[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 184 (Monday, September 25, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 65674-65676]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-20678]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OPP-2023-0457; FRL-11399-01-OCSPP]


Pesticides; Request for Stakeholder Input on the Proposed Design 
of a New Grant Program Regarding the Health Care Provider (HCP) 
Training Program; Notice of Availability and Opportunity for Comment

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing the 
availability of a Request for Information (RFI) that seeks public 
comment on a proposed design for the new grant program related to the 
Health Care Provider (HCP) Training Program, a cooperative agreement to 
help medical professionals better prevent, recognize, treat, and manage 
pesticide-related illness. The Pesticide Registration Improvement Act 
of 2022 (referred to as PRIA 5) included set-asides of up to $2.5 
million for fiscal years 2023-2027 to fund the HCP Training Program. 
PRIA 5 also requires EPA to seek input from

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persons who conduct farmworker education and training, or technical 
assistance and training of healthcare providers, to inform the design 
of the grant program. EPA has previously solicited input on the HCP 
Training Program design through its Federal advisory committees, which 
include representatives of these stakeholders. The purpose of this RFI 
is to solicit additional stakeholder feedback from a broad array of 
individuals and organizations with knowledge and expertise related to 
the goals of the HCP Training Program. Additional public input, 
including environmental justice perspectives, will help the Agency 
refine the HCP Training Program and design a grant program to more 
effectively support populations that have historically been at high 
risk from pesticide-related illness.

DATES: Submit your comments on or before November 24, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by docket identification 
(ID) number EPA-HQ-OPP-2023-0457, through the Federal eRulemaking 
Portal at https://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. Additional 
instructions on commenting or visiting the docket, along with more 
information about dockets generally, is available at https://www.epa.gov/dockets.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Aidan Black, Office of Chemical Safety 
and Pollution Prevention, Pesticide Re-evaluation Division (7508M), 
Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, 
DC 20460-0001; telephone number: 202-566-2381; email address: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Executive Summary

A. Does this action apply to me?

    This notice is directed to the general public and may be of 
specific interest to entities that conduct education and training of 
farmworkers, or technical assistance and training of healthcare 
providers (e.g., governmental and non-governmental organizations, non-
profits, community-based organizations, academic institutions, research 
institutions, medical institutions, medical associations, community 
health centers and clinics, public health administration and 
environmental health administration programs, Indian Tribes, and 
private sector entities). Because others may also be interested in this 
notice, EPA has not attempted to describe all the entities that may be 
interested in the subject covered in this notice.

B. What is the Agency's authority for taking this action?

    The Pesticide Registration Improvement Act of 2022 (referred to as 
PRIA 5), Public Law 117-328, amended the Federal Insecticide, 
Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), 7 U.S.C. 136 et seq., to 
include up to $2,500,000 of set-aside funds for an HCP Training 
Program. Funds are for fiscal years 2023 through 2027.
    Under PRIA section 703(a)(1)(H)(i), the HCP Training Program should 
provide grants to nonprofit organizations to help medical professionals 
better prevent, recognize, treat, and manage pesticide-related illness 
through technical assistance and training; the development of 
informational materials for technical assistance and training; and the 
development of outreach and delivery methods.
    PRIA section 703(a)(1)(H)(ii) specifies that only nonprofit 
organizations with demonstrated experience in providing training and 
technical assistance to health care providers who serve farmworker 
populations are eligible to receive this funding.

C. Why is EPA taking this action?

    This action satisfies PRIA section 703(a)(1)(K)(iv) which requires 
that EPA seek, in an open and transparent manner that does not provide 
a competitive advantage to any person or persons, input from persons 
who conduct farmworker education and training, or technical assistance 
and training of healthcare providers.

D. What should I consider as I prepare my comments?

    1. Submitting CBI. Do not submit CBI to EPA through https://www.regulations.gov or email. If you wish to include CBI in your 
comment, please follow the applicable instructions at https://www.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets#rules and clearly mark the 
part or all of the information that you claim to be 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 https://www.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets.

