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[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 107 (Friday, June 3, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 35766-35767]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-13155]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OPP-2016-0242; FRL-9946-52]

Pesticides; Draft Guidance for Pesticide Registrants on Pesticide 
Resistance Management Labeling

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: The Agency is announcing the availability of and seeking 
public comment on a draft Pesticide Registration Notice (PR Notice) 
entitled ``Guidance for Pesticide Registrants on Pesticide Resistance 
Management Labeling.'' 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 draft PR Notice provides guidance for registrants 
to follow when developing resistance management information to include 
on their pesticide labels. This draft PR Notice would update the 
guidance in PR Notice 2001-5.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before August 2, 2016.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by docket identification 
(ID) number EPA-HQ-OPP-2016-0242, 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: Nikhil Mallampalli, Biological and 
Economic Analysis Division (7503P), Office of Pesticide Programs, 
Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW., 
Washington, DC 20460-0001; telephone number: (703) 308-1924; email 
address: mallampalli.nikhil@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 are required 
to submit data under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and 
Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) or are required to register pesticides. 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.

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 will not be disclosed except in accordance with 
procedures set forth in 40 CFR part 2.
    2. Tips for preparing your comments. When preparing and submitting 
your comments, see the commenting tips at http://www.epa.gov/dockets/comments.html.

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

    A copy of the draft PR Notice ``Guidance for Pesticide Registrants 
on Pesticide Resistance Management Labeling'' and any related or 
supporting information are available in the docket

[[Page 35767]]

under docket identification (ID) number EPA-HQ-OPP-2016-0242.

II. Overview of the Agency's Effort To Address Pesticide Resistance

    Pesticides can be used to control a variety of pests, such as 
insects, weeds, rodents, bacteria, fungi, etc. Over time many 
pesticides have gradually lost their effectiveness because pests have 
developed resistance--a significant decrease in sensitivity to a 
pesticide, which reduces the field performance of these pesticides. The 
Agency is concerned about resistance issues and believes that managing 
the development of pesticide resistance, in conjunction with 
alternative pest-management strategies and Integrated Pest Management 
programs, is an important part of sustainable pest management. To 
address the growing issue of resistance and preserve the useful life of 
pesticides, the Agency is beginning to embark on a more widespread 
effort and several activities that are aimed at combating and slowing 
the development of pesticide resistance.
    One such activity, which is the subject of this FR Notice, is 
today's release and request for comment on draft PR Notice 2016-X, 
``Guidance for Pesticide Registrants on Pesticide Resistance Management 
Labeling.'' Draft PR Notice 2016-X updates PR Notice 2001 and applies 
to all conventional, agricultural pesticides (i.e., herbicides, 
fungicides, bactericides, insecticides, and acaricides). This draft PR 
Notice focuses on pesticide labels and is aimed at improving 
information about how pesticide users can minimize and manage pest 
resistance.
    Another such activity, involves the release of draft PR Notice 
2016-XX, ``Guidance for Herbicide Resistance Management Labeling, 
Education, Training, and Stewardship.'' Draft PR Notice 2016-XX applies 
to herbicides, and communicates the Agency's current thinking and 
approach to address herbicide-resistant weeds by providing guidance on 
labeling, education, training, and stewardship for herbicides 
undergoing registration review or registration (i.e., new herbicide 
actives, new uses proposed for use on herbicide-resistant crops, or 
other case-specific registration actions). Draft PR Notice 2016-XX will 
also be published in today's Federal Register. In the future, the 
Agency plans to evaluate other types of pesticides (e.g. fungicides, 
bactericides, insecticides, and acaricides) to determine whether and 
what guidance may be appropriate for these types pesticides. If the 
Agency releases future guidance on these other types of pesticides, we 
plan to seek input from the public.

III. What guidance does this PR Notice provide?

    Draft PR Notice 2016-X, which revises and updates PR Notice 2001-5, 
applies to all conventional, agricultural pesticides (i.e., herbicides, 
fungicides, bactericides, insecticides and acaricides). The updates in 
draft PR Notice 2016-X focus on pesticides labels and are aimed at 
improving information about how pesticide users can minimize and manage 
pest resistance. The draft PR Notice 2016-X updates PR Notice 2001-5 
with the following three categories of changes:
     Provides additional guidance, and recommended format, for 
resistance management statements or information to place on labels.
     Includes references to external technical resources for 
guidance on resistance management (e.g., professional scientific 
societies, resistance action committees for different types of 
pesticides).
     Updates the instructions on how to submit changes to 
existing labels in order to enhance resistance management language.
    This draft PR Notice also references draft revisions to Chapter 
11.VI.G of EPA's Label Review Manual (LRM), which illustrates the 
generic format for resistance management labeling along with examples 
of various labeling scenarios that registrants may encounter. The 
Agency requests comments on the updates to this draft PR Notice and 
this chapter of the LRM.

IV. Do PR Notices contain binding requirements?

    The PR Notice discussed in this notice is intended to provide 
guidance to EPA personnel and decision-makers, as well as pesticide 
registrants. While the requirements in the statute and Agency 
regulations are binding on EPA and the applicants, this PR Notice is 
not binding on either EPA or pesticide registrants, and EPA may depart 
from the guidance 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.

    Authority:  7 U.S.C. 136 et seq.

    Dated: May 23, 2016.
Jack E. Housenger,
Director, Office of Pesticide Programs.
[FR Doc. 2016-13155 Filed 6-2-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
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