[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 177 (Wednesday, September 14, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-22583]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: September 14, 1994]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[OPP-64024; FRL 4902-3]

 

Cancellation of Pesticides for Non-Payment of 1994 Registration 
Maintenance Fees

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: Since the amendments of October, 1988, the Federal 
Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) has required 
payment of an annual maintenance fee to keep pesticide registrations in 
effect. The fee due last January 15 has gone unpaid for about 1,480 
registrations. Section 4(i)(5)(D) of FIFRA provides that the 
Administrator may cancel these registrations by order and without a 
hearing; orders to cancel all but a few of them have been issued within 
the past few days. The Agency is deferring cancellation for certain of 
these registrations, however, to permit time for affected users to 
explore alternatives to cancellation directly with the registrants.

DATES: Reports of agreements to support continued registration or 
transfer of the registrations for which cancellation is being deferred 
must be received by December 13, 1994.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To report agreements to support 
continued registration of any of the products for which cancellation 
has been deferred, for instructions on payment of delinquent 
maintenance fees for these products, or for further information on the 
maintenance fee program in general, contact by mail: John Jamula, 
Office of Pesticide Programs (7504C), Environmental Protection Agency, 
401 M St., SW, Washington, DC 20460. Office location and telephone 
number: Room 226, Crystal Mall No. 2, 1921 Jefferson Davis Highway 
South, Arlington, VA 22202, (703) 305-6426.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Introduction

    Section 4(i)(5) of FIFRA as amended in October, 1988, and again in 
December, 1991 requires that all pesticide registrants pay an annual 
registration maintenance fee, due by January 15 of each year, to keep 
their registrations in effect. This requirement applies to all 
registrations granted under section 3 as well as those granted under 
section 24(c) to meet special local needs. Registrations for which the 
fee is not paid are subject to cancellation by order and without a 
hearing.
    The 1990 Farm Bill amended FIFRA to allow the Administrator to 
reduce or waive maintenance fees for minor agricultural use pesticides 
when she determines that the fee would be likely to cause significant 
impact on the availability of the pesticide for the use. The Agency has 
waived the fee for 42 minor agricultural use registrations at the 
request of the registrants. The Agency has identified 11 other 
registrations for which the maintenance fee was not paid and for which 
no waiver was requested that fall into this category, and is deferring 
cancellation of these registrations for a period of 90 days. Section 
III contains a list of these registrations and their vulnerable minor 
uses, along with instructions for preventing their cancellation.
    In late November, 1993, all holders of either section 3 
registrations or section 24(c) registrations were sent lists of their 
active registrations, along with forms and instructions for responding. 
They were asked to identify which of their registrations they wished to 
maintain in effect, and to calculate and remit the appropriate 
maintenance fees. Most responses were received by the statutory 
deadline of January 15. A notice of intent to cancel was sent in mid-
March to companies who did not respond and to companies who responded, 
but paid for less than all of their registrations. Late payments of the 
fees were accepted until April 15, when the actual process of 
cancellation was begun.
    Since mailing the notices, EPA has maintained a toll-free inquiry 
number through which the questions of affected registrants have been 
answered.
    Maintenance fees have been paid for about 16,925 section 3 
registrations, or about 94 percent of the registrations on file in 
December. Fees have been paid for about 2,400 section 24(c) 
registrations, or about 84 percent of the total on file in November. 
Cancellations for non-payment of the maintenance fee affect about 1000 
section 3 registrations and about 480 section 24(c) registrations.

