[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 216 (Thursday, November 9, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 77310-77312]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-24745]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[EPA-HQ-OPP-2022-0509; FRL-7661-05-OCSPP]
Notice of Approval Status; Certifying Authorities' Amended Plans
for Certification of Commercial and Private Applicators of Restricted
Use Pesticides; Batch Four
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing its
approval or conditional approval of 26 amended certification plans for
certifying applicators of Restricted Use Pesticides (RUPs) from the
following certifying authorities: Arkansas
[[Page 77311]]
Department of Agriculture (ADA), Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe's Water,
Energy and Environment Committee (CRST-WEEC), Clemson University
Division of Regulatory and Public Service Programs, Department of
Pesticide Regulation (CUDPR), Florida Department of Agriculture and
Consumer Services (FDACS), Guam Environmental Protection Agency (Guam-
EPA), Idaho State Department of Agriculture (ISDA), Illinois Department
of Agriculture (IDA), Kansas Department of Agriculture (KDA), Louisiana
Department of Agriculture and Forestry (LDAF), Maine Department of
Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry Board of Pesticides Control (ME
BPC), Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources (MDAR),
Missouri Department of Agriculture (MODA), Montana Department of
Agriculture (MTDA), New Mexico Department of Agriculture (NMDA), Ohio
Department of Agriculture (ODA), Oklahoma Department of Agriculture,
Food, and Forestry (ODAFF), Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture
(PDA), the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation (PBPN), the Santee Sioux
Nation (SSN), Tennessee Department of Agriculture (TNDA), Texas
Department of Agriculture (TXDA), the Three Affiliated Tribes of the
Fort Berthold Reservation's Natural Resources Department (TAT/NRD),
Utah Department of Agriculture and Food (UDAF), Virginia Department of
Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS), the White Earth Band of the
Minnesota Chippewa Tribe (WE), and Wisconsin Department of Agriculture,
Trade, and Consumer Protection (WDATCP). The 26 plans listed in this
batched notice represents the fifth notification announcing the
approval of the federal, state, territory, and tribal certification
plans that have gone through the review and approval process. The
amended plans are consistent with the existing regulatory requirements,
including revisions made in 2017 to enhance and improve the competency
of certified applicators of RUPs and persons working under their direct
supervision. The 2017 regulatory revisions are intended to further
reduce potential exposure of RUPs to certified applicators and those
working under their direct supervision, other workers, the public, and
the environment. Federal, state, territory, and tribal certifying
authorities with existing certification plans were required to revise
their existing plans to conform with the updated federal standards for
RUP applicator certification and receive EPA approval by the
established regulatory deadline.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
For technical information contact: The designated EPA point of
contact for the Certification Plan of interest as listed in Table 1 of
Unit I.B.
For general information contact: Carolyn Schroeder, Pesticide Re-
Evaluation Division (7508M), Office of Pesticide Programs,
Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington,
DC 20460-0001; telephone number: (202) 566-2376; email address:
epa.gov">schroeder.carolyn@epa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. General information
A. Does this action apply to me?
You may be potentially affected by this action if you are a
federal, state, territory, or tribal agency who administers a
certification program for pesticides applicators. You many also be
potentially affected by this action if you are: A registrant of RUP
products; a person who applies RUPs, including those under the direct
supervision of a certified applicator; a person who relies upon the
availability of RUPs; someone who hires a certified applicator to apply
an RUP; a pesticide safety educator; or other person who provides
pesticide safety training for pesticide applicator certification or
recertification. The following list of North American Industrial
Classification System (NAICS) codes is not intended to be exhaustive,
but rather provides a guide to help readers determine whether this
document applies to them. Potentially affected entities may include:
Agricultural Establishments (Crop Production) (NAICS code
111).
Nursery and Tree Production (NAICS code 111421).
Agricultural Pest Control and Pesticide Handling on Farms
(NAICS code 115112).
Crop Advisors (NAICS codes 115112, 541690, 541712).
Agricultural (Animal) Pest Control (Livestock Spraying)
(NAICS code 115210).
Forestry Pest Control (NAICS code 115310).
Wood Preservation Pest Control (NAICS code 321114).
Pesticide Registrants (NAICS code 325320).
Pesticide Dealers (NAICS codes 424690, 424910, 444220).
Industrial, Institutional, Structural & Health Related
Pest Control (NAICS code 561710).
Ornamental & Turf, Rights-of-Way Pest Control (NAICS code
561730).
Environmental Protection Program Administrators (NAICS
code 924110).
Governmental Pest Control Programs (NAICS code 926140).
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 these documents and other related
information?
For assistance in locating documents related to the approved plans
identified in this notice, please consult the designated EPA point of
contact for the Certification Plan of interest as listed in Table 1 of
this unit, or the general contact person listed under FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT.
Table 1--Designated EPA Point of Contacts for the Certification Plans
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EPA point of
EPA region Certification plan contact POC phone Email
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Region 1........................ MDAR............... Andrea Szylvian... (617) 918-1198 szylvian.andreacom
ME BPC............. mat;epa.gov.
Region 3........................ PDA................ Camille Lukey..... (215) 814-2930 lukey.camille@epa.
VDACS.............. gov.
