[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 142 (Monday, July 24, 2000)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 45569-45574]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-18646]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 180

[OPP-30115B; FRL-6594-2]

RIN 2070-AD23


Pesticides; Tolerance Processing Fees for Inert Ingredients

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule; partial reopening of comment period.

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SUMMARY: The Agency is providing an opportunity for the public and 
affected parties to submit comments on additional data and information 
pertaining to tolerance fees as they relate to inert ingredients. In 
the proposed tolerance fee rule, published on June 9, 1999, EPA 
outlined its approach to revise its tolerance fee system to fully 
recover the costs incurred in processing pesticide tolerance actions. 
Since the proposal, EPA has accumulated better costing data with 
respect to resource needs and number of actions and is making this 
improved costing data available. The Agency has also reestimated the 
fees that would be imposed on tolerance actions for inert ingredients 
and has reconsidered several key provisions in its proposal that may 
affect the inerts industry. EPA is seeking comment on this new 
information and revised processes.

DATES: Written comments, identified by the docket number OPP-30115B, 
must be received on or before August 23, 2000. This date will not be 
extended.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be submitted by mail, electronically, or in

[[Page 45570]]

person. Please follow the detailed instructions for each method as 
provided in Unit I of the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section. To ensure 
proper receipt by EPA, it is essential that you identify docket control 
number OPP-30115B in the subject line on the first page of your 
response.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Carol Peterson, Office of Pesticide 
Programs (7506C), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Ariel Rios 
Bldg., 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460; telephone 
number: (703) 305-6598; e-mail address: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. General Information

A. Does this Notice Apply to Me?

    This proposed rule may directly affect any person or company who 
might petition the Agency for new tolerances, hold a pesticide 
registration with existing tolerances, or any person or company who is 
interested in obtaining or retaining a tolerance in the absence of a 
registration. This group can include pesticide manufacturers or 
formulators, companies that manufacture inert ingredients, importers of 
food, grower groups, or any person who seeks a tolerance. Federal, 
State, local, territorial, or tribal government agencies that petition 
for, or hold, emergency exemption tolerances are exempt from this rule. 
The vast majority of potentially affected categories and entities may 
include, but are not limited to:

 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                           Examples of
                                                           Potentially
           Category                NAICS        SIC         Affected
                                                            Entities
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chemical Industry.............       325320       0286  pesticide
                                                         chemical
                                                         manufacturers,
                                                         formulators
  ............................       115112       0287  chemical
                                                         manufacturers
                                                         of inert
                                                         ingredients
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    This listing is not intended to be exhaustive, but rather provides 
a guide for readers regarding entities likely to be regulated by this 
action. Other types of entities not listed above also could potentially 
be affected by this notice. If available, the four-digit Standard 
Industrial Classification (SIC) codes or the six-digit North American 
Industrial Classification System (NAICS) codes have been provided to 
assist you and others in determining whether or not this notice applies 
to certain entities. To determine whether you or your business is 
regulated by this action, you should carefully examine the 
applicability provisions in this document (see Unit IV). If you have 
any questions regarding the applicability of this action to a 
particular entity, consult the person listed in the ``FOR FURTHER 
INFORMATION CONTACT'' section.

B. How Can I Get Additional Information or Copies of this Document or 
Other Documents?

    1. Electronically. You may obtain electronic copies of this 
document and various support documents from the EPA Internet Home Page 
at http://www.epa.gov/. On the Home Page select ``Laws and 
Regulations'' and then look up the entry for this document under the 
``Federal Register, Environmental Documents.'' You can also go directly 
to the ``Federal Register'' listings at http://www.epa.gov/homepage/fedrgstr.
    2. In person. If you have any questions or need additional 
information about this action, you may contact the person identified in 
the ``FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT'' section. In addition, the 
official record for this notice, including the public version, has been 
established under docket control number OPP-30115B (including comments 
and data submitted electronically as described below). A public version 
of this record, including printed, paper versions of any electronic 
comments, which does not include any information claimed as 
Confidential Business Information (CBI), is available for inspection in 
Rm. 119, Crystal Mall #2, 1921 Jefferson Davis Highway, Arlington, VA, 
from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal 
holidays. The Public Information and Records Integrity Branch telephone 
number is (703) 305-5805.

