[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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