[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 52 (Tuesday, March 17, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15168-15170]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-05445]



[[Page 15168]]

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

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OPP-2020-0090; FRL-10006-38]


Carbaryl and Methomyl Registration Review; Draft Endangered 
Species Act Biological Evaluations; Notice of Availability

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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

SUMMARY: This notice announces the availability of the Environmental 
Protection Agency's (EPA or the Agency) draft biological evaluations 
(BEs) for the registration review of the pesticides carbaryl and 
methomyl and opens a public comment period on these documents.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before May 18, 2020.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by docket identification 
(ID) number EPA-HQ-OPP-2020-0090, by one of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the online instructions for submitting comments. Do not submit 
electronically any information you consider to be Confidential Business 
Information (CBI) or other information whose disclosure is restricted 
by statute.
     Mail: OPP Docket, Environmental Protection Agency Docket 
Center (EPA/DC), (28221T), 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 
20460-0001.
     Hand Delivery: To make special arrangements for hand 
delivery or delivery of boxed information, please follow the 
instructions at http://www.epa.gov/dockets/contacts.html.
    Additional instructions on commenting or visiting the docket, along 
with more information about dockets generally, is available at http://www.epa.gov/dockets.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tracy Perry, Pesticide Re-Evaluation 
Division (7508P), Office of Pesticide Programs, Environmental 
Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20460-
0001; telephone number: (703) 308-0128; email 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 and/or the potential impacts of 
pesticide use on threatened or endangered (listed) species and 
designated critical habitat. 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. What should I consider as I prepare my comments for EPA?

    1. Submitting CBI. Do not submit this information to EPA through 
regulations.gov or email. Clearly mark the part or all of the 
information that you claim to be CBI. For CBI information in a disk or 
CD-ROM that you mail to EPA, mark the outside of the disk or CD-ROM as 
CBI and then identify electronically within the disk or CD-ROM the 
specific information that is claimed as CBI. In addition to one 
complete version of the comment that includes information claimed as 
CBI, a copy of the comment that does not contain the information 
claimed as CBI must be submitted for inclusion in the public docket. 
Information so marked will not be disclosed except in accordance with 
procedures set forth in 40 CFR part 2.
    2. Tips for preparing your comments. When preparing and submitting 
your comments, see the commenting tips at http://www.epa.gov/dockets/comments.html.
    3. Environmental justice. EPA seeks to achieve environmental 
justice, the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of any group, 
including minority and/or low income populations, in the development, 
implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and 
policies. To help address potential environmental justice issues, the 
Agency seeks information on any groups or segments of the population 
who, as a result of their location, cultural practices, or other 
factors, may have atypical or disproportionately high and adverse human 
health impacts or environmental effects from exposure to the pesticides 
discussed in this document, compared to the general population.

II. What action is the Agency taking?

A. Authority

    The Endangered Species Act (ESA) requires federal agencies, such as 
EPA, to ensure that their actions are not likely to jeopardize the 
continued existence of species listed as threatened or endangered under 
the ESA or destroy or adversely modify the designated critical habitat 
of such species. The registration review process of reevaluating a 
pesticide under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act 
(FIFRA) constitutes an EPA ``action'' under the ESA. If EPA determines 
a pesticide may affect a listed species or its designated critical 
habitat, EPA must initiate consultation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife 
Service and/or the National Marine Fisheries Service (collectively 
referred to as the Services), as appropriate. EPA initiates formal 
consultation with the Services through the conduct and transmittal of a 
BE with its findings.

B. Background

    The Agency has completed comprehensive, nationwide draft BEs for 
all carbaryl and methomyl uses relative to the potential effects on 
listed species and their designated critical habitats. The schedule for 
conducting the carbaryl and methomyl BEs was negotiated as part of a 
partial settlement agreement pursuant to a joint stipulation filed on 
October 18, 2019 and entered by the court on October 22, 2019, in 
Center for Biological Diversity et al. v. EPA et al. (N.D. Ca) (3:11-
cv-00293).
    In preparation for conducting the carbaryl and methomyl BEs and 
consistent with the objective to revise and refine the method used for 
the first three pilot BEs (final pilot BEs for chlorpyrifos, malathion, 
and diazinon were completed in January 2017), EPA proposed refinements 
to the BE process with its Draft Revised Method. EPA sought public 
comments on this Draft from May to August 2019 (45-day public comment 
period, extended for an additional 45 days), held a public meeting on 
June 10, 2019, and conducted tribal outreach and formal tribal 
consultation from July to October 2019. The Services and the U.S. 
Department of Agriculture (USDA) provided input on the Draft Revised 
Method through an interagency workgroup prior to public release of the 
document for comment. EPA evaluated public input and met again with the 
Services and USDA to discuss the comments from the public and input 
from the agencies.
    After reviewing comments received during the public comment period 
on the draft carbaryl and methomyl BEs, EPA will issue final BEs and a 
response to public comments document. If EPA determines that these 
pesticides may affect listed species and/or their designated critical 
habitats, EPA will initiate consultation with the Services.

[[Page 15169]]

Based on the BEs, the Services will then develop Biological Opinions 
for carbaryl and methomyl.
    Along with the draft BEs, EPA is posting an updated Revised Method 
document in this BE docket, as a supporting document. The updated 
Revised Method will also be posted in the Draft Revised Method docket 
(see docket ID number EPA-HQ-OPP-2019-0195 at www.regulations.gov), 
along with a response to public comments document. Some elements of the 
Revised Method include: (1) Incorporation of usage data to inform the 
likelihood that an ESA-listed species or designated critical habitat 
may be exposed to a pesticide; (2) incorporation of probabilistic 
approaches to determine the likelihood that an ESA-listed species will 
be adversely affected by a pesticide given the variability in the range 
of potential exposures and toxicological responses to listed species; 
and (3) incorporation of a weight-of-evidence framework for informing 
effects determinations.

