Document ID: EPA-HQ-OGC-2023-0306-0001
Agency: epa
Document Type: Notice
Title: Proposed Consent Decree: Unreasonable Delay Claim Regarding Petition Seeking Revised Testing Requirements of Pesticides Prior to Registration
Posted Date: 2023-06-14T04:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 114 (Wednesday, June 14, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 38861-38862]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-12672]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OGC-2023-0306; FRL-11024-01-OGC]

Proposed Consent Decree, Unreasonable Delay Claim Regarding 
Petition Seeking Revised Testing Requirements of Pesticides Prior to 
Registration

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of proposed consent decree; request for public comment.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 
Administrator's March 18, 2022, Memorandum entitled Consent Decrees and 
Settlement Agreements to Resolve Environmental Claims Against the 
Agency, notice is hereby given of a proposed consent decree that 
resolves Center for Food Safety, et al. v. U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency, a case in the United States District Court for the 
Northern District of California (4:22-cv-6001-JST) that alleges EPA 
unreasonably delayed responding to a petition for rulemaking, submitted 
to EPA on or around July 10, 2017, relating to the revision of testing 
requirements of pesticides prior to registration.

DATES: Written comments on the proposed consent decree must be received 
by July 14, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-
OGC-2023-0306, 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 Consent 
Decree'' heading under the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this 
document.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Allison Payne, Pesticides and Toxic 
Substances Law Office; telephone (202) 564-8501; email address: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Obtaining a Copy of the Proposed Consent Decree

    The official public docket for this action (identified by Docket ID 
No. EPA-HQ-OGC-2023-0306) contains a copy of the proposed consent 
decree. 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 consent decree 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 Consent Decree

    Prior to this lawsuit being filed, EPA received a petition on or 
around July 10, 2017, requesting that EPA (1) revise pesticide 
registration regulations to take into account all pesticide ingredients 
(active, inert and adjuvant) and their effects on the environment; (2) 
revise pesticide registration regulations to require whole pesticide 
formulation and tank mixture testing to take into account synergistic 
effects; (3) revise pesticide registration regulations to require inert 
ingredients and whole pesticide formulations testing for chronic 
toxicological effects and degradation; (4) revise pesticide 
registration regulations to require Endangered Species Act (ESA) 
consultation on the effects of whole pesticide formulations and tank 
mixtures on threatened and endangered species; and (5) assuming the 
regulations were revised as petitioners have requested, petitioners 
also request that EPA apply those revised regulations in conducting 
statutorily-mandated registration reviews of pesticides (hereinafter, 
these requests will be referred to as the ``2017 Petition Requests''). 
EPA sought public comment on the 2017 Petition. See Petition Seeking 
Revised Testing Requirements of Pesticides Prior to Registration; 
Request for Comment, 83 FR 65672 (December 21, 2018) (the ``Request for 
Comment''). EPA received approximately 564 comments. Plaintiffs filed a 
Complaint on October 12, 2022, alleging that EPA's failure to respond 
to the petition constitutes an unreasonable delay under Section 706(1) 
of the Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. 706(1).
    This proposed consent decree states that no later than September 
29, 2023, the appropriate EPA official shall, by letter, either grant, 
deny, or grant in part and deny in part each of the 2017 Petition 
Requests. Court approval of this proposed consent decree would resolve 
all claims in this case except for the claim for the costs of 
litigation, including reasonable attorneys' fees.
    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 consent decree 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 consent decree if the 
comments disclose facts or considerations that indicate that such 
consent is inappropriate, improper, inadequate, or inconsistent with 
the requirements of the APA or FIFRA. Unless EPA or the Department of 
Justice determines that consent should be withdrawn, the terms of the 
proposed consent decree will be affirmed and entered with the Court.

III. Additional Information About Commenting on the Proposed Consent 
Decree

    Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OGC-2023-
0306 via https://www.regulations.gov. Once submitted, comments cannot 
be edited or removed from this docket.

[[Page 38862]]

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.

Randolph L. Hill,
Associate General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2023-12672 Filed 6-13-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P