Notice2023-17362
Notice of Approval Status; Certifying Authorities' Amended Plans for Certification of Commercial and Private Applicators of Restricted Use Pesticides; Batch Three
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Published
August 14, 2023
Issuing agencies
Environmental Protection Agency
Abstract
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing its approval of fifteen amended certification plans for certifying applicators of Restricted Use Pesticides (RUPs) from the following certifying authorities: Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries (ADAI), American Samoa Environmental Protection Agency (AS- EPA), Colorado Department of Agriculture (CDA), Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands Bureau of Environmental & Coastal Quality-- Division of Environmental Quality, Pesticides Branch (CNMI-BECQ-DEQ), Georgia Department of Agriculture (GDA), Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship (IDALS), Kentucky Department of Agriculture (KDA), Maryland Department of Agriculture (MdDA), Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD), Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MnDA), North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (NCDACS), North Dakota Department of Agriculture (NDDA), Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (RIDEM), West Virginia Department of Agriculture (WVDA), and Wyoming Department of Agriculture (WDA). 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.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 155 (Monday, August 14, 2023)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 155 (Monday, August 14, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55037-55039]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-17362]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[EPA-HQ-OPP-2022-0509; FRL-7661-03-OCSPP]
Notice of Approval Status; Certifying Authorities' Amended Plans
for Certification of Commercial and Private Applicators of Restricted
Use Pesticides; Batch Three
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing its
approval of fifteen amended certification plans for certifying
applicators of Restricted Use Pesticides (RUPs) from the following
certifying authorities: Alabama Department of Agriculture and
Industries (ADAI), American Samoa Environmental Protection Agency (AS-
EPA), Colorado Department of Agriculture (CDA), Commonwealth of the
Northern Mariana Islands Bureau of Environmental & Coastal Quality--
Division of Environmental Quality, Pesticides Branch (CNMI-BECQ-DEQ),
Georgia Department of Agriculture (GDA), Iowa Department of Agriculture
and Land Stewardship (IDALS), Kentucky Department of Agriculture (KDA),
Maryland Department of Agriculture (MdDA), Michigan Department of
Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD), Minnesota Department of
Agriculture (MnDA), North Carolina Department of Agriculture and
Consumer Services (NCDACS), North Dakota Department of Agriculture
(NDDA), Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (RIDEM),
West Virginia Department of Agriculture (WVDA), and Wyoming Department
of Agriculture (WDA). 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; elephone number: (202) 566-2376; email address:
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#7a09191208151f1e1f0854191b08151603143a1f0a1b541d150c"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="ccbfafa4bea3a9a8a9bee2afadbea3a0b5a28ca9bcade2aba3ba">[email protected]</span></a>.
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
[[Page 55038]]
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:
<bullet> Agricultural Establishments (Crop Production) (NAICS code
111).
<bullet> Nursery and Tree Production (NAICS code 111421).
<bullet> Agricultural Pest Control and Pesticide Handling on Farms
(NAICS code 115112).
<bullet> Crop Advisors (NAICS codes 115112, 541690, 541712).
<bullet> Agricultural (Animal) Pest Control (Livestock Spraying)
(NAICS code 115210).
<bullet> Forestry Pest Control (NAICS code 115310).
<bullet> Wood Preservation Pest Control (NAICS code 321114).
<bullet> Pesticide Registrants (NAICS code 325320).
<bullet> Pesticide Dealers (NAICS codes 424690, 424910, 444220).
<bullet> Industrial, Institutional, Structural & Health Related
Pest Control (NAICS code 561710).
<bullet> Ornamental & Turf, Rights-of-Way Pest Control (NAICS code
561730).
<bullet> Environmental Protection Program Administrators (NAICS
code 924110).
<bullet> 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........................ RIDEM.............. Andrea Szylvian... (617) 918-1198 <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#31424b485d4758505f1f505f55435450715441501f565e47"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="15666f6c79637c747b3b747b71677074557065743b727a63">[email protected]</span></a>.
Region 3........................ MdDA............... Courtenay (215) 814-2216 hoernemann.courten
WVDA............... Hoernemann. <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection" class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="13726a537663723d747c65">[email protected]</a>.
Region 4........................ ADAI............... Richard Corbett... (404) 562-9008 corbett.richard@ep
GDA................ a.gov.
KDA................
NCDACS.............
Region 5........................ MDARD.............. Donald Baumgartner (312) 886-7835 baumgartner.donald
MnDA............... @epa.gov.
Region 7........................ IDALS.............. Shawn Hackett..... (913) 551-7774 <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#274f46444c42535309544f4650496742574609404851"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="d9b1b8bab2bcadadf7aab1b8aeb799bca9b8f7beb6af">[email protected]</span></a>.
Region 8........................ CDA................ Kevin Martin...... (303) 312-6085 <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection" class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="65080417110c0b4b0e00130c0b250015044b02">[email protected]</a>
NDDA............... ov.
WDA................
Region 9........................ AS-EPA............. Katy Wilcoxen..... (415) 947-4205 <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#c8bfa1a4aba7b0ada6e6a3a9bcb188adb8a9e6afa7be"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="b8cfd1d4dbd7c0ddd696d3d9ccc1f8ddc8d996dfd7ce">[email protected]</span></a>.
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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 15 certifying
authorities' certification plans submitted to the Agency meet or exceed
the standards of 40 CFR part 171: ADAI, AS-EPA, CDA, CNMI-BECQ-DEQ,
GDA, IDALS, KDA, MdDA, MDARD, MnDA, NCDACS, NDDA, RIDEM, WVDA, and WDA.
EPA hereby gives notice that the 15 amended certification plans for
certifying applicators of RUPs listed in this document are now approved
plans; the certifying authorities may certify pesticide applicators and
continue with implementation of the certification plans as outlined in
the approved plans.
With this announcement, EPA has approved 40 out of the 68 federal,
state, territory, and tribal certification plans submitted to the
Agency. The 15 plans listed in this notice represent the third in a
series of batched notifications announcing the approval of the federal,
state, territory, and tribal certification plans moving through the
approval process. These batched notifications are occurring on a
regular basis as plans are approved. EPA also provides frequent status
updates regarding the reviews and approvals of state and territory
certification plans on its website at <a href="https://www.epa.gov/pesticide-worker-safety/certification-standards-pesticide-applicators">https://www.epa.gov/pesticide-worker-safety/certification-standards-pesticide-applicators</a>.
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
[[Page 55039]]
50953, August 19, 2022 (FRL-9134.1-04-OCSPP).
Authority: 7 U.S.C. 136-136y.
Dated: August 3, 2023.
Mary Elissa Reaves,
Director, Pesticide Re-Evaluation Division, Office of Pesticide
Programs.
[FR Doc. 2023-17362 Filed 8-11-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
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