Amendment of a Pesticide Experimental Use Permit; Notice of Receipt of Application; Comment Request, 2169-2170 [2014-00389]

Download as PDF tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 8 / Monday, January 13, 2014 / Notices Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW., Washington, DC 20460; telephone number: 202–566–1381; fax number: 202–566–1336; email address: mcshane.john@epa.gov. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Supporting documents which explain in detail the information that the EPA will be collecting are available in the public docket for this ICR. The docket can be viewed online at www.regulations.gov or in person at the EPA Docket Center, WJC West, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Ave. NW., Washington, DC. The telephone number for the Docket Center is 202–566–1744. For additional information about EPA’s public docket, visit https://www.epa.gov/ dockets. Abstract: The National Estuary Program (NEP) involves collecting information from the state or local agency or nongovernmental organizations that receive funds under Sec. 320 of the Clean Water Act (CWA). The regulation requiring this information is found at 40 CFR part 35. Prospective grant recipients seek funding to develop or oversee and coordinate implementation of Comprehensive Conservation Management Plans (CCMPs) for estuaries of national significance. In order to receive funds, grantees must submit an annual workplan to EPA which are used to track performance of each of the 28 estuary programs currently in the NEP. EPA provides funding to NEPs to support long-term implementation of CCMPs if such programs pass a program evaluation process. The primary purpose of the program evaluation process is to help EPA determine whether the 28 programs included in the National Estuary Program (NEP) are making adequate progress implementing their CCMPs and therefore merit continued funding under Sec. 320 of the Clean Water Act. EPA also requests that each of the 28 NEPs receiving Sec. 320 funds report information that can be used in the GPRA reporting process. This reporting is done on an annual basis and is used to show environmental results that are being achieved within the overall NEP Program. This information is ultimately submitted to Congress along with GPRA information from other EPA programs. Form Numbers: None. Respondents/Affected Entities: Entities potentially affected by this action are those state or local agencies or nongovernmental organizations in the National Estuary Program (NEP) who receive grants under Section 320 of the Clean Water Act. VerDate Mar<15>2010 16:40 Jan 10, 2014 Jkt 232001 Respondent’s Obligation to Respond: Required to obtain or retain a benefit (Section 320 of the Clean Water Act). Estimated Number of Respondents: 28 (total). Frequency of Response: Annual. Total Estimated Burden: 4,900 hours (per year). Burden is defined at 5 CFR 1320.03(b) Total Estimated Cost: $221,970 (per year), includes $0 annualized capital or operation & maintenance costs. Changes in the Estimates: There is decrease of 933 hours in the total estimated respondent burden compared with the ICR currently approved by OMB. This decrease is due to the fact that the respondents are not required to submit a program evaluation package in 2016, as a result of modifications made by EPA to the Program Evaluation Guidance and a redistribution of the number of NEPs to be reviewed each evaluation cycle. John Moses, Director, Collection Strategies Division. [FR Doc. 2014–00376 Filed 1–10–14; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6560–50–P ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY [EPA–HQ–OPP–2012–0780; FRL–9904–99] Amendment of a Pesticide Experimental Use Permit; Notice of Receipt of Application; Comment Request Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). ACTION: Notice. AGENCY: This notice announces EPA’s receipt of an application from Monsanto Company requesting to amend 524– EUP–104 experimental use permit (EUP) for the plant-incorporated protectants (PIPs) corn event MON 87411 in combination with single and combined traits against lepidoptera and corn rootworm (CRW). The Agency has determined that the amendment request for the permit may be of regional and national significance. Therefore, because of the potential significance, and pursuant to the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), EPA is hereby providing notice of receipt and is seeking comments on this application. DATES: Comments must be received on or before February 12, 2014. Submit your comments, identified by docket identification (ID) number and the EUP File Symbol as shown in the body of this document, by one of the following methods: SUMMARY: PO 00000 Frm 00023 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 2169 Submit your comments, identified by docket identification (ID) number and the EUP File Symbol as shown in the body of this document, by one of the following methods: • Federal eRulemaking Portal: 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. • 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 https:// www.epa.gov/dockets/contacts.htm. 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: Robert McNally, Biopesticides and Pollution Prevention Division (BPPD), (7511P), Office of Pesticide Programs, Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW., Washington, DC 20460–0001; telephone number: (703) 305–7090; email address: BPPDFRNotices@epa.gov. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: ADDRESSES: 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 conduct or sponsor research on pesticides, 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 E:\FR\FM\13JAN1.SGM 13JAN1 2170 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 8 / Monday, January 13, 2014 / Notices tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES will not be disclosed except in accordance with procedures set forth in 40 CFR part 2. 