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<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 2 (Monday, January 5, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 2 (Monday, January 5, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 273-275]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-24252]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[EPA-HQ-OPP-2025-1906; FRL-12954-01-OCSPP]
Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed New Collection
and Request for Comment; Process To Become an EPA Qualified
Conservation Program (QCP) and Qualified External Party (QEP); Draft
Pesticide Registration Notice
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The EPA is announcing the availability of and seeking public
comment on a draft Pesticide Registration Notice (PR Notice) entitled
``Process to Become an EPA Qualified Conservation Program (QCP) and
Qualified External Party (QEP).'' PR Notices are issued by the Office
of Pesticide Programs (OPP) to inform stakeholders about important
policies, procedures, and registration related decisions, and serve to
provide guidance to pesticide registrants and OPP personnel. This draft
PR Notice seeks to inform interested parties of and to solicit public
comment on the proposed process of becoming an EPA Qualified
Conservation Program or EPA Qualified External Party. Additionally, in
compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA), the Agency is
announcing the availability of and soliciting public comment on an
Information Collection Request (ICR) that EPA is planning to submit to
the Office of Management and Budget (OMB): ``Process to Become an EPA
Qualified Conservation Program (QCP) or EPA Qualified External Party
(QEP)'' (EPA ICR No. 7807.01 and OMB Control No. 2070-NEW). This ICR
represents a new request. Before submitting the ICR to OMB for review
and approval under the PRA, EPA is soliciting comments on specific
aspects of the information collection that is summarized in this
document. The ICR and accompanying material are available in the docket
for public review and comment.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before March 2, 2026.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by docket identification
(ID) number EPA-HQ-OPP-2025-1906, through the <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a>. Follow the online instructions for submitting
comments. Do not submit electronically any information you consider to
be CBI or other information whose disclosure is restricted by statute.
Additional instructions on commenting or visiting the docket, along
with more information about dockets generally, is available at <a href="https://www.epa.gov/dockets">https://www.epa.gov/dockets</a>.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Natalie Bray, Pesticide Registration
Division (7505T), Office of Pesticide Programs, Environmental
Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20460-
0001; telephone number: (202) 566-2222; email address:
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#a2e1cdccd1c7d0d4c3d6cbcdccfdf2d0cdc5d0c3cfd1e2c7d2c38cc5cdd4"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="adeec2c3dec8dfdbccd9c4c2c3f2fddfc2cadfccc0deedc8ddcc83cac2db">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. General Information
A. Does this action apply to me?
This action is directed to organizations who administer soil and
water conservation programs and organizations/individuals with
expertise in the reduction of erosion and runoff on agricultural land
who advise or offer consulting services to growers/landowners.
Additionally, growers and commercial applicators who apply pesticides
and the general public may be interested in this action. Since a
potentially broad range of entities may be interested in this action,
the Agency has not attempted to describe all the specific entities that
may be interested. If you have any questions regarding the
applicability of this guidance to a particular entity or registration
action, contact the person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
CONTACT.
[[Page 274]]
B. What is the Agency's authority for taking this action?
EPA is issuing this guidance pursuant to the Federal Insecticide,
Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) (7 U.S.C. 136a, et seq.).
II. What guidance does this PR Notice provide?
The Agency is announcing the availability of a draft PR Notice
entitled ``Process to Become an EPA Qualified Conservation Program
(QCP) and Qualified External Party (QEP).'' PR Notices are issued by
OPP to inform pesticide registrants and other interested persons about
important policies, procedures, and registration related decisions, and
serve to provide guidance to pesticide registrants and OPP personnel.
EPA is announcing the availability of and seeking public comment on
this draft PR Notice.
This draft PR Notice seeks to inform interested parties of (1) the
proposed process of becoming an EPA QCP or EPA QEP and to solicit
public comment on the proposed process, and (2) communicate the
estimated paperwork burden that this process would create for the
public and to solicit public comment on these estimates pursuant to the
Paperwork Reduction Act.
For this draft PR Notice, interested parties primarily include
conservation programs, growers and other members of the agricultural
community who support or consult growers when utilizing pesticides.
III. What type of feedback is the EPA soliciting?
EPA seeks comment on the following:
A. How can EPA improve its proposed process to review and approve QCPs
and QEPs?
<bullet> The EPA would like feedback on the two applications
described in the draft PR Notice. Specifically, are the instructions
and questions in the applications clear? If not, please feel free to
provide suggestions of how to clarify the instructions or questions.
<bullet> Do any questions appear redundant or otherwise unnecessary
for EPA to judge the quality of the program or organization/individual?
