Pesticide Registration Maintenance Fee: Product Cancellation Order for Certain Pesticide Registrations

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. General Information

A. Does this action apply to me?

This action is directed to the public in general and may be of interest to a wide range of stakeholders including environmental, human health, and agricultural advocates; the chemical industry; pesticide users; and members of the public interested in the sale, distribution, or use of pesticides. Since others also may be interested, the Agency has not attempted to describe all the specific entities that may be affected by this action.

B. How can I get copies of this document and other related information?

The docket for these actions, identified by docket identification (ID) number EPA-HQ-OPP-2024-0094-0001, is available at https://www.regulations.gov, and the telephone number for the OPP Docket is (202) 566-1744.

II. Background

This cancellation order follows a notice that published in the Federal Register of July 26, 2024 (89 FR 60616) (FRL-11983-01) Notice of Receipt of Requests from the registrants listed in Table 2 of Unit III to voluntarily cancel these product registrations. In the July 26, 2024, notice EPA indicated that it would issue an order finalizing the cancellations, unless the Agency received substantive comments within the 30-day comment period that would merit its further review of these requests, or unless the registrants withdrew their requests. The Agency did not receive any comments or requests for withdrawal by the end of the comment period (August 25, 2024). Accordingly, EPA hereby issues in this notice a cancellation order granting the requested cancellations. Any distribution, sale, or use of the products subject to this cancellation order is permitted only in accordance with the terms of this order, including any existing stocks provisions.

FIFRA section 4(i)(1) (7 U.S.C. 136a-1(i)(1)) requires that all pesticide registrants pay an annual registration maintenance fee, due by January 15 of each year, to keep their registrations in effect. This requirement applies to all registrations granted under FIFRA section 3 (7 U.S.C. 136a) as well as those granted under FIFRA section 24(c) (7 U.S.C. 136v(c)) to meet special local needs. Registrations for which the fee is not paid are subject to cancellation by order and without a hearing pursuant to FIFRA section 4(i)(1)(M) (7 U.S.C. 136a-1(i)(1)(M)). Accordingly, no comment period was provided for the products listed in Table 3 of Unit III.

Under FIFRA, the EPA Administrator may reduce or waive maintenance fees for minor agricultural use pesticides when it is determined that the fee would be likely to cause significant impact on the availability of the pesticide for the use.

In fiscal year 2023, maintenance fees were collected in two billing cycles. An initial invoicing was sent out on December 1, 2022, reflecting the maintenance fee average annual collection target of $31 million specified under the Pesticide Registration Improvement Extension Act of 2018 (PRIA 4). The Pesticide Registration Improvement Act of 2022 (PRIA5), enacted December 29, 2022, raised the average annual collection target to $42 million. A supplemental invoicing to collect towards this increased target was sent out on January 26, 2023. In the invoicing, all holders of FIFRA section 3 registrations and FIFRA section 24(c) registrations were sent links to the lists of their active registrations, along with forms and instructions for responding. Registrants were asked to identify which of their registrations they wished to maintain in effect, and to calculate and remit the maintenance fees due for those registrations by the statutory deadline of January 17, 2023. A notice of intent to cancel was sent in December 2023 to companies who did not respond to EPA's invoices or that responded but did not pay all maintenance fees due for their registrations.

For fiscal year 2023, the Agency has waived the fees for 275 minor agricultural use or public health registrations at the request of the registrants. Maintenance fees have been paid for about 17,965 FIFRA section 3 registrations, or about 97% of the registrations on file in October 2022. Fees have been paid for about 1,810 FIFRA section 24(c) registrations, or about 85% of the total registrations on file in October 2022. Thus, cancellations for non-payment of the maintenance fee affect 131 FIFRA section 3 registrations and 44 FIFRA section 24(c) registrations.

Cancellation of registrations held by companies paying the fee at one of the capped payment amounts (see FIFRA section 4(i)(1)(D)) are considered voluntary cancellations under FIFRA section 6(f) and not cancellations for non-payment under FIFRA section 4(i)(1) because the registrations being cancelled could be maintained without an additional fee payment. These cancellations, discussed in Unit II.A, are subject to a 30-day comment period and are listed in Table 1 below.

The cancellation orders generally permit registrants to continue to sell and distribute existing stocks of the canceled products until 1 year after the date on which the fee was due. Existing stocks already in the hands of dealers or users, however, can generally be distributed, sold, or used legally until they are exhausted. Existing stocks are defined as those stocks of a registered pesticide product which are currently in the United States, and which have been packaged, labeled, and released for shipment prior to the effective date of the cancellation order.

The exceptions to these general rules are cases where more stringent restrictions on sale, distribution, or use of the products have already been imposed, through special reviews or other Agency actions. These general provisions for disposition of stocks should serve in most cases to cushion the impact of these cancellations while the market adjusts.