2. Tips for preparing your comments. When submitting comments, remember to: i. Identify the document by docket ID number and other identifying information (subject heading, Federal Register date and page number). ii. Follow directions. The Agency may ask you to respond to specific questions or organize comments by referencing a Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) part or section number. iii. Explain why you agree or disagree; suggest alternatives and substitute language for your requested changes. iv. Describe any assumptions and provide any technical information and/ or data that you used. v. If you estimate potential costs or burdens, explain how you arrived at your estimate in sufficient detail to allow for it to be reproduced. vi. Provide specific examples to illustrate your concerns and suggest alternatives. vii. Explain your views as clearly as possible, avoiding the use of profanity or personal threats. viii. Make sure to submit your comments by the comment period deadline identified. 3. Environmental justice. EPA seeks to achieve environmental justice, the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of any group, including minority and/or low income populations, in the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies. To help address potential environmental justice issues, the Agency seeks information on any groups or segments of the population who, as a result of their location, cultural practices, or other factors, may have atypical or disproportionately high and adverse human health impacts or environmental effects from exposure to the pesticide(s) discussed in this document, compared to the general population. II. What Action is the Agency Taking? Under section 5 of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), 7 U.S.C. 136c, EPA can allow manufacturers to field test pesticides under development. Manufacturers are required to obtain an EUP before testing new pesticides or new uses of pesticides if they conduct experimental field tests on 10 acres or more of land or one acre or more of water. Following the review of the application and any comments and data received in response to this solicitation, EPA will decide whether to issue or VerDate Mar<15>2010 16:40 Jan 10, 2014 Jkt 232001 deny the amended EUP request, and if issued, the conditions under which it is to be conducted. Any issuance of an amended EUP will be announced in the Federal Register. Therefore, pursuant to 40 CFR 172.11(a), the Agency has determined that the following amended EUP application may be of regional and national significance, and therefore is seeking public comment on the following amended EUP application: 524–EUP–104. (EPA–HQ–OPP–2012– 0780). On March 1, 2013, EPA approved an application from Monsanto Company, 800 Lindbergh Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63167, for an experimental use permit (EPA Reg. No. 524–EUP–104) for the PIPs corn events MON 87410 and MON 87411. A notice of issuance of the EUP was published in the Federal Register on November 21, 2013 (78 FR 69849) (FRL–9403–1) . The corn events MON 87410 and Mon 87411 were approved for experimental use in combination with single and combined traits that produce active ingredients derived from Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) and target lepidoptera and corn rootworm (CRW). The EUP allowed planting through February 28, 2015. In a subsequent application, dated October 3, 2013, Monsanto has proposed to amend this permit (524– EUP–104) to plant MON 87411 in combination with other single- and combined-event PIPs that have been previously registered. The acreage to be planted under the proposed amendment over the 2-year period (2014–2016) are: 13,300 acres of event combinations containing MON 87411, 7,032 acres of other unregistered PIP combinations, 11,057 acres of registered PIPs to be used in comparators, and 14,653 acres of non-PIP and border plants. The PIP events comprising the single or combined trait products in this EUP include MON 89034, TC1507, MIR162, MON 88017, DAS–59122–7, and MON 87411. The proposed new corn event, MON 87411, contains a suppression cassette with an inverted repeat sequence (DvSnf7) derived from Diabrotica virgifera. The expression of the DvSnf7 suppression cassette results in the formation of a double stranded RNA (dsRNA) transcript. The researchers postulate that when PIPproduced Dv49 dsRNA is consumed by the pest, it down regulates the targeted pest’s Snf7 gene, resulting in CRW mortality. MON 87411 also produces the Cry3Bb1 protein to protect against CRW larval feeding. The Bt proteins to be used in the single or combination traits in the proposed amended EUP include Cry1A.105, Cry2Ab2, Cry IF, Vip3Aa20, PO 00000 Frm 00024 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 Cry3Bb1, and Cry34Abl/Cry35Abl. The environmental and human health safety of these proteins has been demonstrated, and they are respectively exempted from the requirement of a tolerance (40 CFR 174.502, 174.519, 174.520, 174.501, 174.518, 174.506). A permanent tolerance exemption has been established for nucleic acids that are part of the PIPs proposed for testing, including the dsRNA from MON 87411 (40 CFR 174.507). The tests will be conducted in the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico and in the states including: Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin. Proposed protocols for the EUP include: (1) Seed development and increase for future testing including nursery observations of traits in various genetic backgrounds; and (2) product characterization work, including phenotypic and agronomic observations, efficacy, yield benefit evaluations and regulatory data generation. Authority: 7 U.S.C. 136c. List of Subjects Environmental protection, Experimental use permits. Dated: December 30, 2013. G. Jeffrey Herndon, Acting Director, Registration Division, Office of Pesticide Programs. [FR Doc. 2014–00389 Filed 1–10–14; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6560–50–P FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE CORPORATION Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request (3064– 0143) Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). ACTION: Notice and request for comment. AGENCY: The FDIC, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on the revision of an existing information collection, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. chapter 35). On October 22, 2013, (78 FR 62631), the FDIC requested comment for 60 days on a proposal to SUMMARY: E:\FR\FM\13JAN1.SGM 13JAN1

