Proposed Stipulated Partial Settlement Agreement, Endangered Species Act Claims
| Published date | 20 October 2021 |
| Citation | 86 FR 58074 |
| Record Number | 2021-22860 |
| Section | Notices |
| Court | Environmental Protection Agency |
58074
Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 200 / Wednesday, October 20, 2021 / Notices
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Additionally, you may file your comments
electronically by using the eComment feature,
which is located on the Commission’s website at
www.ferc.gov under the link to Documents and
Filings. Using eComment is an easy method for
interested persons to submit brief, text-only
comments on a project.
to the proceeding. To become a party,
you must intervene in the proceeding.
How To File Protests, Interventions, and
Comments
There are two ways to submit
protests, motions to intervene, and
comments. In both instances, please
reference the Project docket number
CP22–4–000 in your submission.
(1) You may file your protest, motion
to intervene, and comments by using the
Commission’s eFiling feature, which is
located on the Commission’s website
(www.ferc.gov) under the link to
Documents and Filings. New eFiling
users must first create an account by
clicking on ‘‘eRegister.’’ You will be
asked to select the type of filing you are
making; first select General’’ and then
select ‘‘Protest’’, ‘‘Intervention’’, or
‘‘Comment on a Filing’’; or
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(2) You can file a paper copy of your
submission by mailing it to the address
below. Your submission must reference
the Project docket number CP22–4–000.
To mail via USPS, use the following
address: Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary,
Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission, 888 First Street NE,
Washington, DC 20426.
To mail via any other courier, use the
following address: Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission, 12225 Wilkins Avenue,
Rockville, Maryland 20852.
The Commission encourages
electronic filing of submissions (option
1 above) and has eFiling staff available
to assist you at (202) 502–8258 or
FercOnlineSupport@ferc.gov.
Protests and motions to intervene
must be served on the applicant either
by mail or email (with a link to the
document) at: Andrew Bates,
Supervisor, Regulatory Affairs, WBI
Energy Transmission, Inc., 1250 West
Century Avenue, Bismarck, North
Dakota 58503; or email at:
andrew.bates@wbienergy.com. Any
subsequent submissions by an
intervenor must be served on the
applicant and all other parties to the
proceeding. Contact information for
parties can be downloaded from the
service list at the eService link on FERC
Online.
Tracking the Proceeding
Throughout the proceeding,
additional information about the project
will be available from the Commission’s
Office of External Affairs, at (866) 208–
FERC, or on the FERC website at
www.ferc.gov using the ‘‘eLibrary’’ link
as described above. The eLibrary link
also provides access to the texts of all
formal documents issued by the
Commission, such as orders, notices,
and rulemakings.
In addition, the Commission offers a
free service called eSubscription which
allows you to keep track of all formal
issuances and submittals in specific
dockets. This can reduce the amount of
time you spend researching proceedings
by automatically providing you with
notification of these filings, document
summaries, and direct links to the
documents. For more information and to
register, go to www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/
esubscription.asp.
Dated: October 14, 2021.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2021–22844 Filed 10–19–21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717–01–P
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
AGENCY
[EPA–HQ–OGC–2020–0520; FRL–9142–01–
OGC]
Proposed Stipulated Partial Settlement
Agreement, Endangered Species Act
Claims
AGENCY
: Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA).
ACTION
: Notice of proposed stipulated
partial 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 proposed stipulated
partial settlement agreement in the case
of Natural Resources Defense Council v.
Wheeler, et al., in the United States
District Court for the District of
Columbia (1:17–CV–02034). The
Plaintiff filed its original case on
October 3, 2017, alleging that EPA
violated the Endangered Species Act
(ESA) by failing to consult on the effects
to listed species of certain pesticide
product registrations containing one of
three pesticide active ingredients—
acetamiprid (Claim One), dinotefuran
(Claim Two), and imidacloprid (Claim
Three). EPA and the Natural Resources
Defense Council (NRDC) are proposing
to resolve this case through a stipulated
partial settlement agreement. Defendant-
Intervenor takes no position on this
agreement.
DATES
: Written comments on the
proposed stipulated partial settlement
agreement must be received by
November 19, 2021.
ADDRESSES
: Submit your comments,
identified by Docket ID No. EPA–HQ–
OGC–2020–0520, 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–2020–0520) contains a
copy of the proposed settlement
agreement.
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58075
Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 200 / Wednesday, October 20, 2021 / Notices
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
On October 3, 2017, Plaintiff (a non-
governmental environmental
organization) filed a complaint in the
United States District Court in the
District of Columbia asserting three
claims against EPA for allegedly
violating section 7(a)(2) of the ESA by
failing to initiate and reinitiate
consultation with the Services.
Specifically, Plaintiffs alleged that the
EPA failed to consult on the effects to
listed species of 95 pesticide product
registrations containing one of three
pesticide active ingredients—
acetamiprid (Claim One), dinotefuran
(Claim Two), and imidacloprid (Claim
Three). The Court approved, in February
2018, a stipulation of partial dismissal
of many products, leaving 59 pesticide
product registrations at issue. In January
2021, Plaintiff and EPA reached a
stipulated partial settlement agreement
in this case where EPA agreed to
complete ESA section 7(a)(2) effects
determination, compiled into a
biological evaluation, for imidacloprid
by June 30, 2022, and, as appropriate,
request initiation of any ESA section
7(a)(2) consultation with the Services.
After the entry of the stipulated
partial settlement agreement for
imidacloprid, the parties filed summary
judgment motions and cross motions on
the remaining claims. Shortly after these
filings, the parties began settlement
discussions on these remaining claims.
The stipulated partial settlement
agreement for which EPA is taking
comment addresses these two claims.
Specially, Paragraph 1 of the stipulated
partial settlement agreement states that
EPA will by October 2024 complete
effects determinations and request
initiation of any necessary ESA
consultation pursuant to 50 CFR part
402 regarding the potential effects of
acetamiprid and dinotefuran on any and
all listed species and designated critical
habitat.
Consistent with current practice, the
agreement would also include
statements of EPA’s intent to take
certain actions in addition to the
deadlines associated with specific
biological evaluations, including: (1) To
complete the draft biological
evaluations no later than one year prior
to the deadline for the final biological
evaluations, as well as to provide notice
and a 60-day opportunity for public
comment on any such draft, and (2)
conduct the effects determinations on a
nationwide-scale. Defendant-Intervenor
takes no position on this 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
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 the
Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and
Rodenticide Act. 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–2020–
0520, 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-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. 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. 2021–22860 Filed 10–19–21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560–50–P
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
AGENCY
[EPA–HQ–ORD–2020–0675; FRL–9147–01–
ORD]
Availability of the Draft IRIS
Toxicological Review of
Perfluorobutanoic Acid (PFBA) and
Related Compound Ammonium
Perfluorobutanoic Acid; Extension of
Public Comment Period
AGENCY
: Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA).
ACTION
: Notice of public comment
period; extension.
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