Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 37 / Thursday, February 24, 2022 / Notices 10363 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

[EPA–HQ–OGC–2021–0674; FRL–9566–01– 

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. 

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 second proposed 

stipulated partial settlement agreement 

that resolves the Center for 

Environmental Health, et al., v. 

Wheeler, et al., case in the United States 

District Court for the Northern District 

of California (4:18–cv–03197) that 

alleges that EPA and the United States 

Fish and Wildlife (FWS) failed to 

comply with certain procedural and 

substantive duties under the 

Endangered Species Act (ESA). 

Defendant-Intervenor joins this 

proposed stipulated partial settlement 

agreement. 

DATES: Written comments on the 

proposed stipulated partial settlement 

agreement must be received by March 

28, 2022. 

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, 

identified by Docket ID No. EPA–HQ– 

OGC–2021–0674, 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 and additional information 

on the rulemaking process, see the 

‘‘Additional Information about 

Commenting on the Proposed 

Settlement Agreement’’ 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 are closed to the 

public, 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 and couriers may be 

received by scheduled appointment 

only. For further information on EPA 

Docket Center services and the current 

status, please visit us online at https:// 

www.epa.gov/dockets. 

EPA continues to carefully and 

continuously monitor information from 

the CDC, local area health departments, 

and our federal partners so that we can 

respond rapidly as conditions change 

regarding COVID–19. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Michele Knorr, 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) 564–5631; email 

address knorr.michele@epa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Obtaining a Copy of the Proposed 

Settlement Agreement 

The official public docket for this 

action (identified by Docket ID No. 

EPA–HQ–OGC–2021–0674) contains a 

copy of the proposed settlement 

agreement. 

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.’’ 

II. Additional Information About the 

Proposed Settlement Agreement 

Prior to this lawsuit being filed, on 

January 18, 2017, EPA submitted to 

FWS a nationwide biological evaluation 

regarding the effects of malathion and 

two other pesticide active ingredients 

on species listed as threatened or 

endangered under the ESA, 16 U.S.C. 

Section 1531 et seq., and their 

designated critical habitats and 

requested initiation of consultation 

pursuant to ESA Section 7(a)(2), 16 

U.S.C. Section 1536(a)(2) (the Malathion 

Consultation). The Malathion 

Consultation has been ongoing since 

that date. 

Plaintiffs filed their original case in 

May 2018, and amended the complaint 

on July 25, 2018, and on November 27, 

2018, alleging that: (1) EPA violated its 

procedural duty under ESA Section 

7(a)(2) to complete consultation and its 

substantive duty under ESA Section 

7(a)(2) to avoid jeopardy with respect to 

21 malathion-containing pesticide 

product registrations under the Federal 

Insecticide Fungicide, and Rodenticide 

Act (FIFRA), and the FWS violated its 

procedural duty to complete 

consultation under ESA Section 7(a)(2); 

(2) these failures constitute unlawfully 

withheld or unreasonably delayed 

agency action in violation of Section 

706(1) of the Administrative Procedure 

Act, 5 U.S.C. Section 706(1); and (3) 

EPA failed to comply with ESA Section 

7(d) when it ‘‘maintained the 

registrations of these same pesticide 

products and continued to reregister 

and register pesticide products 

containing malathion.’’ 

On January 4, 2022, the court entered 

the first stipulated partial settlement 

agreement that resolved part of this 

case. Specifically, unless one of the 

contingencies set forth in settlement 

agreement occurs (which may result in 

an extension of time), FWS will issue its 

Final Biological Opinion and conclude 

the Malathion Consultation no later 

than February 28, 2022. 

The remaining part of this case 

involves the substantive claims under 

ESA section 7(a)(2) against EPA. This 

second proposed partial settlement 

agreement states that, unless one of the 

contingencies set forth in settlement 

agreement occurs (which may result in 

an extension of time), EPA will 

implement specific portions of the Final 

Biological Opinion no later than 18 

months from the date that FWS issues 

the Final Biological Opinion. 

Implementation will include, but is not 

limited to, providing to all registrants of 

products containing malathion written 

notice of the issuance of the Final 

Biological Opinion no later than 60 

calendar days from its issuance, as well 

as notice of any actions the malathion 

registrants must take (including to 

require submission of requests to amend 

labeling or terms and conditions of 

registration). 

