Transfer of Information Potentially Containing Confidential Business Information: United States Department of Justice and Parties to Certain Litigation

United States Department of Justice and Parties to Certain Litigation; Transfer of Information Potentially Containing Confidential Business Information

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 document.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

This document 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 consolidated matters of American Soybean Association v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, et al., Case No. 26-1326 (8th Cir.) and National Family Farm Coalition, et al. v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, et al., Case No. 26-1556 (8th Cir.). The information is contained in documents that have been submitted to EPA pursuant to FIFRA and FFDCA, including information that has been claimed to be, or determined to potentially contain, CBI. In the pending litigation, the petitioners seek judicial review of EPA's registrations of three dicamba products for use on dicamba-tolerant cotton and soybeans, issued under FIFRA, 7 U.S.C. 136 et seq.

The documents are being produced as part of the Administrative Record of the decisions at issue and include documents that registrants or other data-submitters may have submitted to EPA regarding the pesticide dicamba, and that may be subject to various release restrictions under federal law. The information includes documents submitted with pesticide registration applications and may include CBI as well as scientific studies subject to the disclosure restrictions of section 10(g) of FIFRA, 7 U.S.C. 136h(d).

All documents that may be subject to release restrictions under federal law will be designated as "Protected Information" in the certified list of record materials that EPA will file in these consolidated cases. Further, EPA intends to seek a Protective Order that would preclude public disclosure of any such documents by the parties in these actions who have received the information from EPA and limit the use of such documents to litigation purposes only, unless a party successfully obtains a de-designation as Protected Information of any portion of the Administrative Record via a procedure that would be described in the Protective Order. If such documents are filed with the Court, the anticipated Protective Order would require that such documents be filed under seal and not be available for public review, unless the information contained in the document has been determined to not be subject to section 10(g) of FIFRA and all CBI has been redacted.

At the conclusion of the litigation, the anticipated Protective Order would require that record material EPA designates as "Protected Information" be destroyed or returned to EPA.

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 136 et seq.; 21 U.S.C. 301 et seq.