II. Background

    EPA previously solicited feedback from the Farmworker and Clinician 
Training Workgroup of the Pesticide Programs Dialogue Committee (PPDC), 
a Federal advisory committee group. The PPDC workgroup--which included 
representatives of community-based organizations that serve 
farmworkers, healthcare providers, and Indian Tribes; university 
extension programs; industry; State regulators; farm bureaus; other 
Federal agencies; and current grantees under EPA cooperative 
agreements--met monthly for most of a year and formulated a set of nine 
recommendations (the recommendations can be found at https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2021-10/presentation-farmworker-and-clinician-training-workgroup-recommendations.pdf). The National 
Environmental Justice Advisory Council and the Children's Health 
Protection Advisory Committee provided related anecdotes and reiterated 
some of the recommendations of the PPDC workgroup. EPA has incorporated 
these recommendations into the proposed program design. The Request for 
Information (RFI), which is available in the docket, seeks additional 
feedback to build upon those recommendations.

III. Request for Public Comment

A. What feedback does EPA hope to gain from the public comments?

    In the RFI, the Agency has proposed a design for the HCP Training 
Program and has posed a series of questions on that design. Generally, 
EPA is interested in comments about the types of activities the program 
could support; about populations at high risk of pesticide-related 
illness (and who would thus benefit from more highly trained 
clinicians); and about additional ways to ensure that training and 
technical assistance under the program accounts for the cultural 
context, social determinants of health, and vulnerabilities of those 
populations.
    The project objectives are: (1) Administer a national training and 
technical assistance program to improve the prevention, recognition, 
treatment, management, and reporting of pesticide-related illness by 
HCP; and (2) Administer a partnership program to inform the Objective 1 
activities and ensure they have both national reach

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and local applicability. Each objective has both subobjectives and 
suggested emphasis areas. For the complete program design, please 
consult the RFI. EPA's questions are as follows:
     How can EPA and future grantees expand upon the work done 
through previous cooperative agreements to build HCP capacity, 
capitalize on existing resources, and avoid duplicating efforts?
     What populations--besides farmworkers, pesticide handlers, 
and applicators--are at high risk of pesticide-related illness and 
would benefit from more highly trained HCPs?
     How can EPA ensure that activities under Objective 1 
(training and technical assistance) are responsive to the social 
determinants of health, cultural context, and vulnerabilities of 
patients at high risk of pesticide-related illness?
     What steps can future grantees take to ensure that 
recognition, treatment, and management of pesticide-related illness 
continue to improve at local partner organizations after the project 
has concluded? What steps can they take to ensure that reporting 
continues to improve?
     What networks, organizations, and stakeholders are 
examples of collaborators under Objective 2 (partnership program)? 
Which could be effective at monitoring and evaluating the project?
     What are examples of activities that this cooperative 
agreement could support under Objective 1 (training and technical 
assistance)? Under Objective 2 (partnership program)?
     Do the objectives, as written, exclude any collaborators 
or activities that would support the program goals?

B. What is the request for information?

    In addition to soliciting comment on the questions posed in Unit 
III.A. of this document, EPA is seeking stakeholder input on the RFI 
document that is available in the docket. Specifically, EPA is 
interested in comments about the types of activities the program could 
support; about populations at high risk of pesticide-related illness 
(and who would thus benefit from more highly trained clinicians); and 
about additional ways to ensure that training and technical assistance 
under the program accounts for the cultural context, social 
determinants of health, and vulnerabilities of these populations.
    EPA encourages all potentially interested parties, including 
individuals, professional associations, governmental and non-
governmental organizations, academic institutions, research 
institutions, medical institutions, non-profits, community-based 
organizations, Indian Tribes, and private sector entities to provide 
responses to any or all questions. To the extent possible, the Agency 
asks commenters to please cite any public data related to or that 
supports the responses, and to the extent permissible, describe any 
supporting data that is not publicly available.
    Authority: 7 U.S.C. 136 et seq.

    Dated: September 19, 2023.
Michal Freedhoff,
Assistant Administrator, Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution 
Prevention.
[FR Doc. 2023-20678 Filed 9-22-23; 8:45 am]
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