[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 70 (Wednesday, April 10, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15940-15941]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-8947]



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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[OPP-181006; FRL-5360-4]


Receipt of Application for Emergency Exemption to use Pirate; 
Solicitation of Public Comment

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: EPA has received specific exemption requests from the Alabama 
Department of Agriculture Industries, Arkansas State Plant Board, and 
the Mississippi Department of Agriculture Commerce (hereafter referred 
to as the ``Applicants'') to use the pesticide Pirate to treat up to 
3,300,000 acres of cotton to control the beet armyworm (BAW) and the 
tobacco budworm (TBW).
    The Applicants propose the use of a new (unregistered) chemical [40 
CFR 166.24(a)(1)]. Therefore, in accordance with 40 CFR 166.24, EPA is 
soliciting

[[Page 15941]]
public comment before making the decision whether or not to grant the 
exemption.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before April 25, 1996.

ADDRESSES: Three copies of written comments, bearing the identification 
notation ``OPP-181006'', should be submitted by mail to: Public 
Response and Program Resource Branch, Field Operations Division 
(7506C), Office of Pesticide Programs, Environmental Protection Agency, 
401 M St. SW, Washington, DC 20460. In person, bring comments to: Rm. 
1132, Crystal Mall #2, 1921 Jefferson Davis Highway, Arlington, VA. 
Comments and data may also be submitted electronically by sending 
electronic mail (e-mail) to: [email protected]. Electronic 
comments must be submitted as an ASCII file avoiding the use of special 
characters and any form of encryption. Comments and data will also be 
accepted on disks in WordPerfect in 5.1 file format or ASCII file 
format. All comments and data in electronic form must be identified by 
the docket number [OPP-181006]. No Confidential Business Information 
(CBI) should be submitted through e-mail. Electronic comments on this 
notice may be filed online at many Federal Depository Libraries. 
Additional information on electronic submissions can be found below in 
this document.
    Information submitted in any comment concerning this notice may be 
claimed confidential by marking any part or all of that information as 
(CBI). Information so marked will not be disclosed except in accordance 
with procedures set forth in 40 CFR part 2. A copy of the comment that 
does not contain CBI must be provided by the submitter for inclusion in 
the public record. Information not marked confidential may be disclosed 
publicly by EPA without prior notice. All written comments filed 
pursuant to this notice will be available for public inspection in Rm. 
1132, Crystal Mall #2, 1921 Jefferson Davis Highway, Arlington, VA, 
from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, except legal holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: By mail: Margarita Collantes, 
Registration Division (7505W), Office of Pesticide Programs, 
Environmental Protection Agency, 401 M St. SW, Washington, DC 20460. 
Office location and telephone number: Floor 6, Crystal Station #1, 2800 
Jefferson Davis Highway, Arlington, VA, (703) 308-8347; email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to section 18 of the Federal 
Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) (7 U.S.C. 136p), 
the Administrator may, at her discretion, exempt a state agency from 
any registration provision of FIFRA if she determines that emergency 
conditions exist which require such exemption. The Applicants have 
requested the Administrator to issue specific exemptions for the use of 
Pirate on cotton to control the beet armyworm and the tobacco budworm. 
Information in accordance with 40 CFR part 166 was submitted as part of 
these requests. According to the Applicants, the rationale for 
requesting this emergency exemption is based on pheromone trap catches 
from the previous winter and spring months indicating that the BAW may 
be overwintering in Alabama, Arkansas and Mississippi and if 
environmental conditions are favorable early in the growing season, a 
large outbreak of BAW could occur. In addition the inability of the 
currently available insecticides to control the BAW and increased 
development of pyrethroid resistance in the TBW has resulted in yield 
losses and high control costs.
     The use of Pirate to control the BAW and TBW was issued to most of 
the states within the southern cotton belt region last year. In an 
effort to mitigate risk to Federally-listed threatened and endangered 
species from potentially harmful exposure to Pirate, specific 
directions, restrictions, precautions and monitoring for wildlife 
mortality were required.
    Under the proposed exemption, Pirate 3SC may be applied at a 
maximum rate of 0.2 pounds per acre (8.53 fl. ozs.) for control of the 
BAW and at a maximum rate of 0.35 lbs. a.i. (14.9 fl. ozs.) per acre 
for control of the TBW, using ground or aerial application equipment in 
a minimum of 10 gallons per acre total volume by ground, or 5 gallons 
of spray solution per acre by air. This notice does not constitute a 
decision by EPA on the application itself. The regulations governing 
section 18 require publication of a notice of receipt of an application 
for a specific exemption proposing use of a new chemical (i.e. an 
active ingredient not contained in any currently registered pesticide), 
- [40 CFR 166.24(a)(1)]. Pirate 3SC is an unregistered chemical. Such 
notice provides for oppurtunity for public comment on the application.
    A record has been established for this notice under docket number 
[OPP-181006] (including comments and data submitted electronically as 
described below). A public version of this record, including printed, 
paper versions of electronic comments, which does not include any 
information claimed as CBI is available for inspection from 8 a.m. to 
4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal holidays. The public 
record is located in Rm. 1132 of the Public Response and Program 
Resource Branch, Field Operations Division (7506C), Office of Pesticide 
Programs, Environmental Protection Agency, Crystal Mall #2, 1921 
Jefferson Davis Highway, Arlington, VA.
    Electronic comments can be sent directly to EPA at:
    [email protected]


    Electronic comments must be submitted as an ASCII file avoiding the 
use of special characters and any form of encryption.
    The official record for this notice, as well as the public version, 
as described above will be kept in paper form. Accordingly, EPA will 
transfer all comments received electronically into printed, paper form 
as they are received and will place the paper copies in the offical 
record is the paper record maintained at the address in ``ADDRESSES'' 
at the beginning of this document. Accordingly, interested persons may 
submit written views on this subject to the Field Operations Division 
at the address above.
    The Agency, accordingly, will review and consider all comments 
received during the comment period in determining whether to issue the 
emergency exemptions requested by the Alabama Department of 
Agricultural Industries, Arkansas State Plant Board, and the 
Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce.

List of Subjects

    Environmental protection, Pesticide and pests, Emergency 
exemptions.

    Dated: March 29, 1996.

Peter Caulkins,
Acting Director, Registration Division, Office of Pesticide Programs.

[FR Doc. 96-8947 Filed 4-9-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-F