C. How and to Whom Do I Submit Comments?

    You may submit comments through the mail, in person, or 
electronically. Be sure to identify the appropriate docket number 
(i.e., ``OPP-30115B'') in your correspondence.
    1. By mail. Submit written comments to: Public Information and 
Records Integrity Branch, Information Resources and Services Division 
(7502C), Office of Pesticide Programs, Environmental Protection Agency, 
Ariel Rios Bldg., 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., Washington, DC 20460.
    2. In person or by courier. Deliver written comments to: Public 
Information and Records Integrity Branch, Information Resources and 
Services Division (7502C), Office of Pesticide Programs, Environmental 
Protection Agency, Rm. 119, Crystal Mall #2, 1921 Jefferson Davis 
Highway, Arlington, VA.
    3. Electronically. Submit your comments and/or data electronically 
by e-mail to: [email protected]. Do not submit any information 
electronically that you consider to be CBI. Submit electronic comments 
as an ASCII file, avoiding the use of special characters and any form 
of encryption. Comment and data will also be accepted on standard 
computer disks in WordPerfect or ASCII file format. All comments and 
data in electronic form must be identified by the docket control number 
[OPP-30115B]. Electronic comments on this notice may also be filed 
online at many Federal Depository Libraries.

D. How Should I Handle Confidential Business Information that I Want to 
Submit to the Agency?

    You may claim information that you submit in response to this 
document as CBI by marking any part or all of that information as CBI. 
Information so marked will not be disclosed except in accordance with 
procedures set forth in 40 CFR part 2. A copy of the comment that does 
not contain CBI must be submitted for inclusion in the public record. 
Information not marked confidential will be included in the public 
docket by EPA without prior notice. If you have any questions about CBI 
or the procedures for claiming CBI, please consult the person 
identified in the ``FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT'' section.

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

    We invite you to provide your views on the information presented, 
new approaches to be considered, the potential impacts of the 
information (including possible unintended consequences), and any data 
or information that you would like the Agency to consider during the 
development of the final action. You may find the following suggestions 
helpful for preparing your comments:

[[Page 45571]]

     Explain your views as clearly as possible.
     Describe any assumptions that you used.
     Provide solid technical information and/or data to support 
your views.
     If you estimate potential burden or costs, explain how you 
arrived at the estimate.
     Tell us what you support, as well as what you disagree 
with.
     Provide specific examples to illustrate your concerns.
     Offer alternative ways to improve the rule or collection 
activity.
     Make sure to submit your comments by the deadline in this 
notice.
     At the beginning of your comments (e.g., as part of the 
``Subject'' heading), be sure to properly identify the document you are 
commenting on. You can do this by providing the docket number assigned 
to the notice, along with the name, date, and Federal Register 
citation.

II. Terminology

    Pesticide products contain both ``active'' and ``inert'' 
ingredients. These two terms are defined in Federal law as part of the 
Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). An inert 
ingredient is defined as any ingredient in a pesticide product that is 
not intended to affect the target pest. Because of the potential to 
mislead the public into assuming that all inert ingredients are non-
toxic or harmless, EPA has asked formulators to use the term ``other 
ingredients'' instead of ``inert ingredient'' on their label ingredient 
statements. As a result both terms are now used to identify ingredients 
used in pesticide products in addition to active ingredients. To avoid 
any regulatory confusion, however, throughout this document and all 
subsequent documents relating to tolerance processing fees, EPA will to 
use the term ``inert ingredients'' to describe these non-active 
chemicals.