Agencies

[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 8 (Monday, January 13, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2169-2170]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-00389]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OPP-2012-0780; FRL-9904-99]


Amendment of a Pesticide Experimental Use Permit; Notice of 
Receipt of Application; Comment Request

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: This notice announces EPA's receipt of an application from 
Monsanto Company requesting to amend 524-EUP-104 experimental use 
permit (EUP) for the plant-incorporated protectants (PIPs) corn event 
MON 87411 in combination with single and combined traits against 
lepidoptera and corn rootworm (CRW). The Agency has determined that the 
amendment request for the permit may be of regional and national 
significance. Therefore, because of the potential significance, and 
pursuant to the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act 
(FIFRA), EPA is hereby providing notice of receipt and is seeking 
comments on this application.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before February 12, 2014. Submit 
your comments, identified by docket identification (ID) number and the 
EUP File Symbol as shown in the body of this document, by one of the 
following methods:

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by docket identification 
(ID) number and the EUP File Symbol as shown in the body of this 
document, by one of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: 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.
     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 https://www.epa.gov/dockets/contacts.htm.
    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: Robert McNally, Biopesticides and 
Pollution Prevention Division (BPPD), (7511P), Office of Pesticide 
Programs, Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW., 
Washington, DC 20460-0001; telephone number: (703) 305-7090; email 
address: BPPDFRNotices@epa.gov.

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 conduct or 
sponsor research on pesticides, 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

[[Page 2170]]

will not be disclosed except in accordance with procedures set forth in 
40 CFR part 2.
    2. Tips for preparing your comments. When submitting comments, 
remember to:
    i. Identify the document by docket ID number and other identifying 
information (subject heading, Federal Register date and page number).
    ii. Follow directions. The Agency may ask you to respond to 
specific questions or organize comments by referencing a Code of 
Federal Regulations (CFR) part or section number.
    iii. Explain why you agree or disagree; suggest alternatives and 
substitute language for your requested changes.
    iv. Describe any assumptions and provide any technical information 
and/or data that you used.
    v. If you estimate potential costs or burdens, explain how you 
arrived at your estimate in sufficient detail to allow for it to be 
reproduced.
    vi. Provide specific examples to illustrate your concerns and 
suggest alternatives.
    vii. Explain your views as clearly as possible, avoiding the use of 
profanity or personal threats.
    viii. Make sure to submit your comments by the comment period 
deadline identified.
    3. Environmental justice. EPA seeks to achieve environmental 
justice, the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of any group, 
including minority and/or low income populations, in the development, 
implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and 
policies. To help address potential environmental justice issues, the 
Agency seeks information on any groups or segments of the population 
who, as a result of their location, cultural practices, or other 
factors, may have atypical or disproportionately high and adverse human 
health impacts or environmental effects from exposure to the 
pesticide(s) discussed in this document, compared to the general 
population.

