E8-2784. Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to OMB for Review and Approval; Comment Request; Application and Summary Report for an Emergency Exemption for Pesticides; EPA ICR No. 0596.09, OMB Control No. 2070-0032

AGENCY:

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) (44 U.S.C. 3501, et seq.), this document announces that an Information Collection Request (ICR) has been forwarded to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval. This is a request to renew an existing approved collection. The ICR, which is abstracted below, describes the nature of the information collection and its estimated burden and cost.

DATES:

Additional comments may be submitted on or before March 17, 2008.

ADDRESSES:

Submit your comments, referencing Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OPP 2007-0032, to (1) EPA online using www.regulations.gov (our preferred method), by mail Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP) Regulatory Public Docket (7502P), Environmental Protection Agency 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460, and (2) OMB by mail to: Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Attention: Desk Officer for EPA, 725 17th Street, NW., Washington, DC 20503.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Cameo Gianne Smoot, Field and External Affairs Division, 7506P, Office of Pesticide Programs, Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460; telephone number: 703-305-5454; fax number: 703-308-5884; e-mail address: [e-mail].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

EPA has submitted the following ICR to OMB for review and approval according to the procedures prescribed in 5 CFR 1320.12. On June 4, 2007 (72 FR 30794), EPA sought comments on this ICR pursuant to 5 CFR 1320.8(d). EPA received no comments. Any additional comments on this ICR should be submitted to EPA and OMB within 30 days of this notice.

EPA has established a public docket for this ICR under Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OPP-2007-0320, which is available for online viewing at www.regulations.gov, or in person viewing at the OPP Regulatory Public Docket in Rm. S-4400, One Potomac Yard (South Building), 2777 S. Crystal Drive, Arlington, VA. The hours of operation of this Docket Facility are from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal holidays. The Docket telephone number is [phone].

Use EPA's electronic docket and comment system at www.regulations.gov, to submit or view public comments, access the index listing of the contents of the docket, and to access those documents in the docket that are available electronically. Once in the system, select “docket search,” then key in the docket ID number identified above. Please note that EPA's policy is that public comments, whether submitted electronically or in paper, will be made available for public viewing at www.regulations.gov as EPA receives them and without change, unless the comment contains copyrighted material, Confidential Business Information (CBI), or other information whose public disclosure is restricted by statute. For further information about the electronic docket, go to www.regulations.gov.

Title: Application and Summary Report for an Emergency Exemption for Pesticides.

ICR numbers: EPA ICR No. 0596.09, OMB Control No. 2070-0032.

ICR Status: This ICR is scheduled to expire on February 29, 2008. Under OMB regulations, the Agency may continue to conduct or sponsor the collection of information while this submission is pending at OMB. 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 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 numbers in certain EPA regulations is consolidated in 40 CFR part 9.

Abstract: Section 18 of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) authorizes the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to grant emergency exemptions to states and Federal agencies to allow an unregistered use of a pesticide for a limited time if EPA determines that emergency conditions exist. A Section 18 action arises when growers and others encounter a pest problem on a site for which there is either no registered pesticide available, or for which there is a registered pesticide that would be effective but is not yet approved for use on that particular site. Section 18 also allows states to submit requests to EPA to grant unregistered pesticide use exemptions for public health and quarantine reasons. Responses to this collection of information are mandatory.

Burden Statement: The annual public reporting and recordkeeping burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 83 hours per application and 16 hours per summary report. 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. This includes the time needed to review instructions; develop, acquire, install, and utilize technology and systems for the purposes of collecting, validating, and verifying information, processing and maintaining information, and disclosing and providing information; adjust the existing ways to comply with any previously applicable instructions and requirements which have subsequently changed; train personnel to be able to respond to a collection of information; search data sources; complete and review the collection of information; and transmit or otherwise disclose the information.

Respondents/Affected Entities: State Agency, U.S. Territory, or Federal Agency.

Estimated No. of Respondents: 60.

Frequency of Collection: On occasion.

Estimated Total Annual Hour Burden: 49,500 hours.

Estimated Total Annual Labor Costs: $2,472,770.

Changes in Burden Estimates: There is no change in the 49,500 hours in the total estimated respondent burden compared with that identified in the ICR currently approved by OMB.

Dated: February 7, 2008.

Sara Hisel-McCoy,

Director, Collection Strategies Division.