III. Background

    Legislative changes included in the Food Quality Protection Act of 
1996 (FQPA) put a greater emphasis on inert ingredients and clarified 
that these chemicals are covered by the definition of a pesticide 
chemical under the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. Subsequently, on June 
9, 1999 EPA issued a proposed rule to revise its existing tolerance fee 
regulations to account for new provisions affecting tolerance reviews 
for all pesticide chemicals, including inerts. At the same time, the 
Agency updated the fee amounts to reflect the increase in processing 
costs since the last time tolerance fees were amended 15 years ago. In 
its proposed rule, EPA outlined a regulatory scheme to make, to the 
extent possible, the tolerance processing system self-supporting as 
directed by statute. While the Agency historically has not charged a 
fee for tolerance actions for inert ingredients, the increased costs of 
reviews coupled with the statutory mandate to fully cover the cost of 
processing tolerances via fees has resulted in EPA proposing tolerance 
fees for them.

IV. Data/Information Available for Comments

A. Why is EPA Seeking Comment on this Additional Data and Information?

    In response to its proposed rule, EPA received 27 comments from 
industry stakeholders--24 of them were from the inerts industry. These 
commentors expressed their view that the tolerance fee rule, as 
proposed, would result in severe consequences to both their industry 
and the pesticide industry as a whole. Many commentors pointed out that 
inert ingredients are low profit products and that companies that 
manufacture these products derived limited profits from their sales in 
pesticide formulations. A number of comments also were received on the 
mechanism for collecting fees for the reassessment of inert ingredient 
tolerances or exemptions. Commentors expressed concern that unlike 
registrants of active ingredients, the identities of the parties that 
may be subject to an inert tolerance reassessment fee are not public 
information. Not knowing who else holds responsibility for the required 
fee would impede attempts to enter into arrangements to share in the 
costs of fees. In response to these concerns, EPA has revisited this 
issue and has refined its analysis and proposed process. The approach 
outlined in this document is an effort to ease the regulatory and 
economic impact to this sector of the pesticide industry. The Agency is 
seeking comment on whether these measures are appropriate.
    Since the close of the comment period for the proposed rule, EPA 
has carefully considered the concerns raised. First, the Agency has 
revised its resource estimates for inert tolerance actions which has 
resulted in lower fees. Second, EPA divided the inerts tolerance 
exemption category into those chemicals that require a full review from 
those that need only a minimal scientific review. The resulting fees 
for inerts tolerance actions are substantially reduced and more 
accurately reflect actual costs than the fees that were initially 
proposed. Third, for inert tolerances requiring reassessment, EPA is 
clarifying the notification process. The Agency could put into place a 
comprehensive process aimed at expanding cost sharing opportunities and 
reducing the economic impact.
    Finally, EPA is introducing changes designed to address a company's 
size and ability to pay. For example, the Agency is revising its 
definition of a small business for the purpose of determining 
eligibility of fee waivers. A business will be considered small, and 
therefore eligible for a fee waiver, if it has 500 or fewer employees 
and an average annual gross revenue from global pesticide sales of less 
than $60 million over the most recent 3 year-period. Further, for a 
business entity with one or more affiliates, the gross revenue limit 
shall apply to the total global pesticide sales for the entity and all 
of its affiliates, including the parent and subsidiaries. EPA also 
intends to decrease the proposed fee for requesting a fee waiver 
because the majority of companies that qualify for a fee waiver are 
likely to be companies that can least afford the waiver request fee. 
These two allowances to small businesses should reduce the number of 
unsupported tolerances and exemptions, and minimize the loss of 
chemicals available to pesticide formulators and growers.

B. What Additional Data and Information is EPA Making Available?

    The Agency is seeking comment on reestimates of the cost incurred 
in processing several types of tolerance actions of inert ingredients, 
as well as an overall approach to the collection of tolerance fees for 
them.
    1. Fee estimates. In its recalculations, EPA brought its 1997 cost 
estimates up to date with the latest data and labor rate figures. The 
1999 rate of $89,000 per Full-time Equivalent (FTE) was incorporated 
into the calculations, and the adjustment factor, which accounts for 
the activities EPA has proposed to waive, has also changed slightly 
from 1.48 to 1.24 for petitioned actions and from 1.23 to 1.29 for 
reassessment actions. Total annual costs for the Agency to process all 
inert tolerance actions are now estimated to be $11,393,254 based on 
actual data from fiscal years 1997, 1998, and 1999.
    The inerts tolerance fee category also was further subdivided to 
create a more accurate fee structure. The tolerance exemption actions 
requiring a minimal science review would be those petitions that are 
not accompanied by supporting health and safety studies, such as 
petitions for the establishment of tolerance exemptions for polymers 
that

