho. On September 24, 2013 the 

Northwest Environmental Advocates 

and the Idaho Conservation League 

(collectively ‘‘Plaintiffs’’) filed an 

amended complaint bringing claims 

against the EPA alleging, among other 

things, that it failed to perform duties 

mandated by the Endangered Species 

Act (ESA) to consult with the Fish & 

Wildlife Service and the National 

Marine Fisheries Service (collectively 

‘‘the Services’’) regarding its actions 

under the Clean Water Act (CWA) and 

that EPA failed to complete various 

mandatory duties under the CWA with 

respect to various new and revised 

water quality standards adopted by the 

Idaho Department of Environmental 

Quality. EPA seeks public input on the 

proposed stipulated order of partial 

dismissal prior to its final decisionmaking to settle the litigation. 

DATES: Written comments on the 

proposed settlement agreements must be 

received by December 30, 2020. 

ADDRESSES: You may send comments, 

identified by Docket ID No. EPA–HQ– 

OGC–2020–0561, by any of the 

following methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: 

https://www.regulations.gov/ (our 

preferred method). Follow the online 

instructions for submitting comments. 

• Mail: U.S. Environmental 

Protection Agency, EPA Docket Center, 

Office of the General Counsel Docket, 

Mail Code 28221T, 1200 Pennsylvania 

Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20460. 

• Hand Delivery/Courier: EPA Docket 

Center, WJC West Building, Room 3334, 

1301 Constitution Avenue NW, 

Washington, DC 20004. The Docket 

Center’s hours of operations are 8:30 


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