[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 187 (Wednesday, September 26, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 48611-48612]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-20957]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OPP-2018-0423; FRL-9983-88]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Renewal of an 
Existing Collection (EPA ICR No. 2451.02); Comment Request

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA), this 
document announces that EPA is planning to submit an Information 
Collection Request (ICR) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). 
The ICR, entitled: ``Soil and Non-Soil Fumigant Risk Mitigation'' and 
identified by EPA ICR No. 2451.02 and OMB Control No. 2070-0197, 
represents the renewal of an existing ICR that is scheduled to expire 
on April 30, 2019. Before submitting the ICR to OMB for review and 
approval, EPA is soliciting comments on specific aspects of the 
proposed information collection that is summarized in this document. 
The ICR and accompanying material are available in the docket for 
public review and comment.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before November 26, 2018.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by docket identification 
(ID) number EPA-HQ-OPP-2018-0423, by one of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://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 http://www.epa.gov/dockets/contacts.html.
    Additional instructions on commenting or visiting the docket, along 
with more information about dockets generally, is available at http://www.epa.gov/dockets.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ryne Yarger, 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; email address: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. What information is EPA particularly interested in?

    Pursuant to PRA section 3506(c)(2)(A) (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)), 
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 information collection activity or ICR does this action apply 
to?

    Title: Soil and Non-Soil Fumigant Risk Mitigation.
    ICR number: EPA ICR No. 2451.02.
    OMB control number: OMB Control No. 2070-0197.
    ICR status: This ICR is currently scheduled to expire on April 30, 
2019. 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

[[Page 48612]]

numbers for certain EPA regulations is consolidated in 40 CFR part 9.
    Abstract: In completing reviews of several soil and non-soil 
fumigants pursuant to section 4(g) of the Federal Insecticide, 
Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), the EPA determined that these 
fumigants are eligible for reregistration only if specific risk 
mitigation measures, as outlined in Reregistration Eligibility 
Decisions for the chemicals, are adopted and adequately implemented. 
This ICR addresses the paperwork activities that both users and 
registrants of these specific soil and non-soil fumigants must perform 
in order to comply with the required risk mitigation measures.
    Without the complete suite of measures, these soil and non-soil 
fumigant chemicals do not meet the requirements to be eligible for 
registration or reregistration under FIFRA. The programs and activities 
represented in this ICR are the result of the Agency exercising the 
authority of section 3(c)(2)(B) or section 3(c)(5) of FIFRA, which 
authorizes EPA to require pesticide registrants to generate and submit 
data to the Agency, when such data are needed to maintain an existing 
registration of a pesticide. Due to the high benefits of these 
chemicals, there could be significant economic impact if these fumigant 
products are no longer available.
    Burden statement: The annual public reporting and recordkeeping 
burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 2.9 
hours per response. Burden is defined in 5 CFR 1320.3(b).
    The ICR, which is available in the docket along with other related 
materials, provides a detailed explanation of the collection activities 
and the burden estimate that is only briefly summarized here:
    Respondents/affected entities: Entities potentially affected by 
this ICR are soil and non-soil fumigant users, specifically certified 
applicators and agriculture pesticide handlers (NAICS 111000--
Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting); soil and non-soil fumigant 
registrants (NAICS 325300--Pesticide, Fertilizer, and Other 
Agricultural Chemical Manufacturing); and state and tribal lead 
agencies (NAICS 999200--State Government).
    Estimated total number of potential respondents: 113,071.
    Frequency of response: On occasion.
    Estimated total average number of responses for each respondent: 5.
    Estimated total annual burden hours: 1,693,353 hours.
    Estimated total annual costs: $60,356,426. This includes an 
estimated burden cost of $59,425,592 and an estimated cost of $930,834 
for capital investment or maintenance and operational costs.

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

    There is an increase of 1,495,707 hours in the total estimated 
respondent burden compared with that identified in the ICR currently 
approved by OMB. For the soil fumigation activities, there was a change 
in burden hours from 197,646 to 198,262, which is primarily due to 
updating the estimated number of certified applicators and handlers 
potentially involved in soil fumigation activities. Additionally, EPA 
is now accounting for certain non-soil fumigant risk mitigation 
activities. For the non-soil fumigation activities, there is an 
increase in burden from 0 to 1,495,091 hours, which is related to the 
implementation of statutory responsibilities associated with the 
registration review of certain non-soil fumigant pesticides. The 
difference in burden hours between these two types of fumigation 
activities is driven by the annual estimate of applications. It is 
estimated that there are 12,651 soil fumigation applications and 
263,200 non-soil fumigation applications per year. The total annual 
respondent burden for this ICR is estimated to be 1,693,352 burden 
hours for both soil and non-soil fumigations. These changes are the 
result of adjustments to the estimated number of respondents for the 
soil fumigant risk mitigation activities, and the result of a 
programmatic change to incorporate the information collection 
activities related to the non-soil fumigant risk mitigation activities.

IV. 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 document 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.

    Authority: 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.

    Dated: September 13, 2018.
Charlotte Bertrand,
Acting Principal Deputy Assistant Administrator, Office of Chemical 
Safety and Pollution Prevention.
[FR Doc. 2018-20957 Filed 9-25-18; 8:45 am]
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