Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 107 / Friday, June 3, 2016 / Notices 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 herbicideresistant 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 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

[EPA–HQ–OPP–2016–0226; FRL–9946–53] 

Pesticides; Draft Guidance for 

Pesticide Registrants on Herbicide 

Resistance Management Labeling, 

Education, Training, and Stewardship 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Notice of availability. 

SUMMARY: The Agency is announcing 

the availability of and seeking public 

comment on a draft Pesticide 

Registration Notice (PR Notice) entitled 

‘‘Guidance for Herbicide Resistance 

Management Labeling, Education, 

Training, and Stewardship.’’ 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 (2016–XX) 

communicates the Agency’s approach to 

addressing herbicide-resistant weeds by 

providing guidance on labeling, 

education, training, and stewardship for 

herbicides undergoing registration 

review or registration (i.e., new 

herbicide and actives, new uses 

proposed for use on herbicide-resistant 

crops, or other case-specific registration 

actions. 

DATES: Comments must be received on 

or before August 2, 2016. 

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, 

identified by docket identification (ID) 

number EPA–HQ–OPP–2016–0226, 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: Bill 

Chism, Biological and Economic 

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35768 Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 107 / Friday, June 3, 2016 / Notices 

Analysis Division (7503P), Office of 

Pesticide Programs, Environmental 

Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania 

Ave. NW., Washington, DC 20460–0001; 

telephone number: (703) 308–8136; 

email address: chism.bill@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 draft PR Notice 2016–XX, 

‘‘Guidance for Herbicide Resistance 

Management Labeling, Education, 

Training, and Stewardship’’ and any 

related or supporting information are 

available in the docket under docket 

identification (ID) number EPA–HQ– 

OPP–2016–0226. 

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–XX, ‘‘Guidance for 

Herbicide Resistance Management 

Labeling, Education, Training, and 

Stewardship.’’ Draft PR Notice 2016– 

XX, which only applies to herbicides, 

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 herbicideresistant crops, or other case-specific 

registration actions). It is part of a 

holistic, proactive approach to slow the 

development and spread of herbicideresistant weeds, and prolong the useful 

lifespan of herbicides and related 

technology. The Agency is focusing on 

the more holistic guidance for 

herbicides first because they are the 

most widely used agricultural 

chemicals, no new herbicide 

mechanism of action has been 

developed in last 30 years, and 

herbicide-resistant weeds are rapidly 

increasing. 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. 

Another such activity, involves the 

release of draft PR Notice 2016–X, 

‘‘Guidance for Pesticide Registrants on 

Pesticide Resistance Management 

Labeling. Draft PR Notice 2016–X, 

which updates PR Notice 2001–5, 

applies to all conventional, agricultural 

pesticides (i.e., herbicides, fungicides, 

bactericides, insecticides, and 

acaricides). Draft PR Notice 2016–X 

focuses on pesticide labels and is aimed 

at improving information about how 

pesticide users can minimize and 

manage pest resistance. This draft PR 

Notice will also be published in today’s 

Federal Register. 

III. Background on Herbicide 

Resistance 

For the purposes of draft PR Notice 

2016–XX and this FR Notice, the 

Agency defines herbicide resistance as 

the inherited ability of a plant to survive 

and reproduce following exposure to a 

dose of herbicide normally lethal to the 

wild type. Resistance may be naturally 

occurring or induced by such 

techniques as genetic engineering or 

selection of variants produced by tissue 

culture or mutagenesis. 

The development and spread of 

herbicide-resistant weeds in agriculture 

is a widespread problem that has the 

potential to fundamentally change 

production practices in United States 

agriculture. While herbicide-resistant 

weeds have been known since the 

1950s, the number of species and their 

geographical extent, has been increasing 

rapidly in the last decade. As of March 

2016, Heap reports that there are 249 

weed species with confirmed herbicide 

resistance worldwide and 80 unique 

weed species with herbicide resistance 

in the United States (Heap, 2016). 

Considering that some weed species 

have developed resistance to more than 

one mechanism of action (MOA) 

independently, there are 155 weed 

species/MOA combinations with 

confirmed resistance (Heap, 2016). 

These 155 combinations have shown 

resistance to herbicides with 18 

different MOAs. In the United States, 48 

states have reported the presence of 

herbicide-resistant weeds and there are 

over 80 crops and sites (e.g. roadsides, 

pastures, and railways) with herbicideresistant weeds. 

As noted earlier, draft PR Notice 

2016–XX primarily focuses on 

herbicides at this time for several 

reasons. First, herbicides are the most 

widely used agricultural chemicals. 

Over 285 million acres were treated on 

nearly 800,000 farm operations in 2012 

(USDA, 2014). Second, unlike 

fungicides and insecticides, there have 

been no new herbicide MOAs 

developed in the last 30 years. 

Therefore, users do not have a new 

MOA to control herbicide-resistant 

weeds and it’s important to protect the 

long term efficacy of these chemistries. 

