Pesticide Tolerance Crop Grouping Program II; Revisions to General Tolerance Regulations

This final rule makes revisions to the current pesticide tolerance crop grouping regulations which allow establishment of tolerances for multiple related crops, based on data from a representative set of crops. The final rule creates a new crop group for oilseeds, expands existing crop groups by adding new commodities, establishes new crop subgroups, and revises the representative crops in some groups. EPA expects these revisions to promote greater use of crop groupings for tolerance-setting purposes and promote global harmonization of food safety standards. EPA anticipates that more lower-risk pesticides will be able to be utilized for registration on minor crops, including many fruits and vegetables, because of availability of crop grouping tolerances. EPA determines whether residues of a pesticide can be permitted once the required safety finding is made to establish a crop group tolerance. This is the second in a series of planned crop group updates expected to be promulgated over the next several years.