<bullet> The Agency is considering expanding this process to also
qualify conservation programs and external parties that support non-
agricultural (e.g., turf, nursery/ornamentals, forestry, rights of way)
uses. Additionally, the EPA intends to develop a mitigation menu for
non-agricultural uses. However, this menu has not yet been developed.
Are there conservation programs that cover non-agricultural use sites
that could want to be qualified? Would there be value to qualify
external parties for non-agricultural use sites? If yes to either of
these questions, would the applications in their current form be
relevant for these programs or parties seeking qualification?
<bullet> Is there other or additional information that EPA should
request to judge the program?
B. What information on the burden estimates associated with completion
of the application can stakeholders provide?
<bullet> What amount of time would it take you or staff members in
your organization to complete the application (please assign number of
hours for each staff level involved--manager type, technical type and
clerical type)?
<bullet> EPA has estimated the burden to complete these
applications to be 56 hours total time, see Information Collection
Request Supporting Statement for more details of this estimate. If your
estimate is significantly different from this estimate, please explain
why yours is different and if you anticipate your estimate is more
likely to represent the typical entity who may apply or not.
C. What types of information can stakeholders provide for EPA to
anticipate the level of interest to better plan for resource
requirements?
<bullet> How many programs/organizations/individuals provide these
services in your area? Please provide separate estimates for each
group.
<bullet> Given the burden that it would take to complete the
applications, how likely is it that you or your program organization
will apply to become an QCP or QEP?
<bullet> Do you think other organizations/individuals like yours
would find it worth the effort to also apply?
D. How can the Agency implement programs be subject to a re-review
process on a 5-year cycle? Additionally, if any elements of the program
changes at any point the Agency proposes that the program or
organization/individual is responsible for notifying EPA.
<bullet> Please provide comments on the proposed re-review process.
Should it occur? Is the process as described clear?
<bullet> Is 5-years an appropriate length of time for approvals to
remain valid? If not, what time frame would be more appropriate for a
re-review process and why?
E. How can the Agency's proposed process revoke qualifying status if a
QCP or QEP if it is found to be operating in a manner that does not
align with Agency expectations or in line with the information
previously submitted in its application?
<bullet> Please comment on the proposed process to revoke status as
QCP and QEP? Are there additional elements the Agency should consider?
<bullet> The Agency would like to receive detailed input as to the
extent states should be involved in any element of the proposed
process.
<bullet> What elements of the process should the states be included
and why? If they should be included, please estimate how much time
would be involved in reviewing or helping to prepare applications for
the associated paperwork burden to account for state involvement.
IV. Do PR Notices contain binding requirements?
The requirements in the relevant statutes and Agency regulations
may be binding, however, this PR Notice is not binding on either EPA or
potential QCP or QEP applicants. The EPA may depart from the process
where circumstances warrant and without prior notice. Likewise,
relevant stakeholders may assert that the process is not appropriate
generally or not applicable to their work or situation.
V. Are these forms approved under the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA)?
According to the PRA, 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq., an agency may not
conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to a
collection of information that requires approval under the PRA, unless
it has been approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and
displays a currently valid OMB control number. The information
collection activities described in this draft PR Notice are being
addressed in the new ICR entitled ``Process to Become an EPA Qualified
Conservation Program (QCP) and Qualified External Party (QEP),''
identified as EPA ICR No. 7807.01, that is included in the docket for
public review and comment. EPA welcomes comment and will review public
comments received on all materials including (1) the ICR (including
public estimates of burden), (2) the draft PR Notice, and (3) the two
applications. EPA will consider all public comments received and update
all materials as appropriate for a second public review and comment
period. After the second comment period, the Agency will provide a
summary
[[Page 275]]
response and may make final updates to all relevant materials, if
deemed necessary. Finally, EPA will submit all relevant materials for
OMB for review and approval under the PRA and issue a final PR Notice.
(Authority: 7 U.S.C. 136 et seq.)
Dated: December 23, 2025.
Nancy B. Beck,
Principal Deputy Assistant Administrator, Office of Chemical Safety and
Pollution Prevention.
[FR Doc. 2025-24252 Filed 1-2-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
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Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed New Collection and Request for Comment; Process To Become an EPA Qualified Conservation Program (QCP) and Qualified External Party (QEP); Draft Pesticide Registration Notice
The EPA is announcing the availability of and seeking public comment on a draft Pesticide Registration Notice (PR Notice) entitled "Process to Become an EPA Qualified Conservati...
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91 FR 273
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“Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed New Collection and Request for Comment; Process To Become an EPA Qualified Conservation Program (QCP) and Qualified External Party (QEP); Draft Pesticide Registration Notice,” thefederalregister.org (January 5, 2026), https://thefederalregister.org/documents/2025-24252/agency-information-collection-activities-proposed-new-collection-and-request-for-comment-process-to-become-an-epa-qualif.