[Federal Register: October 12, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 196)]
[Notices]
[Page 60624-60625]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr12oc04-51]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[OPP-2003-0357, FRL-7826-3]
Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to OMB;
Comment Request; EPA ICR No. 0155.08; OMB Control No. 2070-0029;
Certification of Pesticide Applicators
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) (44
U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), this document announces that the following
Information Collection Request (ICR) has been forwarded to the Office
of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval: Certification
of Pesticide Applicators; EPA ICR No. 0155.08; OMB Control No. 2070-
0029. The ICR, which is abstracted below, describes the nature of the
information collection activity and its expected burden and costs.
DATES: Additional comments may be submitted on or before November 12,
2004.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nathanael Martin, Field and External
Affairs Division (7506C), Office of Pesticide Programs, Environmental
Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460;
telephone number: (703) 305-6475; fax number: (703) 305-5884; e-mail
address: martin.nathanael@epa.gov.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, referencing docket ID number OPP-2003-
0357, to (1) EPA online using EDOCKET (our preferred method), by email
to opp-docket@epa.gov, or by mail to: Public Information and Records
Integrity Branch (PIRIB), Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP),
Environmental Protection Agency, Mailcode: 7502C, 1200 Pennsylvania
Ave., NW., Washington, DC, 20460, and (2) OMB at: Office of Information
and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget (OMB),
Attention: Desk Officer for EPA, 725 17th Street, NW., Washington, DC
20503.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: EPA has submitted the following ICR to OMB
for review and approval according to the procedures prescribed in 5 CFR
1320.12. The Federal Register document, required under 5 CFR 1320.8(d),
soliciting comments on this collection of information was published on
March 31, 2004 (69 FR 16917). EPA received three comments on this ICR
during the 60-day comment period and they are addressed in the ICR.
EPA has established a public docket for this ICR under Docket ID
No. OPP-2003-0357, which is available for public viewing at the Public
Information and Records Integrity Branch (PIRIB), Rm. 119, Crystal Mall
2, 1801 Bell St., Arlington, VA. This docket facility is open
from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal
holidays. The docket telephone number is (703) 305-5805. An electronic
version of the public docket is available through EPA Dockets (EDOCKET)
at http://www.epa.gov/edocket. Use EDOCKET to submit or view public
comments, access the index listing of the contents of the public
docket, and to access those documents in the public docket that are
available electronically. Once in the system, select ``search,'' then
key in the docket ID number identified above.
Any comments related to this ICR should be submitted to EPA and OMB
within 30 days of this notice. Please note, EPA's policy is that public
comments, whether submitted electronically or on paper, will be made
available for public viewing in EDOCKET as EPA receives them and
without change, unless the comment contains copyrighted material, CBI,
or other information whose public disclosure is restricted by statute.
When EPA identifies a comment containing copyrighted material, EPA will
provide a reference to that material in the version of the comment that
is placed in EDOCKET. The entire printed comment, including the
copyrighted material, will be available in the public docket. Although
identified as an item in the official docket, information claimed as
CBI, or whose disclosure is otherwise restricted by statute, is not
included in the official public docket, and will not be available for
public viewing in EDOCKET. For further information about the electronic
docket, see EPA's Federal Register notice describing the electronic
docket at 67 FR 38102 (May 31, 2002), or go to http://www.epa.gov/edocket.
ICR Title: Certification of Pesticide Applicators
ICR Status: This is a request for extension of an existing approved
collection that is currently scheduled to expire on October 31, 2004.
EPA is asking OMB to approve this ICR for
[[Page 60625]]
three years. Under 5 CFR 1320.12(b)(2), the Agency may continue to
conduct or sponsor the collection of information while the submission
is pending at OMB.
Abstract: FIFRA allows the EPA to classify a pesticide as
``restricted use'' if the pesticide meets certain toxicity or risk
criteria. Restricted use pesticides, because of their potential to harm
human health or the environment, may be applied only by a certified
applicator or by a person under the direct supervision of a certified
applicator. A person must meet certain standards of competency to
become a certified applicator. States can be delegated the certified
applicator program, but it must be approved by the Agency before it can
be implemented. In non-participating entities, EPA administers the
certification program.
An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required
to respond to a collection of information that is subject to approval
under the PRA, unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number.
The OMB control numbers for EPA's information collections appear on the
collection instruments or instructions, in the Federal Register notices
for related rulemakings and ICR notices, and, if the collection is
contained in a regulation, in a table of OMB approval numbers in 40 CFR
part 9.
Burden Statement: The annual ``respondent'' burden for this ICR is
estimated to be 4,412 hours. According to the Paperwork Reduction Act,
``burden'' means the total time, effort, or financial resources
expended by persons to generate, maintain, retain, or disclose or
provide information to or for a Federal agency. For this collection, it
is the time reading the regulations, planning the necessary data
collection activities, conducting tests, analyzing data, generating
reports and completing other required paperwork, and storing, filing,
and maintaining the data. The 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 number for this information collection appear at the beginning
and the end of this document. In addition OMB control numbers for EPA's
regulations, after initial display in the final rule, are listed in 40
CFR part 9.
The following is a summary of the burden estimates taken from the
ICR:
Respondents/affected entities: You may be affected by this action
if you run an EPA approved certified pesticide applicator program for
restricted use pesticides or are a certified pesticide applicator using
restricted use pesticides that must comply with requirements of Section
11 of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act and 40
CFR part 171.
Estimated total number of potential respondents: 424,398.
Frequency of response: As needed or annually, depending on the
category of respondent.
Estimated total/average number of responses for each respondent: 1-
3.
Estimated total annual burden hours: 1,311,368.
Estimated total annual costs: $25,108,623.
Changes in the ICR since the last approval:
The estimated paperwork burden has increased slightly from
1,285,865 to 1,311,368 hours due to an expected increase in the number
of certified commercial applicators participating in the EPA-
administered program. EPA will begin administering a private applicator
program in the Navajo Indian Country within the next 3 years, thus
increasing the number of applicators subject to the information
collection activities. The cost burden has risen as well, primarily as
a result of inflation from $21,456,058 to $25,108,623.
Dated: September 28, 2004.
Oscar Morales,
Director, Collection Strategies Division.
[FR Doc. 04-22874 Filed 10-8-04; 8:45 am]
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