[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 229 (Friday, November 27, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 76071-76072]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-26184]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[EPA-HQ-OPP-2020-0585; FRL-10017-03]
Glyphosate Registration Review; Draft Endangered Species Act
Biological Evaluations; Notice of Availability
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: This notice announces the availability of the Environmental
Protection Agency's (EPA or the Agency) draft biological evaluation
(BE) for the registration review of the pesticide glyphosate and opens
a public comment period on this document.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before January 26, 2021.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by docket identification
(ID) number EPA-HQ-OPP-2020-0585, through the Federal eRulemaking
Portal at 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. To make special
arrangements for hand delivery or delivery of boxed information, please
follow the instructions at http://www.epa.gov/dockets/contacts.html.
Due to the public health concerns related to COVID-19, the EPA
Docket Center (EPA/DC) and Reading Room is closed to visitors with
limited exceptions. The staff continues to provide remote customer
service via email, phone, and webform. For the latest status
information on EPA/DC services and docket access, visit https://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 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 final registration review determination 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 informal or formal
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 biological
evaluations (BE) with its findings.
B. Background
The schedule for conducting the atrazine and simazine 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). EPA stated in this settlement that it
would also include the herbicides propazine and glyphosate in this
group of effects determinations. The Agency has completed a
comprehensive, nationwide draft BE for the use of glyphosate relative
to the potential effects on listed species and their designated
critical habitats.
The glyphosate BE follows the Revised Method for National Level
Listed Species Biological Evaluations of Conventional Pesticides (see
docket ID number EPA-HQ-OPP-2019-0185-0084 at www.regulations.gov). EPA
utilized the Revised Method for the first time when conducting the
methomyl and carbaryl draft BEs, which were posted for public comment
on March 17, 2020 (85 FR 15168). EPA is currently evaluating public
comments received and will take them into consideration for the final
BEs for these pesticides. Comments received on carbaryl and methomyl
that are applicable to the broader BE methodology will also be
incorporated into the final BE for glyphosate as applicable.
After reviewing comments received during the public comment period
on the glyphosate draft BE, EPA will issue a final BE and a response to
public comments document. If EPA determines that glyphosate may affect
listed species and/or their designated critical habitats, EPA will
initiate consultation with the
[[Page 76072]]
Services. Based on the BE, the Services will then develop a Biological
Opinion for glyphosate.
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 BE for glyphosate. Such comments could
address, among other things, the application of the Agency's revised
risk assessment methodologies to and assumptions for this draft BE.
The file size of the glyphosate draft BE exceeds the docket
system's file size limitation, therefore it is not posted to this BE
docket. Instead, the BE is posted on EPA's endangered species web page
(see web link provided in the Table below). Commenters are instructed
to post comments on the BE to this BE docket (EPA-HQ-OPP-2020-0585) in
www.regulations.gov, as indicated in the Table below.
Table--Pesticide Docket ID Number for Posting Comments on the Glyphosate Draft BE and Link to the Draft BE
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Pesticide docket ID No.
Document for public comments Link to the draft BE
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Glyphosate BE........................ EPA-HQ-OPP-2020-0585... https://www.epa.gov/endangered-species/draft-national-level-listed-species-biological-evaluation-glyphosate.
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1. Other related information. Additional information on endangered
species risk assessment and the National Academy of Sciences report
recommendations are available at https://www.epa.gov/endangered-species/implementing-nas-report-recommendations-risk-assessment-methodology-endangered. 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 later.
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 audio graphic or video
graphic 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 all actions
required in the final decision on the registration review case have
been completed.
Authority: 7 U.S.C. 136 et seq.
Dated: November 18, 2020.
Alexandra Dapolito Dunn,
Assistant Administrator, Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution
Prevention.
[FR Doc. 2020-26184 Filed 11-25-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P