[Federal Register: February 7, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 25)]
[Notices]
[Page 5705-5706]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr07fe07-84]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[EPA-HQ-OPP-2004-0346; FRL-8111-2]
Ethofumesate; Modification and Closure of Reregistration
Eligibility Decision; Notice of Availability
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: This notice announces EPA's intention to modify certain risk
mitigation measures that were imposed as a result of the 2005
Reregistration Eligibility Decision (RED) for the pesticide
ethofumesate, and opens a public comment period on these changes. EPA
conducted this reassessment of the ethofumesate RED in response to new
dermal absorption data submitted by the technical registrant, Bayer
CropScience, Inc. These data allowed the Agency to modify its original
assumption of 100% dermal absorption to 27% and thus modify the
ethofumesate label requirements including: removing the 9-day re-entry
interval for maintenance activity and adjusting the existing harvest
prohibition for sod from 16 days to 3 days.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before March 9, 2007.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by docket identification
(ID) number EPA-HQ-OPP-2004-0346, by one of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov.
Follow the on-line instructions for submitting comments.
Mail: Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP) Regulatory Public
Docket (7502P), Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania
Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460-0001.
Delivery: OPP Regulatory Public Docket (7502P),
Environmental Protection Agency, Rm. S-4400, One Potomac Yard (South
Bldg.), 2777 S. Crystal Drive, Arlington, VA. Deliveries are only
accepted during the Docket's normal hours of operation (8:30 a.m. to 4
p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal holidays). Special
arrangements should be made for deliveries of boxed information. The
Docket telephone number is (703) 305-5805.
Instructions: Direct your comments to docket ID number EPA-HQ-OPP-
2004-0346. EPA's policy is that all comments received will be included
in the docket without change and may be made available on-line at
http://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information
provided, unless the comment includes information claimed to be
Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other information whose
disclosure is restricted by statute. Do not submit information that you
consider to be CBI or otherwise protected through regulations.gov or e-
mail. The Federal regulations.gov website is an ``anonymous access''
system, which means EPA will not know your identity or contact
information unless you provide it in the body of your comment. If you
send an e-mail comment directly to EPA without going through
regulations.gov, your e-mail address will be automatically captured and
included as part of the comment that is placed in the docket and made
available on the Internet. If you submit an electronic comment, EPA
recommends that you include your name and other contact information in
the body of your comment and with any disk or CD-ROM you submit. If EPA
cannot read your comment due to technical difficulties and cannot
contact you for clarification, EPA may not be able to consider your
comment. Electronic files should avoid the use of special characters,
any form of encryption, and be free of any defects or viruses.
Docket: All documents in the docket are listed in the docket index.
Although listed in the index, some information is not publicly
available, e.g., CBI or other information whose disclosure is
restricted by statute. Certain other material, such as copyrighted
material, is not placed on the Internet and will be publicly available
only in hard copy form. Publicly available docket materials are
available either in the electronic docket at http://www.regulations.gov
, or, if only available in hard copy, at the OPP
Regulatory Public Docket in Rm. S-4400, One Potomac Yard (South Bldg.),
2777 S. Crystal Drive, Arlington, VA. The hours of operation of this
Docket Facility are from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday,
excluding legal holidays. The Docket telephone number is (703) 305-
5805.
[[Page 5706]]
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nathan Mottl, Special Review and
Reregistration Division (7508P), Office of Pesticide Programs,
Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW.,
Washington, DC 20460-0001; telephone number: (703) 305-0208; fax
number: (703) 308-7070; e-mail address: mottl.nathan@epa.gov.
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. If you have any questions regarding the
applicability of this action to a particular entity, consult the person
listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
B. What Should I Consider as I Prepare My Comments for EPA?
1. Submitting CBI. Do not submit this information to EPA through
regulations.gov or e-mail. Clearly mark the part or all of the
information that you claim to be CBI. For CBI information in a disk or
CD-ROM that you mail to EPA, mark the outside of the disk or CD-ROM as
CBI and then identify electronically within the disk or CD-ROM the
specific information that is claimed as CBI. In addition to one
complete version of the comment that includes information claimed as
CBI, a copy of the comment that does not contain the information
claimed as CBI must be submitted for inclusion in the public docket.
Information so marked will not be disclosed except in accordance with
procedures set forth in 40 CFR part 2.
2. Tips for preparing your comments. When submitting comments,
remember to:
i. Identify the document by docket ID number and other identifying
information subject heading, Federal Register date and page number.
ii. Follow directions. The Agency may ask you to respond to
specific questions or organize comments by referencing a Code of
Federal Regulations (CFR) part or section number.
iii. Explain why you agree or disagree; suggest alternatives and
substitute language for your requested changes.
iv. Describe any assumptions and provide any technical information
and/or data that you used.
v. If you estimate potential costs or burdens, explain how you
arrived at your estimate in sufficient detail to allow for it to be
reproduced.
vi. Provide specific examples to illustrate your concerns and
suggest alternatives.
vii. Explain your views as clearly as possible, avoiding the use of
profanity or personal threats.
viii. Make sure to submit your comments by the comment period
deadline identified.
II. Background
A. What Action is the Agency Taking?
In 2005, EPA issued a RED for ethofumesate under section 4(g)(2)(A)
of FIFRA. Subsequent to publication of this RED, the technical
registrant submitted additional data to further refine ethofumesate use
and exposure scenarios. After receiving an acceptable dermal absorption
study from Bayer CropScience, the Agency refined the existing dermal
absorption assumption of 100% in the RED to 27%. Using the 27% dermal
absorption assumption from the new study, the Agency recalculated the
re-entry intervals (REIs) and as a result will lower the prohibition
for sod harvesting at maximum application rate from 16 days to 3 days
and will no longer require a re-entry interval of 9 days for turf
maintenance workers. The Agency has also updated the existing
ethofumesate docket with additional memoranda addressing how the Agency
refined the existing RED using the dermal absorption study. The docket
also includes response to comments memoranda.
All comments should be submitted using the methods in ADDRESSES,
and must be received by EPA on or before the closing date. Comments and
proposals will become part of the Agency Docket for ethofumesate.
Comments received after the close of the comment period will be marked
``late.'' EPA is not required to consider these late comments.
EPA will carefully consider all comments received by the closing
date and will provide a Response to Comments Memorandum in the Docket
and regulations.gov. If any comment significantly affects the document,
EPA also will publish an amendment to the RED in the Federal Register.
In the absence of substantive comments requiring changes, the
ethofumesate RED will be implemented as it is now presented.
B. What is the Agency's Authority for Taking this Action?
Section 4(g)(2) of FIFRA as amended directs that, after submission
of all data concerning a pesticide active ingredient, ``the
Administrator shall determine whether pesticides containing such active
ingredient are eligible for reregistration,'' before calling in product
specific data on individual end-use products and either reregistering
products or taking other ``appropriate regulatory action.''
Section 408(q) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA),
21 U.S.C. 346a(q), requires EPA to review tolerances and exemptions for
pesticide residues in effect as of August 2, 1996, to determine whether
the tolerance or exemption meets the requirements of section 408(b)(2)
or (c)(2) of FFDCA. This review was completed on August 3, 2006.
List of Subjects
Environmental protection, Pesticides and pests.
Dated: January 30, 2007.
Peter Caulkins,
Acting Director, Special Review and Reregistration Division, Office of
Pesticide Programs.
[FR Doc. E7-2006 Filed 2-6-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-S