Region 4........................ CUDPR.............. Richard Corbett... (404) 562-9008 corbett.richard@ep
FDACS.............. a.gov.
TNDA...............
Region 5........................ IDA................ Donald Baumgartner (312) 886-7835 baumgartner.donald
ODA................ @epa.gov.
WDATCP.............
WE.................
[[Page 77312]]
Region 6........................ ADA................ Eric Nystrom...... (214) 665-6752 [email protected]
LDAF............... ov.
NMDA...............
ODAFF..............
TXDA...............
Region 7........................ KDA................ Shawn Hackett..... (913) 551-7774 hackett.shawn@epa.
MODA............... gov.
PBPN...............
SSN................
Region 8........................ CRST-WEEC.......... Kevin Martin...... (303) 312-6085 [email protected]
MTDA............... ov.
TAT/NRD............
UDAF...............
Region 9........................ Guam-EPA........... Katy Wilcoxen..... (415) 947-4205 epa.gov">wilcoxen.katy@epa.gov.
Region 10....................... ISDA............... Bethany Plewe..... (208) 378-5753 epa.gov">plewe.bethany@epa.gov.
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II. What is the Agency's authority for taking this action?
Section 11 of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, Rodenticide Act
(FIFRA), 7. U.S.C. 136 et seq., requires certifying authorities to have
an EPA-approved certification plan to certify applicators of RUPs. The
Certification of Pesticide Applicators (CPA) regulation at 40 CFR part
171 was amended in 2017 (Ref. 1). As a result, federal, state,
territory, and tribal certifying authorities with existing
certification plans were required to revise their existing
certification plans to conform with the updated federal standards for
the certification of applicators of RUPs and submit their revisions to
EPA by March 2020 for EPA review and approval. The CPA regulation
specifies that the existing certification plans remain in place until
the revised plans are approved by EPA on or before the regulatory
deadline established in 40 CFR 171.5. The Agency has since issued a
final rule extending the original deadline for certification plans to
comply with the updated federal standards under the 2017 CPA rule to
November 4, 2023 (Ref. 2).
III. What action is the Agency taking?
This action gives notice that the following 26 certifying
authorities' certification plans submitted to the Agency meet or exceed
the standards of 40 CFR part 171: ADA, CRST-WEEC, CUDPR, FDACS, Guam-
EPA, IDA, ISDA, KDA, LDAF, MDAR, ME BPC, MODA, MTDA, NMDA, ODA, ODAFF,
PBPN, PDA, SSN, TAT/NRD, TNDA, TXDA, UDAF, VDACS, WDATCP, and WE. EPA
hereby gives notice that the 26 amended certification plans for
certifying applicators of RUPs listed in this document are now approved
or conditionally approved plans; the certifying authorities may certify
RUP applicators and continue with implementation of the certification
plans as outlined in the approved plans.
With this announcement, EPA has approved or conditionally approved
67 out of the 68 federal, state, territory, and tribal certification
plans submitted to the Agency prior to the November 2023 regulatory
deadline. The 26 plans listed in this batched notice represents the
fifth notification announcing the approval of the federal, state,
territory, and tribal certification plans that have gone through the
review and approval process. EPA also provides information regarding
the reviews and approvals of these certification plans, and where
copies of these approved plans are available, on its website at https://www.epa.gov/pesticide-worker-safety/certification-standards-pesticide-applicators.
One remaining plan, which is a Tribal-EPA memorandum of agreement
(MOA) with the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes of the Fort Hall Reservation
(SBT), will not be finalized by the November 4, 2023 deadline. After
the November 2023, deadline, the existing MOA will no longer be valid.
By default, the Tribe's jurisdiction will be covered by the EPA Plan
for the Federal Certification of Applicators of Restricted Use
Pesticides within Indian Country (EPA Plan) (Ref. 3) until the MOA is
approved. Alternatively, if the Tribe responds in writing that it wants
to opt out of the EPA Plan in the interim, they may do so. The Tribe,
in any case, may continue to work with EPA to finalize their MOA. EPA
will notify the Tribe that they may not continue to issue new or renew
certifications under its existing MOA until the modified plan is
approved. EPA will work with the Tribe on transitioning to the EPA Plan
pending the approval of their MOA, including establishing a transition
phase for existing applicators to get certified under the EPA Plan.
III. References
The following is a list of documents that are related to the
issuance of this Notice. For assistance in locating these other
documents, please consult the person listed under FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT.
1. EPA. Pesticides; Certification of Pesticide Applicators; Final
Rule. Federal Register. 82 FR 952, January 4, 2017 (FRL-9956-70).
2. EPA. Pesticides; Certification of Pesticide Applicators; Further
Extension to Expiration Date of Certification Plans; Final Rule.
Federal Register. 87 FR 50953, August 19, 2022 (FRL-9134.1-04-
OCSPP).
3. EPA. Notice of Approval Status; EPA Plan for the Federal
Certification of Applicators Within Indian Country. Federal
Register. 88 FR 68604, October 4, 2023 (FRL-7661-04-OCSPP).
Authority: 7 U.S.C. 136-136y.
Dated: November 3, 2023.
Mary Elissa Reaves,
Director, Pesticide Re-Evaluation Division, Office of Pesticide
Programs.
[FR Doc. 2023-24745 Filed 11-8-23; 8:45 am]
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