[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 46 (Wednesday, March 11, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10576-10578]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-5199]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OPP-2008-0922; FRL-8402-2]


Pesticides; Availability of Updated Schedule for Registration 
Review

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: EPA is announcing the availability of an updated schedule for 
the pesticide registration review program, the periodic review of all 
registered pesticides mandated by section 3(g) of the Federal 
Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). The updated 
schedule provides the timetable for opening dockets for the next 4 
years of the registration review program - fiscal year (FY) 2009 to FY 
2012 - and includes information on the FY 2007 and FY 2008 registration 
review cases.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kevin Costello, Special Review and 
Reregistration Division (7508P), Office of Pesticide Programs, 
Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., 
Washington, DC 20460-

[[Page 10577]]

0001; telephone number: (703) 305-5026; fax number: (703) 308-8090; e-
mail address: [email protected].

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 
interest to a wide range of stakeholders including environmental, human 
health, farm worker, and agricultural advocates; the chemical industry; 
pesticide users; and members of the public interested in the sale, 
distribution, or use of pesticides. Since others also may 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. How Can I Get Copies of this Document and Other Related Information?

    1. Docket. EPA has established a docket for this action under 
docket identification (ID) number EPA-HQ-OPP-2008-0922. Publicly 
available docket materials are available either in the electronic 
docket at http://www.regulations.gov, or, if only available in hard 
copy, at the Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP) Regulatory Public 
Docket in Rm. S-4400, One Potomac Yard (South Bldg.), 2777 S. Crystal 
Dr., Arlington, VA. The hours of operation of this Docket Facility are 
from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal 
holidays. The Docket Facility telephone number is (703) 305-5805.
    2. Electronic access. You may access this Federal Register document 
electronically through the EPA Internet under the ``Federal Register'' 
listings at http://www.epa.gov/fedrgstr.

II. Background

A. What Action is the Agency Taking?

    EPA is issuing an updated schedule for the registration review 
program, the Agency's periodic review of all registered pesticides 
mandated by section 3(g) of FIFRA. This updated schedule provides the 
timetable for opening dockets for the next 4 years of the program - FY 
2009 to FY 2012.
    The Pesticide Registration Improvement Act of 2003 as amended in 
2007 (PRIA II) requires EPA to complete registration review decisions 
by October 1, 2022, for all pesticides registered as of October 1, 
2007. To ensure meeting this requirement, EPA will open approximately 
70 pesticide registration review dockets annually beginning in FY 2009 
and continuing through 2017, so that almost all pesticides registered 
at the start of the program will have dockets opened by 2017. Some 
biopesticide dockets will be opened in 2018 through 2020. The Agency 
anticipates that this scheduling will provide adequate lead times to 
complete registration review decisions for all currently registered 
pesticides by 2022. During the first several years of the program, EPA 
is developing a pipeline of pesticides under review so that it will 
have the capacity to make 70 or more decisions each year. EPA expects a 
total of about 710 pesticide cases comprising 1,136 pesticide active 
ingredients to undergo registration review by 2022.
    Each pesticide's place on the schedule is generally determined by 
its baseline date -- the date of its last substantive review -- with 
the oldest cases going first. The baseline date for a pesticide that 
was subject to reregistration is the date of the Reregistration 
Eligibility Decision (RED). The baseline date for pesticides that were 
not subject to reregistration is the registration date of the first 
product containing the active ingredient. Although, the schedule 
generally is constructed chronologically, some registration review 
cases are grouped in the schedule for greater efficiency. For example, 
pesticides that are chemically related or use-related (e.g., 
organophosphate and carbamate chemical classes, the coppers group, and 
the pyrethroids, pyrethrins, and syngergists group) generally will be 
reviewed during the same time frame.
    As reflected in the updated schedule, EPA also intends to review 
the neonicotinoid pesticides as a group, and has moved several of these 
pesticides ahead in the schedule so that dockets for all will open no 
later than FY 2012. The neonicotinoids are a class of insecticides with 
a common mode of action that affects the central nervous system of 
insects, causing paralysis and death. European studies suggest that 
neonicotinic residues can accumulate in pollen and nectar of treated 
plants, and represent a potential risk to pollinators. The registration 
review docket for the neonicotinoid imidacloprid opened in December 
2008, and the docket for nithiazine is scheduled to be opened in March 
2009. To better ensure a ``level playing field'' for the neonicotinoid 
class as a whole, and to best take advantage of new research as it 
becomes available, the Agency has moved the docket openings for the 
remaining neonicotinoids on the registration review schedule 
(acetamiprid, clothianidin, dinotefuran, nitrapyrin, thiacloprid, and 
thiamethoxam) to FY 2012.
    EPA also announces that beginning in 2009, all new dockets for 
conventional pesticide cases entering registration review will have a 
60-day public comment period. During the comment period on new 
registration review dockets, the Agency asks interested persons to 
review Summary Documents and other information in the dockets, and 
identify any additional information that the Agency should consider 
during the registration reviews of these pesticides. Based on over 2 
years of experience in implementing the registration review program, 
EPA believes that 60 days will both allow the public to review these 
dockets and identify any additional information that the Agency should 
consider, and enable the Agency to open 70 new dockets annually and 
comply with the PRIA II requirement that each pesticide case be 
reevaluated within a 15-year timeframe. The comment period for 
antimicrobial, biopesticide, and microbial pesticide cases has 
previously been set at 60 days.
    Background information on the program is provided at: http://www.epa.gov/oppsrrd1/registration_review/.The current schedule is 
available at: http://www.epa.gov/oppsrrd1/registration_review/schedule.htm. An explanation of the schedule is at: http://www.epa.gov/oppsrrd1/registration_review/explanation.htm. Information about the 
neonicotinoids and other groups of related pesticides beginning 
registration review is available at: http://www.epa.gov/oppsrrd1/registration_review/highlights.htm.

B. What is the Agency's Authority for Taking this Action?

    EPA is announcing this updated schedule for the registration review 
program as provided in 40 CFR 155.42(d) and 155.44 of the Procedural 
Regulations for Registration Review: Final Rule (http://www.epa.gov/fedrgstr/EPA-PEST/2006/August/Day-09/p12904.htm). The Agency may 
consider issues raised by the public or registrant when reviewing a 
posted schedule, to schedule a pesticide registration review, or to 
modify the schedule of a pesticide registration review as appropriate. 
This schedule will be updated at least once every year.

List of Subjects

    Environmental protection, Agricultural commodities, Pesticides and 
pests.


[[Page 10578]]


    Dated: February 9, 2009.
Richard P. Keigwin, Jr.
Director, Special Review and Reregistration Division, Office of 
Pesticide Programs.
[FR Doc. E9-5199 Filed 3-10-09; 8:45 a.m.]
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