Request for Public Comment on Proposed Settlement Agreement Involving Pesticides and the Endangered Species Act, 9542-9543 [06-1744]

Agencies

• ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 37 (Friday, February 24, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9542-9543]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 06-1744]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OPP-2005-0516; FRL-7763-3]


Request for Public Comment on Proposed Settlement Agreement 
Involving Pesticides and the Endangered Species Act

AGENCY:  Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION:  Notice of availability; request for public comment.

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SUMMARY:  EPA is making available for comment a proposed Settlement 
Agreement that would establish a series of deadlines for the Agency to 
make ``effects determinations'' on atrazine as it relates to any of 21 
identified endangered or threatened species or their designated 
critical habitat. If the Agency determines atrazine ``may affect and is 
likely to adversely affect'' any of the listed species, the Agency will 
initiate formal consultation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 
(FWS) or the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), as appropriate. 
EPA will evaluate all comments received during the public comment 
period to determine whether all or part of the proposed Settlement 
Agreement warrants reconsideration. This proposed Settlement Agreement, 
if entered by the Court, would resolve a lawsuit brought against EPA by 
the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC or plaintiff).

DATES:  Comments must be received on or before March 13, 2006.

ADDRESSES:  Submit your comments, identified by docket identification 
(ID) number EPA-HQ-OPP-2005-0516, by one of the following methods:
     https://www.regulations.gov/. Follow the on-line 
instructions for submitting comments.
     Mail: Public Information and Records Integrity Branch 
(PIRIB) (7502C), Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP), Environmental 
Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460-
0001.
     Hand Delivery: Public Information and Records Integrity 
Branch (PIRIB) (7502C), Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP), 
Environmental Protection Agency, Rm. 119, Crystal Mall 2, 1801 
S. Bell St., Arlington, VA, Attention: Docket ID number EPA-HQ-OPP-
2005-0516. The docket facility is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday 
through Friday, excluding legal holidays. The telephone number for the 
docket facility is (703) 305-5805. Such deliveries are only accepted 
during the Docket's normal hours of operation, and special arrangements 
should be made for deliveries of boxed information.
    Instructions: Direct your comments to docket ID number EPA-HQ-OPP-
2005-0516. EPA's policy is that all comments received will be included 
in the public docket without change and may be made available on-line 
at https://www.regulations.gov/, including any personal information 
provided, unless the comment includes information claimed to be 
Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other information whose 
disclosure is restricted by statute. Do not submit information that you 
consider to be CBI or otherwise protected through regulations.gov or e-
mail. The regulations.gov website is an ``anonymous access'' system, 
which means EPA will not know your identity or contact information 
unless you provide it in the body of your comment. If you send an e-
mail comment directly to EPA without going through regulations.gov, 
your e-mail address will be captured automatically and included as part 
of the comment that is placed in the public docket and made available 
on the Internet. If you submit an electronic comment, EPA recommends 
that you include your name and other contact information in the body of 
your comment and with any disk or CD ROM you submit. 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. Electronic 
files should avoid the use of special characters, any form of 
encryption, and be free of any defects or viruses. For additional 
information about EPA's public docket, visit the EPA Docket Center 
homepage athttps://www.epa.gov/epahome/docket.htm/.
    Docket: All documents in the docket are listed in the 
regulations.gov index. Although listed in the index, some information 
is not publicly available, i.e., CBI or other information whose 
disclosure is restricted by statute. Certain other material, such as 
copyrighted material, will be publicly available only in hard copy. 
Publicly available docket materials are available either electronically 
at https://www.regulations.gov/ or in hard copy at the Public 
Information and Records Integrity Branch (PIRIB) (7502C), Office of 
Pesticide Programs (OPP), Environmental Protection Agency, Rm. 119, 
Crystal Mall 2, 1801 S. Bell St., Arlington, VA. The docket 
facility is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, 
excluding legal holidays. The telephone number for the docket facility 
is (703) 305-5805.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:  Arty Williams, Environmental Fate and 
Effects Division (7507C), Office of Pesticide Programs, Environmental 
Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460-
0001; telephone number: 703-305-7695; faxnumber: 703-305-6309; e-mail 
address:williams.arty@epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. General Information

A. Does this Action Apply to Me?

    This action is directed to the public in general, and may be of 
particular interest to the Natural Resources Defense Council, other 
public interest groups, state regulatory partners, other

[[Page 9543]]

interested federal agencies, pesticide registrants and pesticide users. 
Since other entities may also be interested, the Agency has not 
attempted to describe all the specific entities that may be affected by 
this action. If you have any questions regarding the applicability of 
this action to a particular entity, consult the person listed under FOR 
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.

