[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 107 (Friday, June 3, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 35766-35767]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-13155]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[EPA-HQ-OPP-2016-0242; FRL-9946-52]
Pesticides; Draft Guidance for Pesticide Registrants on Pesticide
Resistance Management Labeling
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of availability.
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SUMMARY: The Agency is announcing the availability of and seeking
public comment on a draft Pesticide Registration Notice (PR Notice)
entitled ``Guidance for Pesticide Registrants on Pesticide Resistance
Management Labeling.'' PR Notices are issued by the Office of Pesticide
Programs (OPP) to inform pesticide registrants and other interested
persons about important policies, procedures, and registration related
decisions, and serve to provide guidance to pesticide registrants and
OPP personnel. This draft PR Notice provides guidance for registrants
to follow when developing resistance management information to include
on their pesticide labels. This draft PR Notice would update the
guidance in PR Notice 2001-5.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before August 2, 2016.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by docket identification
(ID) number EPA-HQ-OPP-2016-0242, by one of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: 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.
Mail: OPP Docket, Environmental Protection Agency Docket
Center (EPA/DC), (28221T), 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW., Washington, DC
20460-0001.
Hand Delivery: To make special arrangements for hand
delivery or delivery of boxed information, please follow the
instructions at http://www.epa.gov/dockets/contacts.html. Additional
instructions on commenting or visiting the docket, along with more
information about dockets generally, is available at http://www.epa.gov/dockets.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nikhil Mallampalli, Biological and
Economic Analysis Division (7503P), Office of Pesticide Programs,
Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW.,
Washington, DC 20460-0001; telephone number: (703) 308-1924; 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. Although this
action may be of particular interest to those persons who are required
to submit data under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and
Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) or are required to register pesticides. Since
other entities may also be interested, the Agency has not attempted to
describe all the specific entities that may be affected by this action.
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 of 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.
C. How can I get copies of this document and other related information?
A copy of the draft PR Notice ``Guidance for Pesticide Registrants
on Pesticide Resistance Management Labeling'' and any related or
supporting information are available in the docket
[[Page 35767]]
under docket identification (ID) number EPA-HQ-OPP-2016-0242.
II. Overview of the Agency's Effort To Address Pesticide Resistance
Pesticides can be used to control a variety of pests, such as
insects, weeds, rodents, bacteria, fungi, etc. Over time many
pesticides have gradually lost their effectiveness because pests have
developed resistance--a significant decrease in sensitivity to a
pesticide, which reduces the field performance of these pesticides. The
Agency is concerned about resistance issues and believes that managing
the development of pesticide resistance, in conjunction with
alternative pest-management strategies and Integrated Pest Management
programs, is an important part of sustainable pest management. To
address the growing issue of resistance and preserve the useful life of
pesticides, the Agency is beginning to embark on a more widespread
effort and several activities that are aimed at combating and slowing
the development of pesticide resistance.
One such activity, which is the subject of this FR Notice, is
today's release and request for comment on draft PR Notice 2016-X,
``Guidance for Pesticide Registrants on Pesticide Resistance Management
Labeling.'' Draft PR Notice 2016-X updates PR Notice 2001 and applies
to all conventional, agricultural pesticides (i.e., herbicides,
fungicides, bactericides, insecticides, and acaricides). This draft PR
Notice focuses on pesticide labels and is aimed at improving
information about how pesticide users can minimize and manage pest
resistance.
Another such activity, involves the release of draft PR Notice
2016-XX, ``Guidance for Herbicide Resistance Management Labeling,
Education, Training, and Stewardship.'' Draft PR Notice 2016-XX applies
to herbicides, and communicates the Agency's current thinking and
approach to address herbicide-resistant weeds by providing guidance on
labeling, education, training, and stewardship for herbicides
undergoing registration review or registration (i.e., new herbicide
actives, new uses proposed for use on herbicide-resistant crops, or
other case-specific registration actions). Draft PR Notice 2016-XX will
also be published in today's Federal Register. In the future, the
Agency plans to evaluate other types of pesticides (e.g. fungicides,
bactericides, insecticides, and acaricides) to determine whether and
what guidance may be appropriate for these types pesticides. If the
Agency releases future guidance on these other types of pesticides, we
plan to seek input from the public.
III. What guidance does this PR Notice provide?
Draft PR Notice 2016-X, which revises and updates PR Notice 2001-5,
applies to all conventional, agricultural pesticides (i.e., herbicides,
fungicides, bactericides, insecticides and acaricides). The updates in
draft PR Notice 2016-X focus on pesticides labels and are aimed at
improving information about how pesticide users can minimize and manage
pest resistance. The draft PR Notice 2016-X updates PR Notice 2001-5
with the following three categories of changes:
Provides additional guidance, and recommended format, for
resistance management statements or information to place on labels.
Includes references to external technical resources for
guidance on resistance management (e.g., professional scientific
societies, resistance action committees for different types of
pesticides).
Updates the instructions on how to submit changes to
existing labels in order to enhance resistance management language.
This draft PR Notice also references draft revisions to Chapter
11.VI.G of EPA's Label Review Manual (LRM), which illustrates the
generic format for resistance management labeling along with examples
of various labeling scenarios that registrants may encounter. The
Agency requests comments on the updates to this draft PR Notice and
this chapter of the LRM.
IV. Do PR Notices contain binding requirements?
The PR Notice discussed in this notice is intended to provide
guidance to EPA personnel and decision-makers, as well as pesticide
registrants. While the requirements in the statute and Agency
regulations are binding on EPA and the applicants, this PR Notice is
not binding on either EPA or pesticide registrants, and EPA may depart
from the guidance where circumstances warrant and without prior notice.
Likewise, pesticide registrants may assert that the guidance is not
appropriate generally or not applicable to a specific pesticide or
situation.
Authority: 7 U.S.C. 136 et seq.
Dated: May 23, 2016.
Jack E. Housenger,
Director, Office of Pesticide Programs.
[FR Doc. 2016-13155 Filed 6-2-16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P