Document ID: EPA-HQ-OGC-2020-0561-0001
Agency: epa
Document Type: Notice
Title: Proposed Settlement Agreements: Clean Water Act and Endangered Species Act
Posted Date: 2020-11-30T05:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 230 (Monday, November 30, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 76565-76566]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-26310]

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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.

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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 
decision-making 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

[[Page 76566]]

a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday (except Federal Holidays).
    Instructions: All submissions received must include the Docket ID 
No. for this rulemaking. 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 ``Public Participation'' 
heading of the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.
    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: Thomas Glazer, Water Law Office 
(2355A), Office of General Counsel, U.S. Environmental Protection 
Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20460; telephone: 
(202) 564-0908; email address: glazer.thomas@epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Additional Information About the Proposed Stipulated Partial 
Dismissal

    On June 15, 2013, Plaintiffs filed suit in the federal district 
court for the District of Idaho against the Services. The original 
complaint alleged that the Services unreasonably delayed or unlawfully 
withheld completion of ESA consultation with EPA regarding new and 
revised water quality standards that were submitted in 1996 and/or 
1997. On September 24, 2013, Plaintiffs filed an amended complaint 
adding various CWA and ESA claims against EPA regarding dozens of Idaho 
water quality standard submissions dating back to 1994. Broadly 
speaking, Plaintiffs' claims fell into two categories: claims that EPA 
failed to consult with the Services on various water quality standard 
approval actions and claims that EPA failed to complete its mandatory 
duties under the CWA with respect to various new and revised water 
quality standards adopted by the State. In April 2015, the Services 
entered a stipulated dismissal with Plaintiffs, by which they agreed to 
complete certain ESA obligations. This left EPA as the sole defendant 
in the case.
    On February 28, 2019, the court partially granted EPA's motion to 
dismiss a number of claims on statute of limitations grounds, 
dismissing all ESA failure-to-consult claims regarding EPA actions that 
predated September 24, 2007--6 years prior to filing the amended 
complaint. The court declined to dismiss any CWA mandatory duty claims, 
finding that the statute of limitations did not require dismissal 
because Plaintiffs had alleged an ongoing failure to act by EPA. This 
left seven discrete claims against EPA alleging a failure to undertake 
various duties pursuant to the ESA and CWA with regard to Idaho water 
quality standards.
    The parties have negotiated a settlement framework in the form of a 
stipulated order of partial dismissal. The court would enter the order 
and retain jurisdiction to construe, carry out, enforce, modify, or 
resolve any dispute regarding the terms and conditions of the order. 
EPA and Plaintiffs negotiated a three-year timeline for EPA to complete 
an effects determination pursuant to 50 CFR 402.14(a) for its May 22, 
2008 approval of Idaho's revisions to its salmonid spawning timing 
procedure and, as appropriate, to request initiation of any necessary 
ESA section 7 consultation with the Services. The State has been 
informed of the timeline and will be an applicant in any ESA 
consultation. The Order would also resolve Plaintiffs' claim for 
attorney's fees with an agreement to pay $37,000.
    For a period of thirty (30) days following the date of publication 
of this notice, the Agency will accept written comments relating to the 
obligations of EPA for resolution of the claims contained in the 
proposed stipulated order of partial dismissal from persons who are not 
named as original parties or intervenors to the litigation in question. 
EPA or the Department of Justice may withdraw or withhold consent to 
the proposed stipulated order of partial dismissal if the comments 
disclose facts or considerations that indicate that such consent is 
inappropriate, improper, inadequate, or inconsistent with the 
requirements of the CWA or ESA. Unless EPA or the Department of Justice 
determines that consent to this proposed stipulated order of partial 
dismissal should be withdrawn, the terms of the proposed stipulated 
order of partial dismissal will be affirmed and entered with the court.

II. Public Participation

    Written Comments
    Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OGC-2020-
0561, at https://www.regulations.gov (our preferred method), or the 
other methods identified in the ADDRESSES section. Once submitted, 
comments cannot be edited or removed from the docket. 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 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.
    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.

    Dated: November 17, 2020.
Steven Neugeboren,
Associate General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2020-26310 Filed 11-27-20; 8:45 am]
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