II. Product Cancellations Not Affecting Status of Active Ingredient

    Our analyses indicate that many of these cancellations are simple 
housekeeping transactions, unlikely to affect pesticide markets or 
users. For example, more than 80 percent of the section 3 registrations 
for which no fee was paid are no longer in production, and their 
disappearance from the market will cause no adverse impact.
    Although we do not have comparable production data for them, we 
believe that most of the canceled 24(c) registrations for special local 
needs are similarly obsolete. Over 60 percent of them were originally 
issued before 1988--most for a finite period which has long since 
expired. We also know that a large proportion have been made obsolete 
by subsequent section 3 registrations for the same uses.
    The remaining registrations, 276 section 3 registrations and 158 
section 24(c) registrations issued in the past 5 years, have been the 
principal focus of our further impact analyses. In all cases but five 
section 3 registrations discussed in section III below, the active 
ingredients will remain available in other registered products. We 
anticipate two types of impact for the bulk of these cancellations. 
First, some of these disappearing registrations will be survived in the 
market by substantially identical registrations. These substantially 
identical products may not, however, be readily available wherever a 
disappearing product was sold, so there may be local or regional 
disruptions while distribution patterns are adjusted. We expect these 
disruptions to be minor and temporary.
    The cancellation orders generally permit registrants to continue to 
sell and distribute existing stocks of the canceled products until the 
due date for the next annual registration maintenance fee, January 15, 
1995. Existing stocks already in the hands of dealers or users, 
however, can generally be distributed, sold or used legally until they 
are exhausted. Existing stocks are defined as those stocks of a 
registered pesticide product which are currently in the United States 
and which have been packaged, labeled and released for shipment prior 
to the effective date of the action.
    The exceptions to these general rules are cases where more 
stringent restrictions on sale, distribution, or use of the products 
have already been imposed, through Special Reviews or other Agency 
actions. These general provisions for disposition of stocks should 
serve in most cases to cushion the impact of these cancellations while 
the market adjusts.
    Second, in some cases unique non-agricultural uses will disappear, 
although the active ingredients will remain available for different 
uses in other products. When this situation occurs, there may be more 
serious impacts on users of the canceled products. Once again, existing 
stocks of the canceled products already in channels of trade will be 
usable to mitigate these impacts in the short term. For the longer term 
the mechanisms of section 3 amendments and 24(c) registrations will 
remain available to obtain replacement registrations.
    Neither of these types of impact leaves users without the means to 
replace lost registrations; neither is considered to justify further 
deferral of cancellations for non-payment of the maintenance fee. Thus 
all these registrations for which the active ingredient will remain in 
other products have been canceled.

III. Cancellations Leading to Disappearance of Minor Agricultural 
Uses

    A third type of impact arises in cases where unique agricultural 
uses would disappear. The 1990 Farm Bill amended FIFRA to allow the 
Administrator to reduce or waive maintenance fees for minor 
agricultural uses when she determines that the fee would be likely to 
cause significant impact on the availability of the pesticide for the 
use. The Agency waived the fee for 42 registrations at the request of 
the registrants. The Agency has also identified 11 more registrations 
for minor agricultural uses for which the maintenance fee was not paid 
and for which no waiver was requested, and will defer cancellation of 
these registrations for 90 days to permit affected users to explore 
alternatives to cancellation. If the Agency is notified within 90 days 
of this notice at the address given above either (1) that the 
registrant will continue to support the registration, or (2) that an 
agreement has been reached to transfer the registration to another 
party, we will waive the 1994 maintenance fee and retain the 
registration in full active status. It should be emphasized, however, 
that any such registrations would still be subject to all requirements 
for reregistration, including reregistration fees (except as they may 
be reduced through the statutory provisions for small businesses or low 
volume uses).
    The 11 registrations containing a disappearing minor agricultural 
use are grouped by active ingredient in the following Table 1:


Table 1. -- Products Registered for a Disappearing Minor Agricultural Use which are Pending Cancellation for Non-
                                  Payment of 1994 Registration Maintenance Fee                                  
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
       Chemical Name             Registration No.              Product Name                     Site            
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Acetic acid, (2,4-                       010292-00032  Venus Selective Weed Killer   Barley (spring) (foliar    
 dichlorophenoxy)-, 2-                                                                treatment)                
 ethylhexyl ester.                                                                                              
                                                                                                                
                                                                                     Wheat (winter) (foliar     
                                                                                      Treatment)                
                                                                                                                