C. Public Comments Sought

    Pursuant to 40 CFR 155.53(c) and consistent with the enhanced 
stakeholder engagement practices (see docket ID number EPA-HQ-OPP-2012-
0442), EPA is providing an opportunity, through this notice of 
availability, for interested parties to provide comments and input 
concerning the Agency's draft BEs for carbaryl and methomyl. Such 
comments could address, among other things, the application of the 
Agency's revised risk assessment methodologies and assumptions to these 
draft BEs for methomyl and carbaryl. In particular, EPA is seeking 
comment regarding the following specific aspects of the draft BEs.
    First, there are uncertainties in the spatial footprint associated 
with the non-agricultural uses (e.g., residential, forestry, rangeland) 
of carbaryl and there are limited data available to inform the extent 
of usage in any given area for these types of uses. EPA has previously 
requested input on availability of spatial data to define use sites and 
on usage data for non-agricultural uses, including seeking public 
comment on: The registration review plan for carbaryl in 2010; the NMFS 
biological opinion on chlorpyrifos, diazinon, and malathion in 2018; 
and the draft Revised Method for conducting national level endangered 
species risk assessments for pesticides in 2019. In light of these data 
limitations and associated uncertainties, EPA is seeking input on the 
evaluation of the likelihood of effects to an individual of a listed 
species from the use of carbaryl on non-agricultural use areas.
    Second, EPA has developed a systematic process, using the best 
available data, to determine if a pesticide is likely to adversely 
affect an individual of a listed species and, if so, then characterizes 
the strength of evidence associated with likely to be adversely 
affected (LAA) determinations. The criteria used to characterize the 
strength of evidence are described in Attachment 4-1 of the BEs. EPA is 
seeking input on these strength-of-evidence criteria.
    Third, a number of draft LAA determinations were made for methomyl 
and carbaryl based on potential impacts on prey, pollination, habitat, 
or dispersal (PPHD) of a listed species using endpoints identified in 
Table 3 of the Revised Method document and chapter 2 of the BEs. There 
are uncertainties associated with the magnitude of impact to a 
particular species' prey base or habitat for a given pesticide that 
could result in a discernible effect to that listed species. EPA 
requests public input regarding properties of methomyl and carbaryl or 
particular characteristics of listed species or their habitats that 
affect the confidence in the link between thresholds used to evaluate 
PPHD effects and resulting potential effects to an individual of a 
listed species.
    The file sizes of the draft BEs for carbaryl and methomyl exceed 
the docket system's file size limitation, therefore these documents are 
not posted to this BE docket. Instead, the BEs are posted on EPA's 
endangered species web page (see web links provided in the Table 
below). Commenters are instructed to post comments on the BEs to this 
BE docket (EPA-HQ-OPP-2020-0090) in www.regulations.gov, as indicated 
in the Table below.

 Table--Pesticide Docket ID Numbers for Posting Comments on the Carbaryl
 and Methomyl Draft BEs and Links to the Draft Carbaryl and Methomyl BEs
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                 Pesticide docket
           Document             ID No. for public    Links to the draft
                                     comments               BEs
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Carbaryl BE...................  EPA-HQ-OPP-2020-0  https://www.epa.gov/
                                 090.               endangered-species/
                                                    draft-biological-
                                                    evaluation-chapters-
                                                    carbaryl-esa-
                                                    assessment.
Methomyl BE...................  EPA-HQ-OPP-2020-0  https://www.epa.gov/
                                 090.               endangered-species/
                                                    draft-biological-
                                                    evaluation-chapters-
                                                    methomyl-esa-
                                                    assessment.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    1. Other related information. Additional information on endangered 
species risk assessment and the NAS report recommendations are 
available at https://www.epa.gov/endangered-species/implementing-nas-report-recommendations-ecological-risk-assessment-endangered-and. 
Information on the Agency's registration review program and its 
implementing regulation is available at https://www.epa.gov/pesticide-reevaluation.
    2. Information submission requirements. Anyone may submit data or 
information in response to this document. To be considered during a 
pesticide's registration review, the submitted data or information must 
meet the following requirements:
     To ensure that EPA will consider data or information 
submitted, interested persons must submit the data or information 
during the comment period. The Agency may, at its discretion, consider 
data or information submitted at a later date.
     The data or information submitted must be presented in a 
legible and useable form. For example, an English translation must 
accompany any material that is not in English and a written transcript 
must accompany any information submitted as an audiographic or 
videographic record. Written material may be submitted in paper or 
electronic form.
     Submitters must clearly identify the source of any 
submitted data or information.
     Submitters may request the Agency to reconsider data or 
information that the Agency rejected in a previous review. However, 
submitters must explain why they believe the Agency should reconsider 
the data or information in the pesticide's registration review.
    As provided in 40 CFR 155.58, the registration review docket for 
each pesticide case will remain publicly accessible through the 
duration of the registration review process; that is, until

[[Page 15170]]

all actions required in the final decision on the registration review 
case have been completed.

(Authority: 7 U.S.C. 136 et seq.)

    Dated: March 11, 2020.
Alexandra Dapolito Dunn,
Assistant Administrator, Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution 
Prevention.
[FR Doc. 2020-05445 Filed 3-16-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P