[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 203 (Thursday, October 21, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 65013-65014]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-26524]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-9216-6]
Access in Litigation to Confidential Business Information
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (``EPA'').
ACTION: Notice of Transfer of Information Claimed as Confidential
Business Information to the United States Department of Justice and
Parties to Certain Litigation.
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SUMMARY: The EPA has authorized the United States Department of Justice
(``DOJ'') to disclose, in response to discovery requests received in
the litigation styled, Tronox Incorporated, et al., v. Anadarko
Petroleum Corp., et al., Adv. Proc. No. 09-01198 (ALG), pending in the
United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York
(the ``Litigation''), information which has been submitted to EPA by
its contractors that is claimed to be, or has been determined to be,
confidential business information (``CBI''). The EPA is providing
notice of past disclosure and of ongoing and contemplated future
disclosure. Interested persons may submit comments on this Notice to
the address noted below.
[[Page 65014]]
DATES: Access by the DOJ and/or the parties to the Litigation to
material discussed in this Notice that has been either claimed or
determined to be CBI is ongoing, and is expected to continue in the
future during the pendency of the Litigation. The EPA will accept
comments on this Notice through October 30, 2010.
ADDRESSES: For further information contact Craig Kaufman, Attorney-
Advisor, Office of Site Remediation Enforcement, U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW. (Mail Code 2272A),
Washington, DC 20460; telephone number: (202) 564-4284; e-mail address:
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In accordance with 40 CFR 2.209(c)(1), the
EPA has disclosed information, including CBI, to the DOJ in response to
a written request for information from the DOJ and/or on the initiative
of the EPA because such disclosure was necessary to enable the DOJ to
carry out a litigation function on behalf of the EPA. The DOJ has been
served with discovery requests seeking, among other things,
documentation supporting the proofs of claim filed by the United States
of America in the bankruptcy styled, In re Tronox Incorporated, et al.,
Case No. 09-10156 (ALG) (Chapter 11), pending in the United Stated
Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York (the
``Bankruptcy''). Those proofs of claim were filed on behalf of, inter
alia, the EPA regarding the debtors' environmental liabilities,
including liabilities at sites at which the EPA's contractors may have
provided services.
The parties to the Litigation have entered into an Agreed
Protective Order, see Document No. 248 in the Bankruptcy docket, as
amended on August 12, 2009, see Document No. 622 (together, the
``AGP''), that will govern the treatment of information, including CBI,
that is designated ``Confidential'' pursuant to the AGP. The AGP
provides for limited dissemination of confidential information and for
the return or destruction of confidential information at the conclusion
of the Litigation. See, e.g., AGP, at ]] 1, 10, 12-16, 21.
In accordance with 40 CFR 2.209(d), the EPA is hereby giving notice
that it has authorized the DOJ to disclose information that originated
from the EPA to the extent required to comply with the discovery
obligations of the United States in the Litigation, including its
obligations under the AGP. Accordingly, business information that is
ordinarily entitled to confidential treatment under existing Agency
regulations (40 CFR Part 2) may be included in the information that the
DOJ will release to parties in the Litigation pursuant to the AGP.
As explained by EPA's Office of General Counsel at its Web site,
http://www.epa.gov/ogc/documents.htm, the CBI that may be disclosed in
the Litigation could include, but is not limited to, business
information submitted by contractors and prospective contractors, see
generally Class Determination 1-95; business information submitted in
technical and cost proposals, see generally Class Determination 2-78;
and business information submitted in contract proposals and related
documents, see generally Class Determination 2-79. CBI may also include
information obtained by the EPA under the Comprehensive Environmental
Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980, as amended
(``CERCLA''), including information provided to the EPA, directly or
indirectly, pursuant to section 104 of CERCLA. All CBI that is
disclosed in the Litigation will be designated ``Confidential''
pursuant to the AGP.
Information, including CBI, discussed in this Notice may relate to
certain companies and agencies that have provided services for the EPA
at sites involved in the Litigation, including but not limited to the
following: Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry; Alion
Science & Technology Corporation; Alpha Woods Hole Laboratories; Arctic
Slope Regional Corporation; ASRC Management Services, Incorporated; CDM
Federal Programs Corporation; CH2M Hill Incorporated; Clayton
Environmental Consultants; Columbia Analytical Services; Computer
Services Corporation; Contract Laboratory Program; Datachem
Laboratories, Incorporated; DynCorp International; Ecology &
Environment, Incorporated; Environmental Control Technology
Corporation; EnviroSystems, Incorporated; Foster Wheeler Environmental
Corporation; GRB Environmental Services, Incorporated; Illinois
Environmental Protection Agency; Industrial Economics, Incorporated;
InStep Software, LLC; Integrated Support Systems, Incorporated;
Keystone Environmental Resources Incorporated; Lancaster Laboratories;
Lata-Kemron Remediation, LLC; Laucks Testing Laboratories,
Incorporated; Liberty Analytical Corporation; Lockheed Environment
Systems and Technologies Company; Lockheed Environmental & Technologies
Remote Sensing Support; Lockheed Martin Services Incorporated; Malcolm
Pirnie, Incorporated; Metcalf & Eddy, Incorporated; Mitkem
Laboratories; NewFields; OHM Remediation Services Corporation; Resource
Applications, Incorporated; Ronson Management Corporation; Routine
Analytical Services; Roy F. Weston, Incorporated; Science Applications
International Corporation; Special Analytical Services; S.S.
Papadopulos & Associates, Incorporated; Stevenson; STN Environmental
Joint Venture; TechLaw, Incorporated; Tetra Tech EM Incorporated; The
Conti Group; Toeroek Associates, Incorporated; TRC Environmental
Corporation; United States Environmental Services, LLC; United States
Army Corps of Engineers; United States Department of the Interior; and
Westinghouse Remediation Services, Incorporated; Weston Solutions,
Incorporated; Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources; WRS
Infrastructure and Environment Incorporated; York Laboratories.
Dated: October 18, 2010.
Sandra Connors,
Acting Deputy Director, Office of Site Remediation Enforcement.
[FR Doc. 2010-26524 Filed 10-20-10; 8:45 am]
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