Third, the number of herbicide-resistant 

weeds and the affected acreage infested 

is rapidly increasing. Finally, growers 

are facing severe economic impacts from 

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Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 107 / Friday, June 3, 2016 / Notices 35769 

herbicide-resistant weeds with up to 

100% crop loss in some cases. 

IV. What guidance does this PR Notice 

provide? 

This draft PR Notice communicates 

the Agency’s approach to addressing 

herbicide-resistant weeds by providing 

guidance on labeling, education, 

training, and stewardship for herbicides 

undergoing registration or registration 

review. The Agency’s guidance divides 

28 herbicide MOAs into three categories 

of concern (low, moderate, high) based 

on the risk of developing herbicideresistant weeds. The guidance also 

provides 11 elements that are focused 

on labeling, education, training, and 

stewardship strategies. Herbicides with 

the least concern for developing 

herbicide-resistant weeds will have the 

fewest resistance management elements, 

and herbicides with the greatest concern 

will have the most elements. The 

guidance in this draft PR Notice 2016– 

XX is intended to provide herbicide 

users and registrants with useful 

strategies that, when implemented, will 

slow herbicide resistance and prolong 

the useful life of herbicides. The 

beneficiaries of this draft PR Notice will 

be growers of crops that are, or may be, 

affected by herbicide-resistant weed and 

the registrants of herbicides. This draft 

PR Notice is applicable to all herbicides 

regulated by the Agency. Once the 

Agency receives and considers public 

comments on this draft PR Notice, we 

expect to revise and finalize the draft PR 

Notice by late 2016. 

V. Do PR Notices contain binding 

requirements? 

The PR Notice discussed in this FR 

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. 

VI. References 

The following is a listing of the 

documents that are specifically 

referenced in this document. The docket 

includes these documents and other 

information considered by EPA, 

including documents that are referenced 

within the documents that are included 

in the docket, even if the referenced 

document is not physically located in 

the docket. For assistance in locating 

these other documents, please consult 

the person listed under FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT. 

1. Heap, I. 2016. International Survey of 

Herbicide-resistant Weeds. March 11, 

2016. http://www.weedscience.org. 

2. USDA. 2014. 2012 Census of Agriculture. 

United States Department of Agriculture. 

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

Dated: May 23, 2016. 

Jack E. Housenger, 

Director, Office of Pesticide Programs. 

[FR Doc. 2016–13157 Filed 6–2–16; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS 

COMMISSION 

Deletion of Consent Agenda Items 

From Sunshine Act Meeting 

May 25, 2016. 

The following consent agenda has 

been deleted from the list of items 

scheduled for consideration at the 

Wednesday, May 25, 2016, Open 

Meeting and previously listed in the 

Commission’s Notice of May 18, 2016. 

Items 1, 5 and 6 on the consent agenda 

have been adopted by the Commission. 

CONSENT AGENDA

1 .................... MEDIA .............................. TITLE: PMCM TV, LLC Licensee of Station WJLP(TV), Middletown Township, New Jersey. 

SUMMARY: The Commission will consider an Order concerning a Consent Decree entered into between the Commission and PMCM TV, LLC regarding compliance with children’s programming 

requirements. 

2 .................... ENFORCEMENT .............. TITLE: Enforcement Bureau Action. 

SUMMARY: The Commission will consider whether to take an enforcement action. 

3 .................... ENFORCEMENT .............. TITLE: Enforcement Bureau Action. 

SUMMARY: The Commission will consider whether to take an enforcement action. 

4 .................... ENFORCEMENT .............. TITLE: Enforcement Bureau Action. 

SUMMARY: The Commission will consider whether to take an enforcement action. 

5 .................... ENFORCEMENT .............. TITLE: Enforcement Bureau Action. 

SUMMARY: The Commission will consider whether to take an enforcement action. 

6 .................... ENFORCEMENT .............. TITLE: Enforcement Bureau Action. 

SUMMARY: The Commission will consider whether to take an enforcement action. 

Federal Communication Commission. 

Marlene H. Dortch, 

Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2016–13089 Filed 6–2–16; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6712–01–P 

GULF COAST ECOSYSTEM 

RESTORATION COUNCIL 

[Docket No.: 106032016–1111–02] 

Notice of Funding Availability for the 

Spill Impact Component of the 

RESTORE Act 

AGENCY: Gulf Coast Ecosystem 

Restoration Council (Council). 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The Gulf Coast Ecosystem 

Restoration Council (Council) 

announces the Notice of Funding 

Availability for the Spill Impact 

Component of the of the Resources and 

Ecosystems Sustainability, Tourist 

Opportunities, and Revived Economies 

of the Gulf Coast States Act of 2012 

(RESTORE Act), 33 U.S.C. 1321(t)(3). 

DATES: State Expenditure Plans (SEPs), 

the first step in the process, will be 

accepted on a rolling basis, starting with 

the date of publication of the NOFA on 

Grants.gov, May 25, 2016. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Kristin Smith, Council staff, telephone 

number: 504–444–3558. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

Council is authorized to award grants 

pursuant to the Spill Impact Component 

of the Resources and Ecosystems 

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