[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 18 (Wednesday, January 28, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4259-4261]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-1769]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[OPP-00518; FRL-5761-7]


Test Guidelines; Notice of Availability

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: EPA has established a unified library for Test Guidelines 
issued by the Office of Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic Substances 
(OPPTS), and is announcing the availability of final test guidelines 
for Series 835--Fate, Transport and Transformation. These final 
guidelines are for the Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics (OPPT) 
and have been harmonized with test guidelines of the Organization for 
Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The draft guidelines were 
made available by notice in the Federal Register (61 FR 16486, April 
15, 1996)(FRL-5363-1) and were peer reviewed at a Scientific Advisory 
Panel (SAP) meeting on May 30, 1996. These final guidelines incorporate 
changes recommended by the SAP and other changes resulting from public 
comment. This notice also describes the unified library of OPPTS Test 
Guidelines. The Agency issues Federal Register notices periodically as 
new test guidelines are added to the OPPTS unified library.

ADDRESSES: The guidelines are available from the U.S. Government 
Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402 on The Federal Bulletin Board. By 
modem dial (202) 512-1387, telnet and ftp: fedbbs.access.gpo.gov (IP 
162.140.64.19), or call (202) 512-0132 for disks or paper copies. The 
guidelines are also available electronically in ASCII and PDF (portable 
document format) from the EPA's World Wide Web site (http://
www.epa.gov/epahome/research.htm) under the heading ``Researchers and 
Scientists/Test Methods and Guidelines/Harmonized Test Guidelines.''

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For general information: By mail:
    Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) information: Contact the TSCA 
Hotline at: TATS/7408, Environmental Protection Agency, 401 M St., SW., 
Washington, DC 20460. Telephone number: (202) 554-1404; fax: (202) 554-
5603, e-mail: TSCA[email protected].
    Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) 
information: Contact the Communications Services Branch (7506C), Field 
and External Affairs Division, Office of Pesticide Programs, 
Environmental Protection Agency, 401 M St., SW., Washington, DC 20460. 
Telephone number: (703) 305-5017; fax: (703) 305-5558.
    For technical questions only on Series 835 OPPT test guidelines: 
Robert Boethling, (202) 260-3912, or e-mail: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. EPA's Process for Developing a Unified Library of Test 
Guidelines

    EPA's Office of Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic Substances (OPPTS) 
has been engaged in a multi-year project to harmonize and/or update 
test guidelines among the Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP), the 
Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics (OPPT), and the Organization 
for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The goals of the 
project include the formulation of

[[Page 4260]]

harmonized OPP and OPPT guidelines for those in common between the two 
programs, the harmonization of OPPT and/or OPP guidelines with those of 
the OECD, the updating of any guidelines unique to OPP or OPPT 
programs, and the addition of several new guidelines.
    Testing guidelines that are changed substantively in the 
harmonization process or through other updating/amending activities, or 
which are new (e.g., for a previously unaddressed testing endpoint) 
will be made available for public comment by notice in the Federal 
Register. Additionally, EPA submits substantively revised and new test 
guidelines to peer review by expert scientific panels. Guidelines which 
are reformatted but not changed in any substantive way are not made 
available for public comment or submitted to peer review.
    All final guidelines will be made available through the GPO 
Electronic Bulletin Board and the Internet on the EPA World Wide Web 
home page as a unified library of OPPTS Test Guidelines for use by 
either EPA program office. Printed versions of the unified library of 
OPPTS test guidelines will also be available to the public through the 
GPO. For purposes of this Federal Register notice, ``publication'' of 
the unified library of guidelines generally describes the availability 
of these final guidelines through the GPO and Internet. Because 
harmonization and updating is an ongoing task that will periodically 
result in modified guidelines, some guidelines being made available via 
GPO and Internet will be revised in the future. These efforts will 
ensure that industry is provided with testing guidelines that are 
current.
    The test guidelines appearing in the unified library will be given 
numerical designations that are different from the designations 
provided at 40 CFR parts 158, 795, 796, 797, 798, and 799. OPPTS test 
guidelines will be published in 10 disciplinary series as follows:
    Series 810--Product Performance Test Guidelines
    Series 830--Product Properties Test Guidelines
    Series 835--Fate, Transport and Transformation Test Guidelines
    Series 840--Spray Drift Test Guidelines
    Series 850--Ecological Effects Test Guidelines
    Series 860--Residue Chemistry Test Guidelines
    Series 870--Health Effects Test Guidelines
    Series 875--Occupational and Residential Exposure Test Guidelines
    Series 880--Biochemicals Test Guidelines
    Series 885--Microbial Pesticide Test Guidelines
    The Agency issues Federal Register notices periodically announcing 
any new test guidelines added to the OPPTS unified library. As each set 
of guidelines is published, it will be accompanied by a Master List 
which cross references the new OPPTS guideline numbers to the original 
OPP and OPPT numbers.