III. What action is the Agency taking?

This notice announces the cancellation of certain specified pesticide product registrations.

Table 1 of this unit lists products registered under FIFRA section 3 (7 U.S.C. 136a) for which the Agency has received a request for cancellation by the registrants. These registrations are listed in sequence by registration number. These registrations are cancelled by this order effective October 16, 2024 following the 30-day comment period ending August 25, 2024.

Table 2 of this unit lists the names and addresses of record for all registrants of the products in Table 1 of this unit, in sequence by EPA company number. This company number corresponds to the first part of the EPA registration numbers of the products listed in this unit.

Table 3 of this unit lists all the FIFRA section 3 and section 24(c) registrations that are canceled for non-payment of the 2023 maintenance fee. These registrations are canceled by this order effective October 16, 2024 and without hearing.

Table 4 of this unit lists the names and addresses of record for all registrants of the products in Table 3 of this unit, in sequence by EPA company number. This company number corresponds to the first part of the EPA registration numbers of the products listed in this unit.

IV. Summary of Public Comments Received and Agency Response to Comments

During the public comment period provided, EPA received no comments in response to the July 26, 2024, Federal Register notice announcing the Agency's receipt of the requests for voluntary cancellations of products listed in Table 1 of Unit III.

V. Cancellation Order

Pursuant to FIFRA section 6(f) (7 U.S.C. 136d(f)), EPA hereby approves the requested cancellations of the registrations identified in Tables 1 and 3 of Unit III. Accordingly, the Agency hereby orders that the product registrations identified in Tables 1 and 3 of Unit III. are canceled. The effective date of the cancellations that are the subject of this notice is October 16, 2024. Any distribution, sale, or use of existing stocks of the products identified in Table 1 of Unit III. in a manner inconsistent with any of the provisions for disposition of existing stocks set forth in Unit VII. will be a violation of FIFRA. No distribution, sale, or use of existing stocks of the products identified in Table 3 is permitted, as set forth in Unit VII, and any future distribution or sale of the products identified in Table 3 by registrants identified in Table 4 constitutes a violation of FIFRA.

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

Section 6(f)(1) of FIFRA (7 U.S.C. 136d(f)(1)) provides that a registrant of a pesticide product may at any time request that any of its pesticide registrations be canceled or amended to terminate one or more uses. FIFRA further provides that, before acting on the request, EPA must publish a notice of receipt of any such request in the Federal Register . Thereafter, following the public comment period, the EPA Administrator may approve such a request. The notice of receipt for this action was published for comment in the Federal Register of July 26, 2024. The comment period closed on August 25, 2024.

Section 4(i)(1)(M) provides that EPA may, by order and without hearing, cancel any registration for which the required annual maintenance fee payment is not received by the statutory deadline. For all products listed in Table 3, maintenance fee payments were due by January 17, 2023, but have not been remitted to the Agency.

VII. Provisions for Disposition of Existing Stocks

Existing stocks are those stocks of registered pesticide products which are currently in the United States, and which were packaged, labeled, and released for shipment prior to the effective date of the cancellation action. The existing stocks provisions for the products subject to this order are as follows.

Registrants listed in Table 2 of Unit III may continue to sell and distribute existing stocks of products listed in Table 1 of Unit III until the date of publication of this Federal Register notice. Thereafter, the registrants are prohibited from selling or distributing products listed in Table 1, except for export in accordance with FIFRA section 17 (7 U.S.C. 136o), or proper disposal. Persons other than the registrants listed in Table 2 may sell, distribute, or use existing stocks of products listed in Table 1 of Unit III. until existing stocks are exhausted, provided that such sale, distribution, or use is consistent with the terms of the previously approved labeling on, or that accompanied, the canceled products.

No sale or distribution of products listed in Table 3 shall be permitted. Under EPA's existing stocks policy, if a registrant fails to pay the appropriate maintenance fee and the product subject to that fee is later canceled, the registrant will generally not be allowed to sell or distribute existing stocks of the cancelled product more than 1 year after the date the maintenance fee was due. Here, registrants of products listed in Table 3 were required to submit maintenance fees by January 17, 2023. More than one year has elapsed since that date, so no sale or distribution of existing stocks is being permitted. Persons other than registrants listed in Table 4 may sell, distribute, or use existing stocks of products listed in Table 3 until existing stocks are exhausted, provided that such sale, distribution, or use is consistent with the terms of the previously approved labeling on, or that accompanied, the canceled products.

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

[FR Doc. 2024-23381 Filed 10-15-24; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560-50-P

Table 1—Product Cancellations

Table 2—Registrants Requesting Voluntary Cancellation

Table 3—FIFRA Section 3 and Section 24(c) Registrations Cancelled for Non-Payment of 2023 Maintenance Fee

Table 4—Registrants for Which Registrations Are Being Cancelled for Non-Payment of 2023 Maintenance Fees