[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 189 (Monday, September 30, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51557-51558]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-21043]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OPP-2017-0693; FRL-9996-49]


Final Test Guideline; Series 810--Product Performance Test 
Guideline; Notice of Availability

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: EPA is announcing the availability of the final product 
performance test guideline for premises treatments. This test guideline 
is part of a series of test guidelines established by the Office of 
Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention (OCSPP) for use in testing 
pesticides and chemical substances. The test guidelines serve as a 
compendium of accepted scientific methodologies and protocols for 
testing that are intended to provide data to inform regulatory 
decisions. This test guideline, which is identified as OCSPP Test 
Guideline 810.3500, provides guidance for conducting a study to 
determine pesticide product performance against invertebrate pests of 
premises and is used by EPA, the public, and companies that submit data 
to EPA.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michael L. Goodis, Registration 
Division (7505P), Office of Pesticide Programs, Environmental 
Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20460-
0001; telephone number: (703) 305-7090; email address: 
RDFRNotices@epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Introduction

    EPA is announcing the availability of a final test guideline, OCSPP 
Test Guideline 810.3500: Premises Treatments.
    This test guideline is part of a series of test guidelines 
established by OCSPP for use in testing pesticides and chemical 
substances to develop data for submission to the Agency under the 
Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA) section 408 (21 U.S.C. 
346a), the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) 
(7 U.S.C. 136 et seq.), and the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) (15 
U.S.C. 2601 et seq.). The test guidelines serve as a compendium of 
accepted scientific methodologies and protocols that are intended to 
provide data to inform regulatory decisions under TSCA, FIFRA, and/or 
FFDCA.
    The test guidelines are used by EPA, the public, and companies that 
are subject to data submission requirements under TSCA, FIFRA, and/or 
FFDCA. As guidance documents, the test guidelines are not binding on 
either EPA or any outside parties, and EPA may depart from the test 
guidelines where circumstances warrant and without prior notice. At 
places in this guidance, the Agency uses the word ``should.'' In this 
guidance, use of ``should'' with regard to an action means that the 
action is recommended rather than mandatory. The procedures contained 
in the test guidelines are recommended for generating the data that are 
the subject of the test guideline, but EPA recognizes that departures 
may be appropriate in specific situations. You may propose alternatives 
to the recommendations described in the test guidelines, and the Agency 
will assess them for appropriateness on a case-by-case basis.

II. 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 are or may be 
required to conduct testing of pesticides and chemical substances for 
submission to EPA under TSCA, FIFRA, and/or FFDCA, the Agency has not 
attempted to describe all the specific entities that may be affected by 
this action.

B. How can I get copies of this document and other related information?

    1. Docket for this document. The docket for this action, identified 
by docket identification (ID) number EPA-HQ-OPP-2017-0693, is available 
at http://www.regulations.gov or at the Office of Pesticide Programs 
Regulatory Public Docket (OPP Docket) in the Environmental Protection 
Agency Docket Center (EPA/DC), West William Jefferson Clinton Bldg., 
Rm. 3334, 1301 Constitution Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20460-0001. The 
Public Reading Room is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through 
Friday, excluding legal holidays. The telephone number for the Public 
Reading Room is (202) 566-1744, and the telephone number for the OPP 
Docket is (703) 305-5805. Please review the visitor instructions and 
additional information about the docket available at http://www.epa.gov/dockets.
    2. Electronic access to the OCSPP test guidelines. To access OCSPP 
test guidelines electronically, please go to http://www.epa.gov/ocspp/pubs/frs/home/testmeth.htm. You may also access the test guidelines in 
http://www.regulations.gov, grouped by series under docket ID numbers: 
EPA-HQ-OPPT-2009-0150 through EPA-HQ-OPPT-2009-0159 and EPA-HQ-OPPT-
2009-0576.

III. Overview

A. What action is EPA taking?

    EPA is announcing the availability of a final test guideline under 
Series 810.3500 entitled ``Premises Treatments'' and identified as 
OCSPP Test Guideline 810.3500. This revised guideline replaces the 
original version published in 1998. The guideline provides 
recommendations for the design and execution of laboratory studies to 
evaluate the performance of pesticide products intended to kill, 
control, flush, and/or knock down invertebrate pests of premises, such 
as cockroaches, ticks, mosquitoes, flies, and wasps in connection with 
registration of pesticide products under the FIFRA (7 U.S.C. 136, et 
seq.). It does not apply to efficacy testing for treatment of livestock 
or pets, wide-area mosquito control, structural protection from 
termites, or bed bug products.

B. How was this final test guideline developed?

    EPA-registered pesticide products are an important part of pest 
management programs for pests of premises. The Agency developed the 
product

[[Page 51558]]

performance test guidelines to standardize the approaches to testing 
methods to ensure the quality and validity of the efficacy data for 
these types of products. The Agency attended entomology conferences, 
consulted with leading academics, and reviewed peer-reviewed scientific 
journal articles on topics related to the guideline to draft the 
original document. Further, EPA sought advice and recommendations from 
the FIFRA Scientific Advisory Panel (SAP) and the public. The SAP 
meeting, held on May 8-10, 2018, was announced in the Federal Register 
issue of January 26, 2018 (83 FR 3704) (FRL-9972-65). This guideline 
has been revised based on comments from the SAP and the public. The 
revisions include clarifying bait product testing, offering more 
flexibility in testing design, updating the replication recommendations 
based on statistical modeling and ease of obtaining pests, and refining 
the statistical analyses recommendations. The Agency is also making 
available in the docket a Response to Comments document that addresses 
issue raised in the public comment submission.

    Authority: 7 U.S.C. 136 et seq.; 15 U.S.C. 2601 et seq.; 21 
U.S.C. 301 et seq.

    Dated: September 24, 2019.
Alexandra Dapolito Dunn,
Assistant Administrator, Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution 
Prevention.
[FR Doc. 2019-21043 Filed 9-27-19; 8:45 am]
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