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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 1 (Thursday, January 2, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 99-100]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-31469]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OPP-2024-0438; FRL-12231-01-OCSPP]

Draft Pesticide Registration Notice; Establishment of a Plan To 
Track the Adoption of Bilingual Labeling on End Use Pesticide Product 
Labels; Notice of Availability and Request for Comment

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or Agency) is 
announcing the availability of and seeking public comment on a draft 
Pesticide Registration Notice (PR Notice) entitled ``Establishment of a 
Plan to Track the Adoption of Bilingual Labeling on End Use Pesticide 
Product Labels.'' 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. The Pesticide Registration Improvement Act of 2022 (PRIA 
5) requires EPA to ``develop and implement, and make publicly 
available, a plan for tracking the adoption of the bilingual 
labeling.'' This draft PR Notice provides guidance on how the Agency 
plans to track the adoption of bilingual labeling.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before February 3, 2025.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by docket identification 
(ID) number EPA-HQ-OPP-2024-0438, through the https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions for submitting 
comments. Do not submit electronically any information you consider to 
be CBI or other information whose disclosure is restricted by statute. 
Additional instructions on commenting or visiting the docket, along 
with more information about dockets generally, is available at https://www.epa.gov/dockets.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Susan Bartow, Office of Chemical 
Safety and Pollution Prevention (7508M), Environmental Protection 
Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20460-0001; telephone 
number: (202) 566-2280; email address: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Does this action apply to me?

    This action is directed to the general public and may be of 
specific interest to persons or entities that register pesticide 
products. Since a potentially broad range of entities may be interested 
in this action, the Agency has not attempted to describe all the 
specific entities that may be interested. If you have any questions 
regarding the applicability of this guidance to a particular entity or 
registration action, contact the person listed under FURTHER 
INFORMATION CONTACT.

II. What is the Agency's authority for taking this action?

    EPA is issuing this guidance pursuant to its authority under PRIA 5 
which requires the Agency to develop, implement, and make publicly 
available, a plan for tracking the adoption of bilingual labeling by 
December 29, 2024.

III. What action is the Agency taking?

    EPA is announcing the availability of and seeking public comment on 
a draft PR Notice entitled ``Establishment of a Plan to Track the 
Adoption of Bilingual Labeling on End Use Pesticide Product Labels.'' 
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. 
The Pesticide Registration Improvement Act of 2022 (PRIA 5) requires 
EPA to ``develop and implement, and make publicly available, a plan for 
tracking the adoption of the bilingual labeling.'' Currently, bilingual 
labeling is implemented through a non-notification process (see PR 
Notice 98-10, entitled ``Notifications, Non-Notifications and Minor 
Formulation Amendments'' dated

[[Page 100]]

October 22, 1998). The non-notification process means that a product 
label may be updated with Spanish translations without notifying EPA 
(or EPA reviewing the label), if that is the only change being made to 
the label. Non-notification label changes are not systematically 
tracked by EPA. However, given the new bilingual labeling requirements 
in PRIA 5, EPA has developed a plan for tracking the adoption of the 
bilingual labeling. The draft PR Notice provides guidance on how the 
Agency plans to track the adoption of bilingual labeling. Since Spanish 
is the primary language for most American farmworkers, this effort 
advances environmental justice by making health and safety information 
on pesticide labels more accessible, fostering a better understanding 
and compliance with label instructions.

IV. Do PR Notices contain binding requirements?

    The draft PR Notice discussed in this document is intended to 
provide guidance to EPA personnel and decision makers and to pesticide 
registrants. While the requirements in the statutes and Agency 
regulations are binding on EPA and the applicants, the 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.

V. Are these forms approved under the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA)?

    According to the PRA, 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq., an agency may not 
conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to a 
collection of information that requires approval under the PRA, unless 
it has been approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and 
displays a currently valid OMB control number. The information 
collection activities described in this draft PR Notice are being 
addressed in the new Information Collection Requests (ICR) entitled 
``Pesticide Product, Spanish Labeling Tracking,'' identified as EPA ICR 
No. 7795.01, that will be made available for public review and comment 
in a forthcoming edition of the Federal Register. EPA intends to 
consider public comments on that ICR, along with comments on the draft 
PR Notice, before submitting a revised ICR to OMB for review and 
approval under the PRA, and issuing a final PR Notice.
    Authority: 7 U.S.C. 136 et seq.

    Dated: December 26, 2024.
Michal Freedhoff,
Assistant Administrator, Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution 
Prevention.
[FR Doc. 2024-31469 Filed 12-31-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
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