[[Page 45572]]

are based on conformance with the Office of Pollution Prevention and 
Toxics' polymer exemption rule criteria.
    The proposed fees for inert ingredients are as follows. The 
complete revised cost estimates and fee derivations are contained in 
Unit V of this document.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                   Proposed Fee
                                         -------------------------------
                                             Original         Revised
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tolerance Petition Action...............
  Tolerance for an Inert Ingredient.....         $62,300         $70,900
  Tolerance Exemption for an Inert                59,300
   Ingredient...........................
  Tolerance Exemption for an Inert                                25,500
   Ingredient requiring science review..
  Tolerance Exemption for an Inert                                $2,800
   Ingredient minimal science review
   required.............................
Tolerance Reassessment Action...........
  Inert Ingredient Tolerance............        $201,400        $182,500
  Inert Ingredient Tolerance Exemption..          79,300
  Inert Ingredient Tolerance Exemption                           $62,100
   with science review..................
  Inert Ingredient Tolerance Exemption                            $3,600
   minimal science review required......
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    2. Sharing the costs of reassessment. Because many of EPA's records 
on inerts are old and a number of chemicals were ``grandfathered'' in 
when EPA first became responsible for regulating pesticides, a 
procedure for identifying the original petitioner for the purposes of 
levying tolerance reassessment fees is not possible. Presently, there 
are no mechanisms in place to identify all responsible parties on a 
company-by-company, tolerance-by-tolerance basis. Additionally, it may 
be extremely difficult to ascertain all of the parties that may utilize 
the inert tolerance and therefore would be expected to pay (or share in 
the cost of paying) the fee since these parties may not be exclusively 
registrants.
    To address this problem, EPA could issue a public notice in the 
Federal Register for any person or company who may have an economic 
interest in the maintenance of the inert tolerance or tolerance 
exemption. The notice would be published 6 months in advance of 
initiating the reassessments of the inert tolerances or exemptions and 
will consist of a list of those inert chemicals that are scheduled for 
tolerance reassessment in the subsequent 6 month period. At the same 
time, a separate letter would be sent to all registrants that have one 
or more of the scheduled inert ingredients in their products, and all 
known inert producers who are not registrants. The notice and letters 
would announce the pending tolerance reassessments and issue a call for 
the required fee to support each inert ingredient. In these letters, 
EPA will suggest that it may be incumbent upon each registrant to 
contact and coordinate with their supplier(s), even if the identity of 
their inert ingredients are not known to them. If a company wishes to 
protect the identity of its inert product, it may opt to designate a 
third party to act on its behalf for the purposes of arranging payment. 
The Agency also believes that the industry trade associations could 
assist in this effort to the extent allowed by law.
    EPA recognizes that not all current manufacturers of inerts may 
wish to support the reassessment of the tolerance or tolerance 
exemption. Based on the notification process outlined above, EPA 
anticipates that those with an economic stake in the tolerance will pay 
all or a portion of the appropriate fee. As more companies participate 
in the cost sharing, the less the fee will be to each individual 
company. If the revenues received exceed the required amount, EPA will 
refund an equitable amount to all parties who paid in proportion to the 
percentage of the total fee and the amount each company submitted. If 
receipts do not cover the required fee, EPA will contact those parties 
who have paid to request additional monies. EPA strongly believes that 
it is clearly within a company's best interest to cost share.
    3. Transition. Petitioned inerts tolerance actions that are on 
EPA's published Work Plan for year 2000 and for suceeding years would 
be subject to new tolerance fees. Tolerance actions for inert chemicals 
that are currently pending review and not scheduled on the published 
Work Plan at the time of promulgation of the rule would be subject to 
the new fees, but not until the Agency has actively scheduled them for 
review. EPA would not issue notices for fees for all pending inerts 
tolerance actions at the same time. Instead, it would notify each 
petitioner in advance of the pending review of the upcoming review and 
request remittance of the required fee. EPA's Work Plan can be found on 
the Internet at http://www.epa.gov/opprd001/workplan.
    For inerts tolerance reassessment actions, the transition provision 
presented in the proposal still applies. That is, a chemical will not 
be considered officially reassessed until the appropriate tolerance fee 
is paid. Thus, those inert chemical tolerances or exemptions that are 
reassessed prior to promulgation of the final rule will be subject to 
the new fee. However, since the majority of existing inert chemicals 
are not scheduled for tolerance reassessment until 2003 or later, they 
are virtually unaffected.
    4. Allowances for small companies. Many parties that commented on 
the proposed rule felt that small businesses should receive some form 
of concession based on their ability to pay. Commentors were not in 
agreement, however, as to the appropriate definition of a small 
business. Currently, FIFRA defines a small business as one with fewer 
than 150 employees and 3-year average annual sales of less than $40 
million. This definition, however, may no longer reflect the pesticide 
industry. Therefore, EPA could consider a business small for the 
purposes of imposing a tolerance fee, if it has 500 or fewer employees 
and an average gross revenue from global pesticide sales of less than 
$60 million over the most recent 3-year period. For a business entity 
with one or more affiliates, the gross revenue limit shall apply to the 
total global pesticide sales for the entity and all of its affiliates 
including the parent and subsidiaries. While this definition 
encompasses an increased number of companies, each company would still 
need to apply for a fee waiver. The Agency will issue a Pesticide 
Registration (PR) notice in the near future that will outline how a 
company may apply for a fee waiver, what types of information should be 
submitted, and other criteria for the Agency to make a determination. 
The PR notice will be available for public comment before being 
implemented.
    While some companies commented that a fee to request a waiver is 
useful in deterring frivolous requests and tying up Agency resources, 
many commentors

