[Federal Register: February 24, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 37)]
[Notices]
[Page 9542-9543]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr24fe06-75]
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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:
http://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 http://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 athttp://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 http://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
http://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 http://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