Aliphatic petroleum                      005967-00128  Dormant Emulsion              Almonds (dormant           
 hydrocarbons.                                                                        application)              
                                                                                                                
                                                                                     Apples (dormant)           
                                                                                                                
                                                                                     Pears (delayed dormant     
                                                                                      application)              
                                                                                                                
                                                                                     Apricots (dormant          
                                                                                      application)              
                                                                                                                
                                                                                     Cherries (dormant          
                                                                                      application)              
                                                                                                                
                                                                                     Nectarines (dormant        
                                                                                      application)              
                                                                                                                
                                                                                     Peaches (dormant)          
                                                                                                                
                                                                                     Plums (dormant application)
                                                                                                                
                                                                                     Prunes (dormant            
                                                                                      application)              
                                                                                                                
                                         005967-00155  Superior 993 Oil Spray        Almonds (delayed dormant   
                                                                                      application)              
                                                                                                                
                                                                                     Apples (foliar treatment)  
                                                                                                                
                                                                                     Pears (foliar treatment)   
                                                                                                                
                                                                                     Apricots (delayed dormant  
                                                                                      application)              
                                                                                                                
                                                                                     Nectarines (delayed dormant
                                                                                      application)              
                                                                                                                
                                                                                     Peaches (delayed dormant   
                                                                                      application)              
                                                                                                                
                                                                                     Plums (delayed dormant     
                                                                                      application)              
                                                                                                                
                                                                                     Prunes (delayed dormant    
                                                                                      treatment)                
                                                                                                                
                                         049074-00003  Michlin ``MA-2''              Soybeans (forage) (foliar  
                                                        Methoxychlor Elm Tree Spray   treatment)                
                                                        Insecticide.                                            
                                                                                                                
2,2-Dichlorovinyl dimethyl               005602-00171  Lethalaire A-50               Peanut Storage Areas       
 phosphate.                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                
O,O-Diethyl O-(2-isopropyl-6-            000550-00136  NAMCO Diazinon 4e             Citron (citrus) (bark      
 methyl-4-pyrimidinyl)                                                                treatment)                
 phosphorothioate.                                                                                              
                                                                                                                
                                                                                     Grapefruit (bark treatment)
                                                                                                                
                                                                                     Kumquat (basal bark        
                                                                                      treatment)                
                                                                                                                
                                                                                     Lemons (bark treatment)    
                                                                                                                
                                                                                     Limes (bark treatment)     
                                                                                                                
                                                                                     Oranges (bark treatment)   
                                                                                                                
                                                                                     Tangelos (bark treatment)  
                                                                                                                
                                                                                     Tangerines (bark treatment)
                                                                                                                
                                                                                     Cherries (sweet)           
                                                                                      (postharvest)             
                                                                                                                
                                         014775-00018  Diazinon AG 50 Insecticide    Beans (forage-fodder)      
                                                                                      (foliar treatment)        
                                                                                                                
O,O-Dimethyl                             011773-00006  Cornbelt Malathion 57         Blackberries (foliar       
 phosphorodithioate of                                                                Treatment)                
 diethyl mercaptosuccinate.                                                                                     
                                                                                                                
                                                                                     Boysenberries (foliar      
                                                                                      Treatment)                
                                                                                                                
                                                                                     Dewberries (foliar         
                                                                                      Treatment)                
                                                                                                                
                                                                                     Loganberries (foliar       
                                                                                      Treatment)                
                                                                                                                
                                                                                     Raspberries (foliar        
                                                                                      Treatment)                
                                                                                                                
                                                                                     Walnuts (bait application) 
                                                                                                                
Methoxychlor (2,2-bis(p-                 049074-00003  Michlin ``MA-2''              Soybeans (forage) (foliar  
 methoxyphenyl)-1,1,1-                                  Methoxychlor Elm Tree Spray   treatment)                
 trichloroethane ).                                     Insecticide.                                            
                                                                                                                
