[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 40 (Wednesday, March 1, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12929-12930]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-04155]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[EPA-HQ-OPP-2020-0260; FRL-8118-02-OCSPP]
RIN 2070-ZA22
Pesticides; Final Guidance for Pesticide Registrants on the Lists
of Pests of Significant Public Health Importance (Pesticide
Registration Notice 2023-1)
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of availability.
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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing the
availability of a final Pesticide Registration Notice (PR Notice)
entitled, ``Lists of Pests of Significant Public Health Importance''
and identified as PR Notice 2023-1. 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 PR Notice updates and
replaces the PR Notice 2002-1, which identifies pests of significant
public health importance. The Health and Human Services (HHS), United
States Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) determined that updating the lists to reflect
the current public health situation were warranted because vector-borne
diseases and related research has changed significantly since the
original PR Notice was published almost 20 years ago. This update
includes the addition or removal of pests, new impacts, renaming pests,
or grouping pests of similar species.
DATES: PR Notice 2023-1 is effective March 31, 2023.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Susan Jennings, Immediate Office
(7501M), Office of Pesticide Programs, Environmental Protection Agency,
1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20460-0001; telephone number:
(706) 355-8574; 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, however, it may
be of particular interest to those persons who are or may be required
to conduct testing of chemical substances under the Federal Food, Drug,
and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA), or Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and
Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). 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. 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. What is the Agency's authority for taking this action?
We are taking this action under FIFRA, 7 U.S.C. 136 et seq. FIFRA
section 28(d) charges EPA with identifying ``pests of significant
public health importance.'' FIFRA section 2(t) defines the term
``pest'' as meaning (1) any insect, rodent, nematode, fungus, weed, or
(2) any other form of terrestrial or aquatic plant or animal life or
virus, bacteria, or other micro-organism (except viruses, bacteria, or
other micro-organism on or in living man or other living animals) which
the Administrator declares to be a pest under FIFRA section 25(c)(1).
EPA previously exercised FIFRA section 25(c)(1) authority to make pest
declarations, by amending the regulatory definition of ``pest'' at 40
CFR 152.5. The intended changes to the lists of pests of significant
public health importance are within the statutory and regulatory
definitions.
C. How can I get copies of this document and other related information?
The docket for this action, identified by docket identification
(ID) number EPA-HQ-OPP-2020-0260, is available through https://www.regulations.gov. Additional instructions on visiting the docket,
along with more information about dockets generally, visit https://www.epa.gov/dockets.
II. What guidance does this PR Notice provide?
This final PR Notice 2023-1 updates and replaces PR Notice 2002-1,
which identifies pests of significant public health importance. The
lists were first published in 2002, fulfilling the requirement of FIFRA
section 28(d) to identify pests of significant public health importance
(see the original lists: https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2014-04/documents/pr2002-1.pdf). EPA, HHS and USDA believe that pests,
diseases, and control techniques have changed since 2002. The lists
provide an interagency baseline for the federal government and the
public to begin any discussions on government regulation and control of
disease or vectors of
[[Page 12930]]
disease agents. EPA uses the lists of pests of significant public
health importance to develop and implement programs to improve and
facilitate the safe and necessary use of chemical, biological and other
methods to control pests of public health importance. When a pest is
added to these lists, it reflects a determination that the pest is a
pest of significant public health importance and the lists serve as a
public reference to that effect. The publication of the updated lists
does not affect the regulatory status of any registration or
application for registration of any specific pesticide product,
therefore, registrants do not need to take any action.
EPA announced the availability and sought public comments on a
draft PR Notice (85 FR 70146, November 4, 2020 (FRL-10010-13)). EPA
received 9 unique public comments that are discussed in a Response to
Comments document, along with the Agency's responses. The Response to
Comments document is available in the docket and is briefly summarized
here. The comments covered a range of topics including general comments
on the lists geographic scope or level of detail, whether there could
be a regulatory impact from the lists (none is anticipated), or if
products exempt from registration could be impacted. More specific
comments were also submitted on the content of the lists, such as
requests to add or remove species, formatting considerations, and the
public health impacts of specific pests.
After considering the public comments, EPA is finalizing the PR
Notice with the following modifications: Minor adjustments to the
introductory language; adding several pests (especially in the
vertebrate list); clarifying several of the public health impacts; and
combining rows where pests or the public health impacts could be
combined.
III. Do PR Notices impose binding requirements?
The PR Notice discussed in this document is intended to provide
guidance to EPA personnel and decisionmakers and to pesticide
registrants. While the requirements in the statutes and Agency
regulations are binding on EPA and pesticide registrants, the PR Notice
does not impose new binding requirements on either EPA or pesticide
registrants, and EPA may depart from the guidance presented in the PR
Notice 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.
IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
Additional information about these statutes and Executive Orders
can be found at https://www.epa.gov/laws-regulations/laws-and-executive-orders.
A. Executive Order 12866: Regulatory Planning and Review and Executive
Order 13563: Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review
This action is not a regulatory action under Executive Order 12866
(58 FR 51735; October 4, 1993) and was therefore not submitted to the
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review under Executive Orders
12866 and 13563 (76 FR 3821, January 21, 2011).
B. Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA)
This guidance does not create any paperwork burdens that require
additional approval by OMB under the PRA, 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq. The
information collection activities associated with pesticide
registration are already approved by OMB under OMB Control No. 2070-
0060, entitled ``Application for New and Amended Pesticide
Registration'' (EPA ICR No. 0277.24).
Authority: 7 U.S.C. 136 et seq.
Dated: February 23, 2023.
Michal Freedhoff,
Assistant Administrator, Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution
Prevention.
[FR Doc. 2023-04155 Filed 2-28-23; 8:45 am]
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