Document ID: EPA-HQ-OPPT-2003-0004-0131
Agency: epa
Document Type: Notice
Title: Access to Confidential Business Information: United States Department of Justice and Parties to Certain Litigation; Transfer of Data
Posted Date: 2021-07-01T04:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 124 (Thursday, July 1, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 35087-35088]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-14117]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OPPT-2003-0004; FRL-10025-45]

United States Department of Justice and Parties to Certain 
Litigation; Transfer of Data

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces that information submitted to the 
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) pursuant to the Federal 
Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), the Federal Food, 
Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA), and/or the Toxic Substances Control Act 
(TSCA), including information that may have been claimed as 
Confidential Business Information (CBI) by the submitter, has been and 
will be transferred to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) for 
transfer to the parties to certain litigation. This transfer of data is 
in accordance with the CBI regulations governing the disclosure of 
potential CBI in litigation.

DATES: Access to this information by DOJ and the parties to certain 
litigation is ongoing and expected to continue during the litigation as 
discussed in this Notice.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For technical information contact: 
Colby Linter, Program Management and Operations Division (7407M), 
Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics, Environmental Protection 
Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC

[[Page 35088]]

20460-0001; telephone number: (202) 564-8182; email address: 
lintner.colby@epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This notice is being provided pursuant to 40 
CFR 2.209(d) to inform affected businesses that EPA, via DOJ, will 
provide certain information to the parties and the Court in the matter 
of In Re: Aqueous Film-Forming Foams Products Liability Litigating (MDL 
No. 2:18-mn-2873-RMG) (D.S.C.) (``AFFF litigation''). The information 
is contained in documents that have been submitted to EPA pursuant to 
FIFRA, the FFDCA, and/or TSCA by pesticide registrants or other data-
submitters, including information that has been claimed to be, or 
determined to potentially contain, CBI.
    The AFFF Litigation is Multidistrict Litigation established in 
December 2018 involving over 1,000 consolidated Per- and 
polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) cases in the U.S. District Court for 
the District of South Carolina, primarily alleging tort claims against 
private parties, including manufacturers, for products liability, 
public nuisance, and negligence concerning the manufacture and use of 
Aqueous Film-Forming Foams (AFFF).
    Although the primary focus of the litigation is on the 
manufacturers of AFFF, the United States is a party to 24 lawsuits 
relating to discharges of AFFF that allegedly contaminated drinking 
water at various federal sites, such as Air Force bases. The primary 
federal agencies named as defendants are the Air Force, the National 
Guard Bureau, and the Department of Defense, but EPA is a named 
defendant in one pro se case.
    EPA is under an obligation to respond to Requests for Production 
(RFPs) in In Re: Aqueous Film-Forming Foams Products Liability 
Litigating (MDL No. 2:18-mn-2873-RMG) (D.S.C.). The case has entered 
the discovery phase, and although a final Scheduling Order has not yet 
been entered, the Court has ordered expedited discovery. The documents 
being produced may include ``Confidential Business Information'' such 
as any material or words with rights that may be protected under the 
U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, Public Law 94-553, 90 Stat. 2541, codified, 
as amended, at Title 17 of the U.S. Code; trade secrets and/or 
confidential business information protected from disclosure by Section 
14 of the TSCA, 15 U.S.C. 2613(a); and/or documents submitted with 
pesticide registration applications and may include CBI under FIFRA 
section 10, 7 U.S.C. 136h, including scientific studies subject to the 
disclosure restrictions of FIFRA section 10(g), 7 U.S.C. 136h(g).
    All documents that may be subject to release restrictions under 
federal law will be designated as ``Confidential Information,'' 
``Highly Confidential Information,'' and/or ``Export Control 
Information'' in the Protective Order (``Case Management Order 4.A'') 
already filed and publicly available in the AFFF litigation. EPA would 
only produce such documents in accordance with the Protective Order, 
which would require that such documents would be filed under seal and 
would not be available for public review, unless the information 
contained in the document has been determined to not be subject to 
protected status and all CBI has been redacted.

    Authority: 7 U.S.C. 301 et seq.; 15 U.S.C. 2601 et seq; 21 
U.S.C. 301 et seq.

    Dated: June 28, 2021.
Pamela Myrick,
Director, Program Management and Operations Division, Office of 
Pollution Prevention and Toxics.
[FR Doc. 2021-14117 Filed 6-30-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P