[[Page 45573]]

cited the increased waiver fee amount itself as serving as a deterrent 
to deserving companies from requesting a waiver for fear that they 
would lose this money if the request was not granted. EPA agrees and 
intends to retain the existing fee waiver request fee of $1,700 per 
request and will refund it if the waiver is granted. In addition, if 
the fee waiver request is denied, EPA will credit this amount toward 
the appropriate tolerance fee.

V. Tolerance Action Cost Estimates for Inert Ingredients--
Derivation of Costs--Notes to Tables 1 and 2

    1. Resource estimates for each division (Columns A, B, C, D and M, 
N, O, P). Included in any application for a pesticide registration for 
a pesticide to be used in or on a food item, a petition to establish or 
exempt from the requirement of a tolerance must also be submitted. 
Programmatic estimates were derived from resource needs to process only 
tolerance petitions and not other aspects of the registration 
application. The Registration Division (RD), Health Effects Division 
(HED), Environmental Fate and Effects Division (EFED), and Special 
Review and Reregistration Division (SRRD) provided individual estimates 
for the resources necessary to process each type of inert tolerance 
petitioned actions. These estimates are based on current Agency policy 
for regulating inert ingredients as outlined in its Policy Statement of 
April, 1997. It is important to note that the estimates do not reflect 
costs to the Agency with respect to the possible revisions of the data 
requirements for these other pesticide ingredients.
    Estimates were given in Full-Time Equivalents (FTEs) per Unit. One 
FTE, which is defined as the number of hours a full time employee works 
in 1 year, is equal to 2080 hours. Each division within the program 
provided a best-estimate of burden hours based on its own method of 
accounting. A ``Unit'' was defined in the proposed rule as a petition 
in the case of a new tolerance actions and a chemical for tolerances 
that need to be reassessed. For a vast majority of cases involving 
inert tolerances (new or existing), the number of tolerances per 
petition or tolerances per chemical is one. Hence in the tables 
presented in this document, one unit equals one tolerance.
    The Biopesticides and Pollution Prevention Division provided 
resource estimates for the small number of biological inert 
ingredients. Total costs were estimated in a like manner to 
conventional inert chemicals. The cost to process a tolerance exemption 
for a biological other ingredient is estimated at $45,746 per year. 
Since the Agency has chosen to waive all tolerance costs associated 
with biopesticides, this cost is not included in the table, yet is 
incorporated in the derivation of the adjustment factor (column K).
    Other divisions not listed are not directly involved in processing 
or evaluating tolerance petitions, but may have a supporting role in 
which the associated costs are contained in the Agency's overhead rate 
(column G and S).
    2. Programmatic resource estimates (Columns E and Q). Columns E and 
Q contain the total resource estimates for the Office of Pesticide 
Programs. By summing the resource needs for each division within the 
program (columns A, B, C, D, and M, N, O, P, respectively), the total 
resources estimated in FTEs per tolerance action are calculated.