B. What Should I Consider as I Prepare My Comments for EPA?

    1. Submitting CBI. Do not submit this information to EPA through 
www.regulations.gov or e-mail. Clearly mark the part or all of the 
information that you claim to be CBI. For CBI information in a disk or 
CD ROM that you mail to EPA, mark the outside of the disk or CD ROM as 
CBI and then identify electronically within the disk or CD ROM the 
specific information that is claimed as CBI. In addition to one 
complete version of the comment that includes information claimed as 
CBI, a copy of the comment that does not contain the information 
claimed as CBI must be submitted for inclusion in the public docket. 
Information so marked will not be disclosed except in accordance with 
procedures set forth in 40 CFR part 2.
    2. Tips for preparing your comments. When submitting comments, 
remember to:
    i. Identify the document by docket number and other identifying 
information (subject heading, Federal Register date and page number).
    ii. Follow directions. The agency may ask you to respond to 
specific questions or organize comments by referencing a Code of 
Federal Regulations (CFR) part or section number.
    iii. Explain why you agree or disagree; suggest alternatives and 
substitute language for your requested changes.
    iv. Describe any assumptions and provide any technical information 
and/or data that you used.
    v. If you estimate potential costs or burdens, explain how you 
arrived at your estimate in sufficient detail to allow for it to be 
reproduced.
    vi. Provide specific examples to illustrate your concerns, and 
suggest alternatives.
    vii. Explain your views as clearly as possible, avoiding the use of 
profanity or personal threats.
    viii. Make sure to submit your comments by the comment period 
deadline identified.

II. What Action is the Agency Taking?

    EPA is making available for comment a proposed Settlement Agreement 
that would establish a series of deadlines for the Agency to make 
``effects determinations'' on atrazine as it relates to any of 21 
identified endangered or threatened species or their designated 
critical habitat. If the Agency determines atrazine ``may affect and is 
likely to adversely affect'' any of the listed species, the Agency will 
initiate formal consultation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 
(FWS) or the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), as appropriate. 
EPA will evaluate all comments received during the public comment 
period to determine whether all or part of the proposed Settlement 
Agreement warrants reconsideration. This proposed Settlement Agreement, 
if entered by the Court, would resolve a lawsuit brought against EPA by 
the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC or plaintiff).

III. Background

    On August 21, 2003, plaintiff filed a lawsuit in the Federal 
District Court of Maryland alleging that EPA failed to comply with 
section 7(a)(2) of the Endangered Species Act (ESA), 16 U.S.C. 
1536(a)(2) (NRDC v.EPA, Case No. Civ. No: 03-CV-02444 RDB).
    EPA has reached an agreement with the plaintiff. The agreement is 
embodied in a proposed Settlement Agreement. The proposed Settlement 
Agreement sets a series of deadlines for the Agency to make ``effects 
determinations'' on the potential for atrazine to affect any of the 
following species (or their designated critical habitat): Loggerhead 
sea turtle, leatherback sea turtle, green sea turtle, Kemp's ridley sea 
turtle, shortnose sturgeon, dwarf wedge mussel, Barton Springs 
salamander, Alabama sturgeon, pink mucket pearly mussel, shiny pigtoe 
pearly mussel, fine-rayed pigtoe mussel, rough pigtoe mussel, heavy 
pigtoe mussel, ovate clubshell mussel, southern clubshell mussel, 
stirrup mussel, pallid sturgeon, Topeka shiner, fat pocketbook pearly 
mussel, purple cat's paw pearly mussel, and northern riffleshell. An 
``effects determination'' considers whether use of a pesticide: (1) Has 
no effect on a listed species; (2) may affect but is not likely to 
adversely affect a listed species; or (3) may affect and is likely to 
adversely affect a listed species. If the Agency determines atrazine 
``may affect and is likely to adversely affect'' any of the 21 named 
species or their designated critical habitat, EPA will initiate formal 
consultation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) or the 
National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) as described in the Settlement 
Agreement. In addition, during the pendency of the schedule for effects 
determinations outlined in the Settlement Agreement, the plaintiff 
agrees not to seek any injunction or other use restriction for any of 
the pesticides subject to the Settlement Agreement. Pursuant to the 
Settlement Agreement, in the event EPA makes a ``may affect and is 
likely to adversely affect'' determination for atrazine on any of the 
listed species named in the lawsuit, the plaintiff reserves the right 
to seek use restrictions for that pesticide by filing a new complaint 
with the Court.
    Beginning today, EPA is opening a 15-day comment period on the 
proposed Settlement Agreement. EPA will use the comments to determine 
whether all or part of the proposed Settlement Agreement warrants 
reconsideration. If EPA determines that any part of the proposed 
Settlement Agreement merits reconsideration, EPA will provide the 
plaintiff with a written request for further negotiations and the 
proposed Settlement Agreement shall not be entered with the Court 
unless the parties can reach agreement on needed changes. If EPA 
determines that the proposed Settlement Agreement does not need to be 
reconsidered, the terms of the proposed Settlement Agreement shall 
become effective upon entry by the U.S. District Court for Maryland. 
Once the Settlement Agreement is entered by the U.S. District Court, 
EPA will post on its web site at www.epa.gov/pesticides a notice 
indicating the Settlement Agreement has been so entered.

List of Subjects

    Environmental protection, Endangered species.

    Dated: February 15, 2006.
Margaret Schneider,
Acting Assistant Administrator, Office of Prevention, Pesticides and 
Toxic Substances.

[FR Doc. 06-1744 Filed 2-23-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-S