2023-24745: Notice of Approval Status; Certifying Authorities' Amended Plans for Certification of Commercial and Private Applicators of Restricted Use Pesticides; Batch Four

Summary

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing its approval or conditional approval of 26 amended certification plans for certifying applicators of Restricted Use Pesticides (RUPs) from the following certifying authorities: Arkansas Department of Agriculture (ADA), Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe's Water, Energy and Environment Committee (CRST-WEEC), Clemson University Division of Regulatory and Public Service Programs, Department of Pesticide Regulation (CUDPR), Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS), Guam Environmental Protection Agency (Guam- EPA), Idaho State Department of Agriculture (ISDA), Illinois Department of Agriculture (IDA), Kansas Department of Agriculture (KDA), Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry (LDAF), Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry Board of Pesticides Control (ME BPC), Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources (MDAR), Missouri Department of Agriculture (MODA), Montana Department of Agriculture (MTDA), New Mexico Department of Agriculture (NMDA), Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA), Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food, and Forestry (ODAFF), Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture (PDA), the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation (PBPN), the Santee Sioux Nation (SSN), Tennessee Department of Agriculture (TNDA), Texas Department of Agriculture (TXDA), the Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation's Natural Resources Department (TAT/NRD), Utah Department of Agriculture and Food (UDAF), Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS), the White Earth Band of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe (WE), and Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection (WDATCP). The 26 plans listed in this batched notice represents the fifth notification announcing the approval of the federal, state, territory, and tribal certification plans that have gone through the review and approval process. The amended plans are consistent with the existing regulatory requirements, including revisions made in 2017 to enhance and improve the competency of certified applicators of RUPs and persons working under their direct supervision. The 2017 regulatory revisions are intended to further reduce potential exposure of RUPs to certified applicators and those working under their direct supervision, other workers, the public, and the environment. Federal, state, territory, and tribal certifying authorities with existing certification plans were required to revise their existing plans to conform with the updated federal standards for RUP applicator certification and receive EPA approval by the established regulatory deadline.

The agency’s own summary, as published.