    For petitioned actions: E=A+B+C+D.
    For reassessment actions: Q=M+N+O+P.

    3. Annual salary for a full-time equivalent (Columns F and R). 
Columns F and R contain figures for the average annual salary 
(including benefits) of an Agency employee during fiscal year 1999. The 
$89,000 includes the two cost of living increases in the government GS 
pay scale that occurred since the proposed rule. In 1997 the average 
annual Agency salary and the figure used in the fee calculations was 
$78,000 per FTE.
    4. Overhead rate (Columns G and S). Overhead rates for both new 
tolerance processing activities and existing tolerance reassessments 
(columns G and S, respectively) were calculated as a percentage of 
overall Agency activities that directly and indirectly support EPA's 
mandate to set and maintain pesticide residue tolerances on food. The 
overhead rate used in this document is the same as was used in the 
proposed rule. The methodology used to derive each rate is explained in 
section 2.1.1 of the Economic Analysis to the Proposed Rule. Further 
explanation was also provided during the comment period of the proposal 
as part of supplementary materials. Both of these documents are in the 
official docket for this rulemaking (OPP-30115).
    5. Total cost per tolerance (Columns H and T). The figures provided 
in columns H and T reflect the Agency's estimation of how much it costs 
to process a single new or old tolerance. The total cost per tolerance 
is derived by summing the direct FTE costs with indirect FTE costs and 
converting this into dollars. This is illustrated by the following 
equations:

    Direct costs = Total FTEs per Tolerance e.g., (columns E and Q)
    Indirect costs = Total FTEs per Tolerance * Overhead 
rate (columns G and S) e.g., indirect costs = (E*G) and 
(Q*S)
    Total FTE costs per Tolerance = Direct costs + Indirect costs 
e.g., total FTE costs = [E + (E*G)] and [Q + 
(Q*S)] Total dollar costs per Tolerance = Total FTE costs 
* Annual salary of an FTE (columns F and R) e.g., H= [E + 
(E*G)]*F and T= [Q + 
(Q*S)]*R

    6. Number of tolerances per year and the total annual cost (Columns 
I, J and U, V). Columns I and J, and U and V, are included in the 
tables for illustrative purposes only and do not enter into the final 
fee calculations. However, the total annual costs of processing 
tolerances for all chemicals is used to calculate the overall 
adjustment factors which appears in columns K and W of the tables in 
this document.
    7. Recovering costs of waived actions (Columns K and W). Columns K 
and W contain the adjustment factor which is applied to the total cost 
per tolerance action to recover the costs of tolerance actions for 
which the Agency chose to waive the fee. It is not specific to other 
ingredients (inerts). It is derived from the estimated cost for 
tolerances for all pesticide chemicals. For all petitioned tolerance 
actions, waived actions total $2,450,224. Out of a total annual costs 
of $13,641,457, $892,047 is theoretically paid through registration 
fees leaving a balance of $12,749,410 to be collected via new tolerance 
fees. The adjustment factor, or amount which fees must be raised to 
recover these costs is 1.24. For tolerance reassessment actions, waived 
actions total $6,291,789, and total costs to be collected via 
tolerances fees is $27,751,995. Hence the adjustment factor for 
tolerance reassessment fees is 1.29. The following equations are 
applicable to both new and reassessed tolerance actions:

