Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; Comment Request; Certification of Pesticide Applicators, 66085-66087 [2010-27168]

Agencies

• ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 207 (Wednesday, October 27, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 66085-66087]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-27168]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OPP-2010-0723; FRL-8847-8; EPA ICR No. 0155.09; OMB Control No. 
2070-0029]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; 
Comment Request; Certification of Pesticide Applicators

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) (44 
U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), this document announces that EPA is planning to 
submit a request to renew an existing approved Information Collection 
Request (ICR) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). This ICR, 
entitled: ``Certification of Pesticide Applicators'' and identified by 
EPA ICR No. 0155.09 and OMB Control No. 2070-0029, is scheduled to 
expire on July 31, 2011. Before submitting the ICR to OMB for review 
and approval, EPA is soliciting comments on specific aspects of the 
proposed information collection.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before December 27, 2010.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by docket identification 
(ID) number EPA-HQ-OPP-2010-0723, by one of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the on-line instructions for submitting comments.
     Mail: Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP) Regulatory Public 
Docket (7502P),

[[Page 66086]]

Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., 
Washington, DC 20460-0001.
     Delivery: OPP Regulatory Public Docket (7502P), 
Environmental Protection Agency, Rm. S-4400, One Potomac Yard (South 
Bldg.), 2777 S. Crystal Dr., Arlington, VA. Deliveries are only 
accepted during the Docket Facility's normal hours of operation (8:30 
a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal holidays). 
Special arrangements should be made for deliveries of boxed 
information. The Docket Facility telephone number is (703) 305-5805.
    Instructions: Direct your comments to docket ID number EPA-HQ-OPP-
2010-0723. EPA's policy is that all comments received will be included 
in the docket without change and may be made available on-line at 
https://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information 
provided, unless the comment includes information claimed to be 
Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other information whose 
disclosure is restricted by statute. Do not submit information that you 
consider to be CBI or otherwise protected through regulations.gov or e-
mail. The regulations.gov Web site is an ``anonymous access'' system, 
which means EPA will not know your identity or contact information 
unless you provide it in the body of your comment. If you send an e-
mail comment directly to EPA without going through regulations.gov, 
your e-mail address will be automatically captured and included as part 
of the comment that is placed in the docket and made available on the 
Internet. If you submit an electronic comment, EPA recommends that you 
include your name and other contact information in the body of your 
comment and with any disk or CD-ROM you submit. If EPA cannot read your 
comment due to technical difficulties and cannot contact you for 
clarification, EPA may not be able to consider your comment. Electronic 
files should avoid the use of special characters, any form of 
encryption, and be free of any defects or viruses.
    Docket: All documents in the docket are listed in the docket index 
available at https://www.regulations.gov. Although listed in the index, 
some information is not publicly available, e.g., CBI or other 
information whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Certain other 
material, such as copyrighted material, is not placed on the Internet 
and will be publicly available only in hard copy form. Publicly 
available docket materials are available either in the electronic 
docket at https://www.regulations.gov, or, if only available in hard 
copy, at the OPP Regulatory Public Docket in Rm. S-4400, One Potomac 
Yard (South Bldg.), 2777 S. Crystal Dr., Arlington, VA. The hours of 
operation of this Docket Facility are from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday 
through Friday, excluding legal holidays. The Docket Facility telephone 
number is (703) 305-5805.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Niva Kramek, Field and External 
Affairs Division (7506P), Office of Pesticide Programs, Environmental 
Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460-
0001; telephone number: (703) 605-1193; fax number: (703) 305-5884; e-
mail address: kramek.niva@epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. What information is EPA particularly interested in?

    Pursuant to section 3506(c)(2)(A) of PRA, EPA specifically solicits 
comments and information to enable it to:
    1. Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is 
necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the Agency, 
including whether the information will have practical utility.
    2. Evaluate the accuracy of the Agency's estimates of the burden of 
the proposed collection of information, including the validity of the 
methodology and assumptions used.
    3. Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to 
be collected.
    4. Minimize the burden of the collection of information on those 
who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate automated 
electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or 
other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting electronic 
submission of responses. In particular, EPA is requesting comments from 
very small businesses (those that employ less than 25) on examples of 
specific additional efforts that EPA could make to reduce the paperwork 
burden for very small businesses affected by this collection.

II. What should I consider when I prepare my comments for EPA?

    You may find the following suggestions helpful for preparing your 
comments:
    1. Explain your views as clearly as possible and provide specific 
examples.
    2. Describe any assumptions that you used.
    3. Provide copies of any technical information and/or data you used 
that support your views.
    4. If you estimate potential burden or costs, explain how you 
arrived at the estimate that you provide.
    5. Provide specific examples to illustrate your concerns.
    6. Offer alternative ways to improve the collection activity.
    7. Make sure to submit your comments by the deadline identified 
under DATES.
    8. To ensure proper receipt by EPA, be sure to identify the docket 
ID number assigned to this action in the subject line on the first page 
of your response. You may also provide the name, date, and Federal 
Register citation.

