Comment submitted by James D Thrift, Agricultural Retailers Association

November 10, 2009 Veronique LaCapra Jill Bloom Office of Pesticide Programs Environmental Protection Agency 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W. Washington, DC 20460-0001 Re: Request for extension of comment period for Federal Register Notice: 74 FR 57166 [11/4/2009, Docket No. EPA-HQ-OPP-2009-0628] Dear Mss. LaCapra and Ms. Bloom: On behalf of the Agricultural Retailers Association (ARA), I am writing to request a 90 day extension to the comment period for the “Draft Guidance for Pesticide Registrants on Pesticide Drift Labeling” [74 FR 57166, 11/4/2009, Docket No. EPA-HQ-OPP-2009-0628]. ARA is the not-for-profit trade organization representing the nation’s retailers and distributors of all the crop input and crop protection materials used by America’s farmers. ARA has a long history of commenting on issues that can have broad regulatory implications for retailers and a history of working with the EPA thru the PPDC and other systems. On November 4, 2009, EPA issued two Federal Register Notices (FRNs) requesting comment on drift-related topics. The “Draft Guidance for Pesticide Registrants on Pesticide Drift Labeling”, requests comment on three documents: (1) Pesticide Registration Notice (PRN) Draft Pesticide Drift Labeling; (2) Draft Pesticide Drift Labeling Interpretation; and (3) Draft PRN Additional Information and Questions for Commenters. These FRNs set a deadline for comment submittal of January 4, 2010 (a 60-day period from date of issuance). ARA hereby requests an additional 90 days to comment on these actions, thus extending the deadline from January 4, 2010 to April 5, 2010. Our justifications for this request are discussed below. Collectively there are three documents with many pages of text to be reviewed and commented upon. The subject matter, drift, is extremely complex from all perspectives – regulatory, legal, enforcement, technical/scientific, and political. The citizens and groups impacted by this subject matter greatly vary- individual farmers and applicators, state and tribal regulators/enforcement officials, small and large crop protection product producers, farm equipment manufacturers, non-government organizations, and trade organizations such as ARA. Review and comment on this subject matter will require a broad range of expertise including ARA’s policy committee and a wide variety of outside experts. Review and comment coordination and preparation between experts in these various fields will require a great deal of time. Rushing this process will not serve the public good and will not allow retailers and applicators the time it will require to make thoughtful comments that the agency would benefit from. Furthermore, cutting-edge, scientifically relevant information will be arising over the next few months from the following three pertinent venues: • EPA will be holding a Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act Scientific Advisory Panel (FIFRA SAP) “to consider and review scientific issues associated with field volatilization of conventional pesticides” in December 2009. • The Association of Applied Biologists will hold a technical workshop on bystander exposure to drift in January in the United Kingdom. • The American Chemical Society (ACS) is sponsoring a symposium entitled, "Efficient Application of Pesticides for Sustainable and Effective Crop Protection" in March 2010, which will include presentations on drift reduction technologies and related topics. New and relevant information will flow from these meetings that will be helpful to the Agency if included in our comments. Also, the nation's leading drift experts will be occupied in preparation for the ACS meeting during the better part of the announced comment period, which may preclude their full participation in the comment process. Such participation is essential to scientifically-sound drift solutions for agriculture and our communities. Additionally, the current comment period spans the Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday seasons, which is when most expert personnel and ARA members are spending time with their families. Agricultural groups regard the holiday season as a special time and this would likely preclude their comment work on this docket. We appreciate your consideration of this request and ask that a decision be made quickly so we can plan and manage our time and resources efficiently. If you have any questions or need further information, please contact me at jthrift@aradc.org or at (202)457-0825. Sincerely, James D. Thrift Vice President Regulatory Policy & Corporate Relations