[Federal Register: October 17, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 200)]
[Notices]
[Page 58845-58846]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr17oc07-56]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[EPA-HQ-OPP-2007-1005; FRL-8153-2]
Petition to Revoke All Tolerances and Cancel All Registrations
for the Pesticide Chlorpyrifos; Notice of Availability
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: EPA is seeking public comment on a September 12, 2007,
petition from the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and
Pesticide Action Network North America (PANNA), available in docket
number EPA-HQ-OPP-2007-1005, requesting that the Agency revoke all
tolerances and cancel all registrations for the pesticide chlorpyrifos.
The petitioners, NRDC and PANNA, request this action to obtain what
they believe would be proper application of the safety standards of the
Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) and the
Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA), section 408, as amended
by the Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA) of 1996.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before December 17, 2007.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by docket identification
(ID) number EPA-HQ-OPP-2007-1005, 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 Dr., 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 Facility telephone number is (703) 305-5805.
Instructions: Direct your comments to docket ID number EPA-HQ-OPP-
2007-1005. 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 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
available in regulations.gov. To access the electronic docket, go to
http://www.regulations.gov, select ``Advanced Search,'' then ``Docket
Search.'' Insert the docket ID number where indicated and select the
``Submit'' button. Follow the instructions on the regulations.gov
website to view the docket index or access available documents.
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 Dr., 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 Facility telephone number is (703)
305-5805.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tom Myers, Special Review and
Reregistration Division (7508P), Office of Pesticide Programs,
Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW.,
Washington, DC 20460-0001; telephone number: (703) 308-8589; fax
number: (703) 308-7070; e-mail address: myers.tom@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. This listing is not intended to be
exhaustive, but rather provides a guide for readers regarding entities
likely to be affected by this action. 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
[[Page 58846]]
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. What Action is the Agency Taking?
EPA requests public comment during the next 60 days on a petition
(available in docket number EPA-HQ-OPP-2007-1005) received from the
NRDC and PANNA requesting that the Agency revoke all tolerances
(maximum legal residue limits) and cancel all registrations for the
pesticide chlorpyrifos. The petitioners, NRDC and PANNA, claim that EPA
cannot make a finding that there is a reasonable certainty of no harm
from dietary residues of chlorpyrifos and, therefore, that the Agency
must revoke all tolerances established under section 408 of the FFDCA,
as amended by the FQPA. As a part of their petition, NRDC and PANNA
claim that the Agency did not consider the full spectrum of potential
health effects associated with chlorpyrifos in connection with EPA's
reassessment of the existing chlorpyrifos tolerances, including:
1. Evidence showing the potential for a greater than 10-fold
difference in susceptibility to chlorpyrifos across human populations
and, in particular, evidence of greater susceptibility in early life
stages than EPA estimated;
2. The endocrine disrupting effects of the chemical, or
3. Evidence of cancer risk data as indicated from a National
Institutes of Health study.
The petition further asserts that EPA's evaluation of chlorpyrifos in
the organophosphate cumulative risk assessment (CRA) misrepresented the
risks of chlorpyrifos and that EPA failed to incorporate inhalation
routes of exposure to chlorpyrifos in conducting its assessment. EPA's
human health assessment of chlorpyrifos and findings on whether the
tolerances for chlorpyrifos comply with the safety standard in FFDCA
Section 408, as amended by the FQPA, are contained in the Interim
Reregistration Eligibility Decision document for chlorpyrifos and the
organophosphate CRA, which are available on EPA's pesticide webpage at
http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/reregistration/status.htm and http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/cumulative/2006-op/index.htm.
Docket materials
es/cumulative/2006-op/index.htm.
Docket materials
http://www.regulations.govop/index.htm.
Docket materials ; risk assessment and related documents for this
pesticide have been removed to Special Docket EPA-HQ-OPP-2007-0151.
List of Subjects
Environmental protection, Pesticides and pests, Chlorpyrifos,
National Resources Defense Council, Pesticide Action Network North
America.
Dated: October 9, 2007.
Steven Bradbury,
Director, Special Review and Reregistration Division, Office of
Pesticide Programs.
[FR Doc. E7-20442 Filed 10-16-07; 8:45 am]
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