Pesticides; Availability of Updated Schedule for Registration Review
PDF Version (3 pp, 85K, About PDF)
[Federal Register: March 11, 2009 (Volume 74, Number 46)]
[Notices]
[Page 10576-10578]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr11mr09-72]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[EPA-HQ-OPP-2008-0922; FRL-8402-2]
Pesticides; Availability of Updated Schedule for Registration Review
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: EPA is announcing the availability of an updated schedule for
the pesticide registration review program, the periodic review of all
registered pesticides mandated by section 3(g) of the Federal
Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). The updated
schedule provides the timetable for opening dockets for the next 4
years of the registration review program - fiscal year (FY) 2009 to FY
2012 - and includes information on the FY 2007 and FY 2008 registration
review cases.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kevin Costello, Special Review and
Reregistration Division (7508P), Office of Pesticide Programs,
Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW.,
Washington, DC 20460-
[[Page 10577]]
0001; telephone number: (703) 305-5026; fax number: (703) 308-8090; e-
mail address: costello.kevin@epa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. General Information
A. Does this Action Apply to Me?
This action is directed to the public in general, and may be of
interest to a wide range of stakeholders including environmental, human
health, farm worker, and agricultural advocates; the chemical industry;
pesticide users; and members of the public interested in the sale,
distribution, or use of pesticides. Since others also may 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. How Can I Get Copies of this Document and Other Related Information?
1. Docket. EPA has established a docket for this action under
docket identification (ID) number EPA-HQ-OPP-2008-0922. Publicly
available docket materials are available either in the electronic
docket at http://www.regulations.gov, or, if only available in hard
copy, at the Office of Pesticide Programs (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.
2. Electronic access. You may access this Federal Register document
electronically through the EPA Internet under the ``Federal Register''
listings at http://www.epa.gov/fedrgstr.
II. Background
A. What Action is the Agency Taking?
EPA is issuing an updated schedule for the registration review
program, the Agency's periodic review of all registered pesticides
mandated by section 3(g) of FIFRA. This updated schedule provides the
timetable for opening dockets for the next 4 years of the program - FY
2009 to FY 2012.
The Pesticide Registration Improvement Act of 2003 as amended in
2007 (PRIA II) requires EPA to complete registration review decisions
by October 1, 2022, for all pesticides registered as of October 1,
2007. To ensure meeting this requirement, EPA will open approximately
70 pesticide registration review dockets annually beginning in FY 2009
and continuing through 2017, so that almost all pesticides registered
at the start of the program will have dockets opened by 2017. Some
biopesticide dockets will be opened in 2018 through 2020. The Agency
anticipates that this scheduling will provide adequate lead times to
complete registration review decisions for all currently registered
pesticides by 2022. During the first several years of the program, EPA
is developing a pipeline of pesticides under review so that it will
have the capacity to make 70 or more decisions each year. EPA expects a
total of about 710 pesticide cases comprising 1,136 pesticide active
ingredients to undergo registration review by 2022.
Each pesticide's place on the schedule is generally determined by
its baseline date -- the date of its last substantive review -- with
the oldest cases going first. The baseline date for a pesticide that
was subject to reregistration is the date of the Reregistration
Eligibility Decision (RED). The baseline date for pesticides that were
not subject to reregistration is the registration date of the first
product containing the active ingredient. Although, the schedule
generally is constructed chronologically, some registration review
cases are grouped in the schedule for greater efficiency. For example,
pesticides that are chemically related or use-related (e.g.,
organophosphate and carbamate chemical classes, the coppers group, and
the pyrethroids, pyrethrins, and syngergists group) generally will be
reviewed during the same time frame.
As reflected in the updated schedule, EPA also intends to review
the neonicotinoid pesticides as a group, and has moved several of these
pesticides ahead in the schedule so that dockets for all will open no
later than FY 2012. The neonicotinoids are a class of insecticides with
a common mode of action that affects the central nervous system of
insects, causing paralysis and death. European studies suggest that
neonicotinic residues can accumulate in pollen and nectar of treated
plants, and represent a potential risk to pollinators. The registration
review docket for the neonicotinoid imidacloprid opened in December
2008, and the docket for nithiazine is scheduled to be opened in March
2009. To better ensure a ``level playing field'' for the neonicotinoid
class as a whole, and to best take advantage of new research as it
becomes available, the Agency has moved the docket openings for the
remaining neonicotinoids on the registration review schedule
(acetamiprid, clothianidin, dinotefuran, nitrapyrin, thiacloprid, and
thiamethoxam) to FY 2012.
EPA also announces that beginning in 2009, all new dockets for
conventional pesticide cases entering registration review will have a
60-day public comment period. During the comment period on new
registration review dockets, the Agency asks interested persons to
review Summary Documents and other information in the dockets, and
identify any additional information that the Agency should consider
during the registration reviews of these pesticides. Based on over 2
years of experience in implementing the registration review program,
EPA believes that 60 days will both allow the public to review these
dockets and identify any additional information that the Agency should
consider, and enable the Agency to open 70 new dockets annually and
comply with the PRIA II requirement that each pesticide case be
reevaluated within a 15-year timeframe. The comment period for
antimicrobial, biopesticide, and microbial pesticide cases has
previously been set at 60 days.
Background information on the program is provided at:
http://www.epa.gov/oppsrrd1/registration_review/.The current schedule is
available at: http://www.epa.gov/oppsrrd1/registration_review/
schedule.htm. An explanation of the schedule is at: http://www.epa.gov/
oppsrrd1/registration_review/explanation.htm. Information about the
neonicotinoids and other groups of related pesticides beginning
registration review is available at: http://www.epa.gov/oppsrrd1/
registration_review/highlights.htm.
B. What is the Agency's Authority for Taking this Action?
EPA is announcing this updated schedule for the registration review
program as provided in 40 CFR 155.42(d) and 155.44 of the Procedural
Regulations for Registration Review: Final Rule (http://www.epa.gov/
fedrgstr/EPA-PEST/2006/August/Day-09/p12904.htm). The Agency may
consider issues raised by the public or registrant when reviewing a
posted schedule, to schedule a pesticide registration review, or to
modify the schedule of a pesticide registration review as appropriate.
This schedule will be updated at least once every year.
List of Subjects
Environmental protection, Agricultural commodities, Pesticides and pests.
[[Page 10578]]
Dated: February 9, 2009.
Richard P. Keigwin, Jr.
Director, Special Review and Reregistration Division, Office of
Pesticide Programs.
[FR Doc. E9-5199 Filed 3-10-09; 8:45 a.m.]
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