    Total cost--Portion of the cost paid through other fees = 
Balance (cost to be recovered from tolerance fees)
    Waived cost/(Balance of total cost--Waived costs) * 100 = 
Percent increase or Adjustment factor

    8. Derivation of tolerance fee (Columns L and X). The calculated 
tolerance fee is derived by multiplying the total cost per tolerance by 
the adjustment factor, i.e., (H*K) and (T*W). The 
actual fee that will be imposed per tolerance type is the calculated 
fee rounded off to the nearest hundred dollars.
    9. The complete revised cost estimates and fee derivations are 
shown in the following tables 1 and 2.

[[Page 45574]]



                                                           Table 1.--Cost Estimates for Inert Ingredients Tolerance Petitioned Actions
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                       A            B            C            D           E             F            G             H            I             J            K             L
                                 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                   FTEs/Tol./   FTEs/Tol./   FTEs/Tol./   FTEs/Tol./
                                    Division     Division     Division     Division       OPP                     Overhead    Total Cost/   Tols. per   Total Annual     Adjm't
                                 ----------------------------------------------------   Total         $/FTE         rate         Tol.          year         Cost         factor   Calculated Fee
                                       RD          HED          EFED         SRRD     FTEs/Tol.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Inert Tolerance.................         0.08         0.13         0.04         0.00       0.25          89,000       1.57      $57,182.00          1      $57,182.00       1.24      $70,905.68
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Inert Exemption w/Science rev...         0.04         0.04         0.01         0.00       0.09          89,000       1.57      $20,585.70          2      $41,171.40       1.24      $25,526.27
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Inert Exemption w/min. Science           0.01         0.00         0.00         0.00       0.01          89,000       1.57       $2,287.30          6      $13,723.80       1.24       $2,836.25
 rev............................
================================================================================================================================================================================================
    TOTAL.......................                                                                                                                    9     $112,077.20
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


                                                         Table 2.--Costs Estimates for Inert Ingredient Tolerance Reassessment Actions
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                               M            N            O            P           Q          R          S            T           U             V             W           X
                                         -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                           FTEs/Tol./   FTEs/Tol./   FTEs/Tol./   FTEs/Tol./
                                            Division     Division     Division     Division       OPP               Overhead    Total Cost/    Tols.                      Adjm't
                                         ----------------------------------------------------   Total      $/FTE      rate         Tol.         per    Total Annual Cost  factor  Calculated Fee
                                               RD          HED          EFED         SRRD     FTEs/Tol.                                         year
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\1\---------------------------------------------
Inert Tolerance.........................         0.06         0.12         0.02         0.30       0.50     89,000      2.18     $141,510.00        1        $141,510.00    1.29     $182,547.90
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Inert Exemption w/Science rev...........         0.04         0.04         0.01         0.08       0.17     89,000      2.18      $48,113.40      230     $11,066,082.00    1.29      $62,066.29
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Inert Exemption w/min. Science rev......         0.01         0.00         0.00         0.00       0.01     89,000      2.18       $2,830.20       26          73,585.20    1.29       $3,650.95
================================================================================================================================================================================================
    TOTAL...............................                                                                                                          257     $11,281,177.20
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Projected estimates for the years 2003 through 2006.

VI. Do Any Regulatory Assessment Requirements Apply to this Action?

    Yes. This action discusses and requests comments on additional data 
and/or information related to a proposed rule that was previously 
published in the Federal Register on June 9, 1999 (64 FR 31039) (FRL-
6028-2). For information about the applicability of the regulatory 
assessment requirements to the proposed rule and this supplemental 
proposal, please refer to the discussion in Unit VII of that document.

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 180

    Administrative practice and procedure, Agricultural commodities, 
Pesticides and pests, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.

    Dated: July 17, 2000.
Susan H. Wayland,
Acting Assistant Administrator Office of Prevention, Pesticides and 
Toxic Substances.
[FR Doc. 00-18646 Filed 7-21-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-F