1-Naphthyl-N-methylcarbamate             000299-00220  C.J. Martin Dipel and Sevin   Beets, Garden (leafy       
                                                        for Insect Control In         vegetable)                
                                                        Garden                                                  
                                                                                                                
Sodium dichloro-s-                       063287-00001  Mr.O's Sanitizing Tablets     Bushberries (foliar        
 triazinetrione.                                                                      Treatment)                
                                                                                                                
                                                                                     Strawberries (foliar       
                                                                                      treatment)                
                                                                                                                
                                                                                     Citrus (dormant            
                                                                                      application)              
                                                                                                                
                                                                                     Nectarines (foliar         
                                                                                      treatment)                
                                                                                                                
                                                                                     Peaches (foliar treatment) 
                                                                                                                
                                                                                     Alfalfa (seed treatment)   
                                                                                                                
cis-N-Trichloromethylthio-4-             000407-00290  Imperial Captan 50W           Pears (foliar treatment)   
 cyclohexene-1,2-                                                                                               
 dicarboximide.                                                                                                 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


    We encourage individual users or user groups who are concerned 
about the potential loss of these active ingredients to work directly 
with registrants identified by the first six digits of the Reg. No. in 
Table 1 to persuade them to continue to support the ingredient, or to 
identify third parties who would be willing to support the ingredient 
if the registrations were transferred to them. The full names and 
addresses of the current registrants appear in Table 3 below.

IV. Cancellations Leading to Disappearance of Active Ingredients

    A final type of impact arises if an active ingredient that is now 
or has recently been available in the marketplace disappears. The 
Agency believes there are eight registered active ingredients in this 
category. No production has been reported for three of these active 
ingredients during the past three years; after deleting these three 
from the list of eight, five active ingred ients remain. Of the five 
active ingredients--none subject to prior regulatory action, and all 
likely to disappear as a consequence of these cancellations--two are 
used in agriculture; one is a rodenticide; one is used for turf grass, 
and one is used on ornamental plants. If the last section 3 
registration for an ingredient disappears, the section 24(c) 
registration process is unlikely to be able to compensate for the loss.
    These five ingredients, grouped by these same general categories of 
use patterns, are listed along with the EPA Company Number of their 
registrants in the following Table 2.


      Table 2. -- Active Ingrdients With Recent Production Pending      
    Cancellation of All Products for Non-payment of 1994 Registration   
           Maintenance Fees, In Sequence by Broad Use Pattern           
------------------------------------------------------------------------
     Chemical Name          Registration No.           Product Name     
------------------------------------------------------------------------
A. Agricultural Uses:..                                                 
  Kerosene.............             005967-00153  Maxipreme             
  Dinitor-N,N-                      062719-00104  PAARLAN EC            
   dipropylcumidene.                                                    
                                                                        
B. Rodenticide:........                                                 
  Isovaleryl-1,3                    000769-00746  TRAC Anticoagulant    
   indandione, calcium                             Tracking Powder Kills
   salt.                                           Rats and Mice        
                                                                        
C. Turf Grass:.........                                                 
  Isooctyl(2-octyl) 2,4-            039335-00051  Lo-Vol 2D/2DP Turf    
   dichlorophenoxy-                                Care Herbicide       
   acetate.                                                             
                                                                        
D. Ornamental Plants:..                                                 
  Cyclododecyl-2,6                  058185-00012  MILBAN                
   dimethylmorpholine                                                   
   acetate.                                                             
------------------------------------------------------------------------