II. Series 835 Changes

    Significant changes to the Series 835 test guidelines include 
addition of a new guideline, Biodegradability in Sea Water, in OPPTS 
835.3160; recommendation of the alkali addition method in the Sealed 
Vessel Carbon Dioxide Production Test in OPPTS 835.3120; clarification 
of guideline scope with respect to redox conditions and recommendation 
of field temperature incubation in the Sediment/Water Microcosm 
Biodegradation Test in OPPTS 835.3180; discussion of the importance of 
maintaining influent dissolved organic carbon (DOC) levels and addition 
of language to permit periodic wastage of sludge in the Porous Pot Test 
in OPPTS 835.3220; and discussion of evidence supporting the contention 
that treated (deactivated) sludge retains the characteristics of viable 
sludge in the Activated Sludge Sorption Isotherm Test in OPPTS 
835.1110. In addition, test guideline OPPTS 835.3400, Anaerobic 
Biodegradability of Organic Chemicals, is retained despite several 
negative comments on the method. Major revisions to this protocol are 
presently being considered in several fora (ASTM; ISO; OECD) and EPA 
intends to revisit this topic when consensus is reached on certain 
technical issues. Explicit test requirements for pesticide registration 
are set out in 40 CFR part 158 which refers to specific guidelines by 
guideline number. Studies initiated 45 days or more after final 
publication should be performed in accordance with the revised 
guidelines.

III. Public Record

    A detailed description of the response to comments and the changes 
to each guideline are available under docket control number OPP-00518 
in the Public Docket and Freedom of Information Section, Office of 
Pesticide Programs, Rm. 1132, Crystal Mall #2, 1921 Jefferson Davis 
Highway, Arlington, VA; telephone 703-305-5805, or by mail: Public 
Docket and Freedom of Information Section, Office of Pesticide 
Programs, Field Operations Division (7506C), Environmental Protection 
Agency, 401 M Street, S.W., Washington, DC 20460.

IV. Notice of Availability of Final Test Guidelines

    This notice announces the availability of final test guidelines for 
OPPT in the 835 Series. The following is the list of guidelines being 
made available at this time.

                         Series 835--Fate, Transport and Transformation Test Guidelines                         
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                              Existing Numbers          EPA Pub.
                                                                     ---------------------------------    no.   
          OPPTS Number                           Name                                                 ----------
                                                                          OTS        OPP       OECD      712-C- 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                                
                                  Group A--Laboratory Transport Test                                            
                                                                                                                
835.1110                          Activated sludge sorption isotherm     none        none      none      98-298 
                                                                                                                
835.1210                          Soil thin layer chromatography       796.2700      none      none      98-047 
                                                                                                                
835.1220                          Sediment and soil adsorption/        796.2750      none       106      98-048 
                                   desorption isotherm                                                          
                                                                                                                
                                  Group B--Laboratory Abiotic                                                   
                                   Transformation Test Guidelines.                                              
                                                                                                                
835.2110                          Hydrolysis as a function of pH       796.3500      none       111      98-057 
                                                                                                                
835.2130                          Hydrolysis as a function of pH and   796.3510      none      none      98-059 
                                   temperature                                                                  
                                                                                                                
835.2210                          Direct photolysis rate in water by   796.3700      none      none      98-060 
                                   sunlight                                                                     
                                                                                                                
835.2310                          Maximum direct photolysis rate in    796.3800      none      none      98-066 
                                   air from UV/visible spectroscopy                                             
                                                                                                                
                                  Group C--Laboratory Biological                                                
                                   Transformation Test Guidelines.                                              
                                                                                                                
835.3100                          Aerobic aquatic biodegradation       796.3100      none      none      98-075 
                                                                                                                

[[Page 4261]]

                                                                                                                
835.3110                          Ready biodegradability               796.3180,     none       301      98-076 
                                                                        .3200,                                  
                                                                        .3220,                                  
                                                                        .3240,                                  
                                                                         .3260                                  
                                                                                                                
835.3120                          Sealed-vessel carbon dioxide           none        none      none      98-311 
                                   production test                                                              
                                                                                                                
835.3160                          Biodegradability in sea water          none        none       306      98-351 
                                                                                                                
835.3170                          Shake flask die-away test              none        none      none      98-297 
                                                                                                                
835.3180                          Sediment/water microcosm               none        none      none      98-083 
                                   biodegradation test                                                          
835.3200                          Zahn-Wellens/EMPA test               796.3360      none      302B      98-084 
                                                                                                                
835.3210                          Modified SCAS test                   796.3340      none      302A      98-085 
                                                                                                                
835.3220                          Porous pot test                        none        none      none      98-301 
                                                                                                                
835.3300                          Soil biodegradation                  796.3400      none      304A      98-088 
                                                                                                                
835.3400                          Anaerobic biodegradability of        796.3140      none      none      98-090 
                                   organic chemicals                                                            
                                                                                                                
                                  Group E--Transformation Chemical-                                             
                                   Specific Test Guidelines.                                                    
                                                                                                                
835.5045                          Modified SCAS test for insoluble      795.45       none      none      98-097 
                                   and volatile chemicals                                                       
                                                                                                                
835.5154                          Anaerobic biodegradation in the       795.54       none      none      98-098 
                                   subsurface                                                                   
                                                                                                                
835.5270                          Indirect photolysis screening         795.70       none      none      98-099 
                                   test: Sunlight photolysis in                                                 
                                   waters containing dissolved humic                                            
                                   substances                                                                   
                                                                                                                
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List of Subjects

    Environmental Protection, Test guidelines.

    Dated: January 8, 1998.

Lynn R. Goldman,
Assistant Administrator for Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic 
Substances.

[FR Doc. 98-1769 Filed 1-27-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-F