[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 196 (Tuesday, October 12, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 60624-60625]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-22874]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[OPP-2003-0357, FRL-7826-3]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to OMB; 
Comment Request; EPA ICR No. 0155.08; OMB Control No. 2070-0029; 
Certification of Pesticide Applicators

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) (44 
U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), this document announces that the following 
Information Collection Request (ICR) has been forwarded to the Office 
of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval: Certification 
of Pesticide Applicators; EPA ICR No. 0155.08; OMB Control No. 2070-
0029. The ICR, which is abstracted below, describes the nature of the 
information collection activity and its expected burden and costs.

DATES: Additional comments may be submitted on or before November 12, 
2004.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nathanael Martin, Field and External 
Affairs Division (7506C), Office of Pesticide Programs, Environmental 
Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460; 
telephone number: (703) 305-6475; fax number: (703) 305-5884; e-mail 
address: [email protected].

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, referencing docket ID number OPP-2003-
0357, to (1) EPA online using EDOCKET (our preferred method), by email 
to [email protected], or by mail to: Public Information and Records 
Integrity Branch (PIRIB), Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP), 
Environmental Protection Agency, Mailcode: 7502C, 1200 Pennsylvania 
Ave., NW., Washington, DC, 20460, and (2) OMB at: Office of Information 
and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget (OMB), 
Attention: Desk Officer for EPA, 725 17th Street, NW., Washington, DC 
20503.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: EPA has submitted the following ICR to OMB 
for review and approval according to the procedures prescribed in 5 CFR 
1320.12. The Federal Register document, required under 5 CFR 1320.8(d), 
soliciting comments on this collection of information was published on 
March 31, 2004 (69 FR 16917). EPA received three comments on this ICR 
during the 60-day comment period and they are addressed in the ICR.
    EPA has established a public docket for this ICR under Docket ID 
No. OPP-2003-0357, which is available for public viewing at the Public 
Information and Records Integrity Branch (PIRIB), Rm. 119, Crystal Mall 
2, 1801 Bell St., Arlington, VA. This docket facility is open 
from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal 
holidays. The docket telephone number is (703) 305-5805. An electronic 
version of the public docket is available through EPA Dockets (EDOCKET) 
at http://www.epa.gov/edocket. Use EDOCKET to submit or view public 
comments, access the index listing of the contents of the public 
docket, and to access those documents in the public docket that are 
available electronically. Once in the system, select ``search,'' then 
key in the docket ID number identified above.
    Any comments related to this ICR should be submitted to EPA and OMB 
within 30 days of this notice. Please note, EPA's policy is that public 
comments, whether submitted electronically or on paper, will be made 
available for public viewing in EDOCKET as EPA receives them and 
without change, unless the comment contains copyrighted material, CBI, 
or other information whose public disclosure is restricted by statute. 
When EPA identifies a comment containing copyrighted material, EPA will 
provide a reference to that material in the version of the comment that 
is placed in EDOCKET. The entire printed comment, including the 
copyrighted material, will be available in the public docket. Although 
identified as an item in the official docket, information claimed as 
CBI, or whose disclosure is otherwise restricted by statute, is not 
included in the official public docket, and will not be available for 
public viewing in EDOCKET. For further information about the electronic 
docket, see EPA's Federal Register notice describing the electronic 
docket at 67 FR 38102 (May 31, 2002), or go to www.epa.gov/edocket.

ICR Title: Certification of Pesticide Applicators

    ICR Status: This is a request for extension of an existing approved 
collection that is currently scheduled to expire on October 31, 2004. 
EPA is asking OMB to approve this ICR for

[[Page 60625]]

three years. Under 5 CFR 1320.12(b)(2), the Agency may continue to 
conduct or sponsor the collection of information while the submission 
is pending at OMB.
    Abstract: FIFRA allows the EPA to classify a pesticide as 
``restricted use'' if the pesticide meets certain toxicity or risk 
criteria. Restricted use pesticides, because of their potential to harm 
human health or the environment, may be applied only by a certified 
applicator or by a person under the direct supervision of a certified 
applicator. A person must meet certain standards of competency to 
become a certified applicator. States can be delegated the certified 
applicator program, but it must be approved by the Agency before it can 
be implemented. In non-participating entities, EPA administers the 
certification program.
    An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required 
to respond to a collection of information that is subject to approval 
under the PRA, unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. 
The OMB control numbers for EPA's information collections appear on the 
collection instruments or instructions, in the Federal Register notices 
for related rulemakings and ICR notices, and, if the collection is 
contained in a regulation, in a table of OMB approval numbers in 40 CFR 
part 9.
    Burden Statement: The annual ``respondent'' burden for this ICR is 
estimated to be 4,412 hours. According to the Paperwork Reduction Act, 
``burden'' means the total time, effort, or financial resources 
expended by persons to generate, maintain, retain, or disclose or 
provide information to or for a Federal agency. For this collection, it 
is the time reading the regulations, planning the necessary data 
collection activities, conducting tests, analyzing data, generating 
reports and completing other required paperwork, and storing, filing, 
and maintaining the data. The agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a 
person is not required to respond to, a collection of information 
unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. The OMB 
control number for this information collection appear at the beginning 
and the end of this document. In addition OMB control numbers for EPA's 
regulations, after initial display in the final rule, are listed in 40 
CFR part 9.
    The following is a summary of the burden estimates taken from the 
ICR:
    Respondents/affected entities: You may be affected by this action 
if you run an EPA approved certified pesticide applicator program for 
restricted use pesticides or are a certified pesticide applicator using 
restricted use pesticides that must comply with requirements of Section 
11 of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act and 40 
CFR part 171.
    Estimated total number of potential respondents: 424,398.
    Frequency of response: As needed or annually, depending on the 
category of respondent.
    Estimated total/average number of responses for each respondent: 1-
3.
    Estimated total annual burden hours: 1,311,368.
    Estimated total annual costs: $25,108,623.
    Changes in the ICR since the last approval:
    The estimated paperwork burden has increased slightly from 
1,285,865 to 1,311,368 hours due to an expected increase in the number 
of certified commercial applicators participating in the EPA-
administered program. EPA will begin administering a private applicator 
program in the Navajo Indian Country within the next 3 years, thus 
increasing the number of applicators subject to the information 
collection activities. The cost burden has risen as well, primarily as 
a result of inflation from $21,456,058 to $25,108,623.

    Dated: September 28, 2004.
Oscar Morales,
Director, Collection Strategies Division.
[FR Doc. 04-22874 Filed 10-8-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P