[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 17 (Thursday, January 25, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4944-4945]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-01457]



[[Page 4944]]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OPP-2023-0643; FRL-11635-01-OCSPP]


Pesticides; Request for Stakeholder Input on the Proposed Design 
of Assistance Agreements for a National Farmworker Training and 
Education Program; Notice of Availability and Opportunity for Comment

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: EPA is announcing the availability of a Request for 
Information (RFI) that seeks public comment to inform the design of its 
National Farmworker Training and Education Program (NFTEP). The NFTEP 
will be a series of assistance agreements to conduct pesticide safety 
trainings for farmworkers and farmworker communities, create pesticide 
safety educational and training materials, and develop innovative 
outreach and delivery strategies. The Pesticide Registration 
Improvement Act of 2022 (PRIA 5) included set-asides of up to $7.5 
million in total for fiscal years 2023-2027 to fund the NFTEP. PRIA 5 
also requires EPA to seek input from persons who conduct farmworker 
education and training to inform the program's Notices of Funding 
Opportunities (NOFOs), formerly called Requests for Applications 
(RFAs). EPA has previously solicited input on its PRIA-funded worker 
protection activities, including cooperative agreements, through the 
Pesticide Program Dialogue Committee (PPDC), which includes 
representatives of farmworker-serving organizations.

DATES: Submit your comments on or before March 25, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by docket identification 
(ID) number EPA-HQ-OPP-2023-0643, 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: Isabel Gross, 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) 566-1741; 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 (e.g., governmental and non-governmental organizations, 
non-profit organizations, community-based organizations, labor 
organizations, academic institutions, research institutions, community 
health centers and clinics, public health administration and 
environmental health administration programs, and private sector 
entities). Because others may also be interested in this notice, the 
EPA has not attempted to describe all entities that may be interested 
in the subject.

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 $7,500,000 of set-aside funds in total for a Farmworker 
Training Program. Funds are for fiscal years 2023 through 2027.
    Under PRIA section 703(a)(1)(G)(i), the NFTEP should provide 
assistance agreements to facilitate training and education for 
farmworkers and farmworker communities on pesticide safety, rights 
related to pesticide safety, and the Worker Protection Standard; to 
develop educational and training materials; and to develop and test 
innovative outreach and delivery strategies to better reach farmworkers 
and farmworker communities with these trainings and materials.
    PRIA section 703(a)(1)(G)(iii), specifies that only community-based 
nonprofit farmworker organizations are eligible to receive this 
funding. Section 703(a)(1)(G)(ii) of PRIA 5 further states that, in 
order to be eligible to receive this funding, the community-based 
nonprofit farmworker organizations must also have experience providing 
training and education services for farmworkers or pesticide handlers, 
or experience developing informational materials for farmworkers or 
pesticide handlers.

C. Why is EPA taking this action?

    The purpose of the RFI is to solicit additional feedback from a 
broad array of individuals and organizations with applicable knowledge 
and expertise. Additional public input, including environmental justice 
perspectives, will help the Agency refine the NOFOs and more 
effectively address the disproportionate impact of pesticide illness 
and injury on farmworker communities. 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.

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 marked as CBI 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 Tips for Effective 
Comments at https://www.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets.

II. Background

    EPA previously solicited feedback on its PRIA-funded worker 
protection activities, including cooperative agreements, from the 
Pesticide Programs Dialogue Committee (PPDC), a Federal Advisory 
Committee group. The PPDC's Farmworker and Clinician Workgroup met 
monthly for most of a year and included representatives of many 
different stakeholders, such as community-based farmworker nonprofit 
organizations, community-based organizations that serve Indian Tribes, 
university extension programs, industry, State regulators, farm 
bureaus, other federal agencies, and current EPA grantees. The 
workgroup formulated a series of recommendations, which the full PPDC 
then adopted and sent for EPA's consideration. The recommendations can 
be found at https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2021-10/
presentation-

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farmworker-and-clinician-training-workgroup-recommendations.pdf. These 
recommendations were supported by anecdotes shared by members from two 
additional Federal Advisory Committees, the National Environmental 
Justice Advisory Council (NEJAC) and the Children's Health Protection 
Advisory Committee (CHPAC). EPA has incorporated these recommendations 
into the program design elements laid out in the RFI. The 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 elements of program designs and 
activities to be funded under the NFTEP; it has also posed a series of 
related questions, though commenters may address aspects of the program 
not discussed in the questions. Generally, EPA is interested in 
comments about how to meaningfully involve farmworker communities in 
the NFTEP assistance agreements, farmworker communities' specific 
language and training needs, successful outreach and delivery 
strategies, and priority areas for assistance agreements. For the 
specific elements of the proposed program designs, please consult the 
RFI document available in the docket. EPA's questions are as follows:
     How can EPA support meaningful, consistent involvement of 
farmworker communities in the design and implementation of these 
programs, understanding that they face many barriers to involvement?
     Are there others who could be considered part of 
farmworker communities who are not captured in the ``Definitions'' 
section of the RFI?
     What are the barriers to applying for and successfully 
managing these agreements, for the organizations described in the 
``Eligibility'' section of the RFI?
     What specific languages (besides Spanish) should these 
agreements prioritize for trainings, materials development, and 
translations?
     How can EPA support translations that are both technically 
accurate and appropriate to farmworker communities' literacy levels and 
cultural context?
     What trainings are needed to reinforce and supplement the 
required annual WPS pesticide safety trainings for workers and 
handlers?
     What educational gaps exist for pesticide handlers (see 
the ``Definitions'' section of the RFI), specifically, who may be 
considered part of farmworker communities but have additional 
responsibilities under the WPS?
     What are examples of successful outreach strategies to 
ensure that farmworker communities have access to pesticide safety 
information and trainings?
     Should EPA select awards based in part on geographic areas 
and crops (use sites)?

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. EPA is interested in comments about how to meaningfully 
involve farmworker communities in the NFTEP assistance agreements, 
farmworker communities' specific language and training needs, 
successful outreach and delivery strategies, and priority areas for 
assistance agreements.
    EPA encourages all potentially interested parties, including 
individuals, governmental and non-governmental organizations, non-
profit organizations, community-based organizations, labor 
organizations, academic institutions, research institutions, community 
health centers and clinics, public health administration and 
environmental health administration programs, and private sector 
entities to comment on the RFI and to answer any of the questions 
posed. 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: January 19, 2024.
Michal Freedhoff,
Assistant Administrator, Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution 
Prevention.
[FR Doc. 2024-01457 Filed 1-24-24; 8:45 am]
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