III. What information collection activity or ICR does this action apply 
to?

    Affected entities: As identified by their North American Industrial 
Classification System (NAICS) code, entities potentially affected by 
this ICR are: Applicators on farms (crop production, NAICS code 111; 
animal production, NAICS code 112); commercial services applicators 
(exterminating and pest control services, NAICS code 561710); 
administration of certification programs by States/Tribal lead agencies 
(environmental protection program administration, NAICS code 924110; 
pest control programs, agricultural, governmental, NAICS code 926140); 
pesticide dealers (only for EPA-administered programs) (retail nursery, 
lawn, and garden supply stores, NAICS code 444220; agricultural 
chemicals merchant wholesalers, NAICS code 424910); pesticide and other 
agricultural chemical manufacturing (individuals or entities engaged in 
activities related to the registration of a pesticide product, NAICS 
code 32532).
    Title: Certification of Pesticide Applicators.
    ICR numbers: EPA ICR No. 0155.09, OMB Control No. 2070-0029.
    ICR status: This ICR is currently scheduled to expire on July 31, 
2011. An Agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not 
required to respond to, a collection of information, unless it displays 
a currently valid OMB control number. The OMB control numbers for EPA's 
regulations in title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), after 
appearing in the Federal Register when approved, are listed in 40 CFR 
part 9, are displayed either by publication in the Federal Register or 
by other appropriate means, such as on the related collection 
instrument or form, if applicable. The display of OMB control numbers 
for certain EPA regulations is consolidated in 40 CFR part 9.
    Abstract: In accordance with section 11 of the Federal Insecticide, 
Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), EPA

[[Page 66087]]

administers and oversees training and certification programs for 
pesticide applicators. FIFRA allows EPA to classify a pesticide as 
``restricted use'' if the pesticide meets certain toxicity or risk 
criteria. This ICR addresses the paperwork activities performed by 
various EPA-authorized agencies of States and Indian Tribal governments 
as well as Federal agencies (collectively referred to in this document 
as ``authorized agencies'') and activities performed by firms in the 
course of training and certifying persons who apply restricted use 
pesticides. Because of their potential to harm human health or the 
environment, restricted use pesticides may be purchased and applied 
only by a certified applicator or by a person under the direct 
supervision of a certified applicator. A person must meet certain 
standards of competency to become a certified applicator; these 
standards are met through completion of a certification program or 
test. Authorized agencies administer certified applicator programs 
within their jurisdictions, but each agency's certification plan must 
be approved by EPA before it can be implemented. In areas where no 
authorized agency has jurisdiction, EPA administers the certification 
program directly, called a Federal program.
    This ICR also addresses how registrants of certain pesticide 
products are expected to perform specific, special paperwork 
activities, such as training and recordkeeping, in order to comply with 
the terms and conditions of the pesticide registration (e.g., 
registrants of anthrax-related pesticide products that assert claims to 
inactivate bacillus anthracis (anthrax) spores). Paperwork activities 
associated with the use of such products are conveyed specifically as a 
condition of the registration.
    No information of a sensitive or private nature is requested in 
conjunction with this collection activity. Further, this information 
collection activity complies with the provisions of the Privacy Act of 
1974 and OMB Circular A-108.
    Burden statement: The annual public reporting and recordkeeping 
burden for this collection of information is estimated to average from 
0.17 hours (ten minutes) to 77.35 hours per response, with a burden on 
most respondents of 3.1 hours. Burden means the total time, effort, or 
financial resources expended by persons to generate, maintain, retain, 
or disclose or provide information to or for a Federal agency. This 
includes the time needed to review instructions; develop, acquire, 
install, and utilize technology and systems for the purposes of 
collecting, validating, and verifying information, processing and 
maintaining information, and disclosing and providing information; 
adjust the existing ways to comply with any previously applicable 
instructions and requirements which have subsequently changed; train 
personnel to be able to respond to a collection of information; search 
data sources; complete and review the collection of information; and 
transmit or otherwise disclose the information.
    The ICR provides a detailed explanation of this estimate, which is 
only briefly summarized here:
    Estimated total number of potential respondents: 427,131.
    Frequency of response: Annual.
    Estimated total average number of responses for each respondent: 
One.
    Estimated total annual burden hours: 1,320,669 hours.
    Estimated total annual costs: $42,134,484. No capital investment or 
maintenance and operational costs are expected for this information 
collection.

IV. Are there changes in the estimates from the last approval?

    There is an increase of 10,918 hours in the total estimated 
respondent burden compared with that identified in the ICR currently 
approved by OMB. This increase reflects a program change: The expansion 
of the Federal certified applicator program from Navajo country to all 
of Indian country, nationally. Burden hours per respondent have not 
changed.

V. What is the next step in the process for this ICR?

    EPA will consider the comments received and amend the ICR as 
appropriate. The final ICR package will then be submitted to OMB for 
review and approval pursuant to 5 CFR 1320.12. EPA will issue another 
Federal Register notice pursuant to 5 CFR 1320.5(a)(1)(iv) to announce 
the submission of the ICR to OMB and the opportunity to submit 
additional comments to OMB. If you have any questions about this ICR or 
the approval process, please contact the person listed under FOR 
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.

List of Subjects

    Environmental protection, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.

    Dated: October 20, 2010.
Stephen A. Owens,
Assistant Administrator, Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution 
Prevention.
[FR Doc. 2010-27168 Filed 10-26-10; 8:45 am]
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