II. What Action is the Agency Taking?

    Under section 5 of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and 
Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), 7 U.S.C. 136c, EPA can allow manufacturers to 
field test pesticides under development. Manufacturers are required to 
obtain an EUP before testing new pesticides or new uses of pesticides 
if they conduct experimental field tests on 10 acres or more of land or 
one acre or more of water. Following the review of the application and 
any comments and data received in response to this solicitation, EPA 
will decide whether to issue or deny the amended EUP request, and if 
issued, the conditions under which it is to be conducted. Any issuance 
of an amended EUP will be announced in the Federal Register.
    Therefore, pursuant to 40 CFR 172.11(a), the Agency has determined 
that the following amended EUP application may be of regional and 
national significance, and therefore is seeking public comment on the 
following amended EUP application:
    524-EUP-104. (EPA-HQ-OPP-2012-0780). On March 1, 2013, EPA approved 
an application from Monsanto Company, 800 Lindbergh Blvd., St. Louis, 
MO 63167, for an experimental use permit (EPA Reg. No. 524-EUP-104) for 
the PIPs corn events MON 87410 and MON 87411. A notice of issuance of 
the EUP was published in the Federal Register on November 21, 2013 (78 
FR 69849) (FRL-9403-1) . The corn events MON 87410 and Mon 87411 were 
approved for experimental use in combination with single and combined 
traits that produce active ingredients derived from Bacillus 
thuringiensis (Bt) and target lepidoptera and corn rootworm (CRW). The 
EUP allowed planting through February 28, 2015.
    In a subsequent application, dated October 3, 2013, Monsanto has 
proposed to amend this permit (524-EUP-104) to plant MON 87411 in 
combination with other single- and combined-event PIPs that have been 
previously registered. The acreage to be planted under the proposed 
amendment over the 2-year period (2014-2016) are: 13,300 acres of event 
combinations containing MON 87411, 7,032 acres of other unregistered 
PIP combinations, 11,057 acres of registered PIPs to be used in 
comparators, and 14,653 acres of non-PIP and border plants.
    The PIP events comprising the single or combined trait products in 
this EUP include MON 89034, TC1507, MIR162, MON 88017, DAS-59122-7, and 
MON 87411. The proposed new corn event, MON 87411, contains a 
suppression cassette with an inverted repeat sequence (DvSnf7) derived 
from Diabrotica virgifera. The expression of the DvSnf7 suppression 
cassette results in the formation of a double stranded RNA (dsRNA) 
transcript. The researchers postulate that when PIP-produced Dv49 dsRNA 
is consumed by the pest, it down regulates the targeted pest's Snf7 
gene, resulting in CRW mortality. MON 87411 also produces the Cry3Bb1 
protein to protect against CRW larval feeding.
    The Bt proteins to be used in the single or combination traits in 
the proposed amended EUP include Cry1A.105, Cry2Ab2, Cry IF, Vip3Aa20, 
Cry3Bb1, and Cry34Abl/Cry35Abl. The environmental and human health 
safety of these proteins has been demonstrated, and they are 
respectively exempted from the requirement of a tolerance (40 CFR 
174.502, 174.519, 174.520, 174.501, 174.518, 174.506). A permanent 
tolerance exemption has been established for nucleic acids that are 
part of the PIPs proposed for testing, including the dsRNA from MON 
87411 (40 CFR 174.507).
    The tests will be conducted in the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico 
and in the states including: Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, 
Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, 
Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, 
Nebraska, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, 
South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington and 
Wisconsin.
    Proposed protocols for the EUP include: (1) Seed development and 
increase for future testing including nursery observations of traits in 
various genetic backgrounds; and (2) product characterization work, 
including phenotypic and agronomic observations, efficacy, yield 
benefit evaluations and regulatory data generation.

    Authority:  7 U.S.C. 136c.

List of Subjects

    Environmental protection, Experimental use permits.

    Dated: December 30, 2013.
G. Jeffrey Herndon,
Acting Director, Registration Division, Office of Pesticide Programs.
[FR Doc. 2014-00389 Filed 1-10-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
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