    Because these active ingredients are likely to disappear with their 
product registration, the Agency has deferred for 90 days the 
cancellation of these five registrations. During that time those 
registrants or other affected persons may make arrangements to continue 
the registration.
    We encourage individual users or user groups who are concerned 
about the potential loss of these active ingredients to work directly 
with the registrant identified by the first six digits of the Reg. No. 
in Table 2 to persuade them to continue to support the ingredient, or 
to identify third parties who would be willing to support the 
ingredient if the registration were transferred to them. The full names 
and addresses of current registrants appear in Table 3 below. We also 
encourage users to consult with the Cooperative Extension Service or 
other local sources to identify alternatives to these active 
ingredients.
    If the Agency is notified within 90 days of this notice at the 
address given above either (1) that the registrant will continue to 
support the registration, or (2) that an agreement has been reached to 
transfer the registration to another party, we will retain the 
registration in full active status as soon as the delinquent 
maintenance fee payment is received. It should be emphasized, however, 
that any such registrations would still be subject to all requirements 
for reregistration, including reregistration fees (except as they may 
be reduced through the statutory provisions for small businesses or low 
volume uses).


 Table 3. -- Registrants of Selected Registrations Cancellation for Non-
              Payment of 1993 Registration Maintenance Fee              
------------------------------------------------------------------------
   EPA                                                                  
 Company                   Registrant Name and Address                  
 Number                                                                 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                        
000299..  C.J. Martin Co, Box 630009, Nacogdoches, TX 75963.            
                                                                        
000407..  Imperial Inc., Box 98, Shenandoah, IA 51601.                  
                                                                        
000550..  Van Waters & Rogers, Inc., Subsidiary of Univar, Box 34325,   
           Seattle, WA 98104.                                           
                                                                        
000769..  H.R. Mclane, Inc., Agent For: Sureco, Inc., 7210 Red Rd.,     
           Suite 206, Miami, FL 33143.                                  
                                                                        
005602..  Hub States Corp., 8455 Keystone Crossing Suite 150,           
           Indianapolis, IN 46240.                                      
                                                                        
005967..  Moyer Products, Inc., Box 5434, Fresno, CA 93755.             
                                                                        
010292..  Venus Laboratories, Inc., 855 Lively Blvd, Wood Dale, IL      
           60191.                                                       
                                                                        
011773..  Van Diest Supply Co., Box 610, Webster City, IA 50595.        
                                                                        
014775..  Asgrow Florida Co, 4144 Hwy 39 N, Plant City, FL 33565.       
                                                                        
039335..  Maxus Agri Chem'l, 717 N. Harwood St. 3300, Dallas,  
           TX 75201.                                                    
                                                                        
049074..  Michlin Diazo Products Corp., 10501 Haggerty St., Dearborn, MI
           48126.                                                       
                                                                        
058185..  Grace-Sierra Crop Protection Co, Regulatory Affairs Dept, 1001
           Yosemite Dr, Milpitas, CA 95035.                             
                                                                        
062719..  DOWELANCO, 9330 Zionsville Rd, Indianapolis, IN 46268.        
                                                                        
063287..  Olde Tyme Products Inc., Subsidiary of Carroll Co, 2900 W.    
           Kingsley Rd, Garland, TX 75041.                              
------------------------------------------------------------------------


    In addition to publishing this notice in the Federal Register, we 
are sending it directly to the States, to the U.S. Department of 
Agriculture, and to other parties who have previously expressed concern 
for minor uses. They should be receiving the notice at approximately 
the same time it is published. We hope that this extraordinary 
notification effort, and the deferral of cancellations for the most 
sensitive registrations, will serve to prevent any avoidable loss of 
critical minor use pesticides.
    Because so many registrations are involved, it would be impractical 
to list those which have been canceled in this notice. Complete lists 
of registrations canceled for non-payment of the maintenance fee will, 
however, be available for reference during normal business hours in the 
OPP Public Docket, Room 1128, Crystal Mall 2, 1921 Jefferson Davis 
Highway South, Arlington VA, and at each EPA Regional Office. Product-
specific status inquiries may be made by telephone by calling toll-free 
1-800-444-7255.

List of Subjects

    Environmental protection, Agricultural commodities, Pesticides and 
pests.

    Dated: August 31, 1994.

Susan H. Wayland,
Acting Assistant Administrator for Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic 
Substances.

[FR Doc. 94-22583 Filed 9-13-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-F