[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 141 (Wednesday, July 23, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 39517-39518]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-19389]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[OPP-64034; FRL 5729-8]
Cancellation of Pesticides for Non-Payment of 1997 Registration
Maintenance Fees
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice.
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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 1,113
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.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 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, telephone
number, and e-mail: Rm. 226, Crystal Mall #2, 1921 Jefferson Davis
Highway South, Arlington, VA, (703) 305-6426; e-mail:
[email protected].
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 82 minor agricultural use registrations at the
request of the registrants.
In late November, 1996, 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 May 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 16,381 section 3
registrations, or about 94 percent of the registrations on file in
November. Fees have been paid for about 2,512 section 24(c)
registrations, or about 88 percent of the total on file in November.
Cancellations for non-payment of the maintenance fee affect about 849
section 3 registrations and about 264 section 24(c) registrations.
II. Product Cancellations not Affecting Status of Active Ingredient
In cases where 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,
1998. 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 U.S. 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 Active Ingredients
A second type of impact arises if an active ingredient that is now
or has recently been available for one or more minor agricultural uses
disappears from the marketplace. The Agency believes that no active
ingredients registered for minor use will disappear because of the
cancellation actions described in this notice.
IV. Public Docket
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
[[Page 39518]]
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: July 9, 1997.
Linda A. Travers,
Director, Information Resources and Services Division, Office of
Pesticide Programs.
[FR Doc. 97-19389 Filed 7-22-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-F