Court approval of this proposed 

stipulated partial settlement agreement 

would result in the dismissal with 

prejudice of the remaining claims. 

Defendant-Intervenor joins this 

proposed settlement agreement. 

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 agreement 

from persons who are not named as 

parties to the litigation in question. EPA 

or the Department of Justice may 


jspears on DSK121TN23PROD with NOTICES1
10364 Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 37 / Thursday, February 24, 2022 / Notices 

withdraw or withhold consent to the 

proposed stipulated partial 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 ESA or 

FIFRA. 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. 

III. Additional Information About 

Commenting on the Proposed 

Settlement Agreement 

Submit your comments, identified by 

Docket ID No. EPA–HQ–OGC–2021– 

0674, 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-epadockets. 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. 2022–03927 Filed 2–23–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

EXPORT-IMPORT BANK 

[Public Notice: 2022–3003] 

Agency Information Collection 

Activities: Comment Request 

AGENCY: Export-Import Bank of the 

United States. 

ACTION: Submission for OMB review and 

comments request. 

SUMMARY: The Export-Import Bank of 

the United States (EXIM), as part of its 

continuing effort to reduce paperwork 

and respondent burden, invites the 

general public and other Federal 

Agencies to comment on the proposed 

information collection, as required by 

the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. 

Government-wide policy requires all 

Federal employees to be vaccinated 

against COVID–19, with exceptions only 

as required by law. Employees may seek 

a legal exception to the vaccination 

requirement due to a disability, using 

the reasonable accommodation Form. 

The agency may also ask for other 

information, as needed. Requests for 

‘‘medical accommodation’’ or ‘‘medical 

exceptions’’ will be treated as requests 

for a disability accommodation and 

evaluated and decided under applicable 

Rehabilitation Act standards for 

reasonable accommodation absent 

undue hardship to the agency. 

DATES: Comments must be received on 

or before March 28, 2022 to be assured 

of consideration. 

ADDRESSES: Comments may be 

submitted electronically on 

WWW.REGULATIONS.GOV (EIB 21–03) 

or by email to Nakia.Burton@exim.gov, 

or by mail to Nakia Burton, ExportImport Bank, 811 Vermont Ave. NW, 

Washington, DC 20571. The information 

collection tool can be reviewed at: 

eib21–03.pdf (exim.gov). 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To 

request additional information, please 

Nakia Burton nakia.burton@exim.gov, 

202–565–3225. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Title and Form Number: EIB 21–03 

REQUEST FOR A MEDICAL 

EXCEPTION TO THE COVID–19 

VACCINATION REQUIREMENT. 

OMB Number: 3048–xxxx. 

Type of Review: Regular. 

Need and Use: The information 

collected will allow EXIM to determine 

compliance and content for transaction 

requests submitted to the Export-Import 

Bank under its insurance, guarantee, 

and direct loan programs. 

A Notice Regarding Injunctions: The 

vaccination requirement issued 

pursuant to E.O. 14043, is currently the 

subject of a nationwide injunction. 

While that injunction remains in place, 

EXIM will not process requests for a 

medical exception from the COVID–19 

vaccination requirement pursuant to 

E.O. 14043. EXIM will also not request 

the submission of any medical 

information related to a request for an 

exception from the vaccination 

requirement pursuant to E.O. 14043 

while the injunction remains in place. 

But EXIM may nevertheless receive 

information regarding a medical 

exception. That is because, if EXIM 

were to receive a request for an 

exception from the COVID–19 

vaccination requirement pursuant to 

E.O. 14043 during the pendency of the 

injunction, EXIM will accept the 

request, hold it in abeyance, and notify 

the employee who submitted the request 

that implementation and enforcement of 

the COVID–19 vaccination requirement 

pursuant to E.O. 14043 is currently 

enjoined and that an exception therefore 

is not necessary so long as the 

injunction is in place. In other words, 

during the pendency of the injunction, 

any information collection related to 

requests for medical exception from the 

COVID–19 vaccination requirement 

pursuant to E.O. 14043 is not 

undertaken to implement or enforce the 

COVID–19 vaccination requirement. 

Affected Public: This form affects 

EXIM employees. 

Annual Number of Respondents: 12. 

Estimated Time per Respondent: 2 

hours. 


jspears on DSK121TN23PROD with NOTICES1