[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 178 (Thursday, September 13, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47667-47670]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-23003]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[OPP-34171D; FRL-6801-9]


Ethyl Parathion; Notice of Use Cancellations

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces EPA's order of product and use 
cancellations, as requested by Cheminova, Inc., Universal Cooperatives, 
Inc., Wilbur-Ellis, Co., Amvac Chemical Co., Helena Chemical, 
Agriliance LLC and Micro-Flo Co., for their registrations containing 
O,O-diethyl-O-p-nitrophenyl thiophosphate, or ethyl parathion, pursuant 
to section 6(f) of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide 
Act (FIFRA). This cancellation order follows up a May 2, 2001, notice 
of receipt of requests to cancel ethyl parathion product registrations 
by certain dates and to immediately terminate the use of ethyl 
parathion on corn grown for seed. EPA has considered the comments 
received in response to the May 2, 2001 notice prior to its issuance of 
this cancellation order. Any distribution, sale, or use of the products 
subject to this cancellation order is only permitted in accordance with 
the terms of the existing stocks provisions of this cancellation order.

DATES: The cancellations are effective September 13, 2001.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Laura Parsons, Special Review and 
Reregistration Division (7508C), Office of Pesticide Programs, 
Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., 
Washington, DC 20460; telephone number: (703) 305-5776; fax number: 
(703) 308-7042; e-mail address: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. General Information

A. Does this Action Apply to Me?

     This action is directed to the public in general. You may be 
potentially affected by this action if you manufacture, sell, 
distribute, or use ethyl parathion products. The Congressional Review 
Act, 5 U.S.C. 801 et seq., as added by the Small Business Regulatory 
Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996, does not apply because this action is 
not a rule, for purposes of 5 U.S.C. 804(3). Since other entities may 
also 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. How Can I Get Additional Information, Including Copies of This 
Document and Other Related Documents?

     1. Electronically. You may obtain electronic copies of this 
document, and certain other related documents that might be available 
electronically, from the EPA Internet Home Page at http://www.epa.gov/. 
To access this document, on the Home Page select ``Laws and 
Regulations,'' ``Regulations and Proposed Rules,'' and then look up the

[[Page 47668]]

entry for this document under the ``Federal Register--Environmental 
Documents.'' You can also go directly to the Federal Register listings 
at http://www.epa.gov/fedrgstr/. To access information about the risk 
assessment and Reregistration Eligibility Decision for ethyl parathion, 
go to the homepage for the Office of Pesticide Programs, or go directly 
to http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/reregistration/ethyl_parathion.
     2. In person. The Agency has established an official record for 
this action under docket control number OPP-34171D. The official record 
consists of the documents specifically referenced in this action, any 
public comments received during an applicable comment period, and other 
information related to this action, including any information claimed 
as Confidential Business Information (CBI). This official record 
includes the documents that are physically located in the docket, as 
well as the documents that are referenced in those documents. The 
public version of the official record does not include any information 
claimed as CBI. The public version of the official record, which 
includes printed, paper versions of any electronic comments submitted 
during an applicable comment period, is available for inspection in the 
Public Information and Records Integrity Branch (PIRIB), Rm. 119, 
Crystal Mall #2, 1921 Jefferson Davis Hwy., Arlington, VA, from 8:30 
a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal holidays. The 
PIRIB telephone number is (703) 305-5805.

II. Receipt of Requests to Amend Registrations to Delete Uses

A. Background

    Ethyl parathion is an organophosphate insecticide/miticide 
currently registered for use on alfalfa, barley, corn, cotton, canola, 
sorghum, soybean, sunflower, and wheat crops. In 1991, EPA and the 
registrants reached an agreement that limited ethyl parathion use to 
these nine current crop sites, and restricted application and 
postapplication practices to mitigate extreme acute toxicity risks to 
workers. As a result, to protect workers, ethyl parathion may only be 
handled by trained certified applicators, using closed mixing and 
loading systems, may only be applied aerially, and crops treated with 
the pesticide may only be harvested mechanically.
     Even with the post-1991 use restrictions, EPA's revised risk 
assessment completed in September 1999, showed high levels of worker 
and ecological risk from legal uses of ethyl parathion. There were also 
several unfulfilled data requirements. After viewing the revised risk 
assessment and outstanding data requirements, Cheminova, Inc.; 
Cheminova, A/S, and EPA signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) 
effective October 10, 2000. In accordance with this MOA, Cheminova, 
Inc., has requested to amend their end-use product registrations to 
immediately terminate the use on corn grown for seed which can result 
in higher exposures to workers. Further, Cheminova, A/S, the only 
registrant with an ethyl parathion manufacturing-use product 
registration, has requested to immediately cancel that registration. 
Also, these registrants have requested voluntary cancellation of all 
their ethyl parathion end-use product registrations effective as of 
December 31, 2002. Most other companies holding registrations for ethyl 
parathion products have also written letters to the EPA requesting 
voluntary cancellation of all their ethyl parathion products effective 
immediately.
     EPA announced these registration cancellation and amendment 
requests in a Federal Register notice (66 FR 21964; May 2, 2001) (FRL-
6770-9) and asked for public comments. In response, one comment was 
received from the Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service, requesting 
that the last legal use date be extended from October 31, 2003 to 
December 31, 2003. This comment stated that this extension would 
provide extra time for use and that it would be easier for users to 
identify the end of use with the end of the calendar year.
     October 31, 2003 was chosen as the last date for use of ethyl 
parathion after consultations with the registrants to estimate when 
stocks would be depleted. According to historical use information, 
there is little ethyl parathion use in November and December, 
consequently extending the date would be of little practical value. 
Additionally, it was expected that little or no existing stocks would 
be available by this date. EPA acknowledges that there is merit in 
users identifying with the end of the year. However, the October 31, 
2003 date has been widely publicized; changing the date may generate 
more confusion than using the originally published date.

B. Requests for Voluntary Cancellation

     Registrants have requested voluntary cancellation of all their 
ethyl parathion registrations either by signing a MOA or by submitting 
a letter to the Agency. Under section 6(f)(1)(A) of FIFRA, registrants 
may request, at any time, that their pesticide registrations be 
canceled or amended to terminate one or more pesticide uses. Section 
6(f)(1)(B) of FIFRA requires that before acting on a request for 
voluntary cancellation, EPA must provide a 30-day public comment period 
on the request for voluntary cancellation. In addition, section 
6(f)(1)(C) of FIFRA requires that EPA provide a 180-day comment period 
on a request for voluntary termination of any minor agricultural use 
before granting the request, unless the registrants request a waiver of 
the comment period, or the Administrator determines that continued use 
of the pesticide would pose an unreasonable adverse effect on the 
environment. The registrant has requested that EPA waive the 180-day 
comment period. EPA granted the registrants' request to waive the 180-
day comment period and provided a 30-day public comment period before 
taking action on the requested cancellations. Given the potential 
worker and ecological risk that ethyl parathion use poses, EPA has 
decided to issue a cancellation order in this notice granting the 
requested cancellations. The specific cancellation requests are set 
forth below.
    1. Requests for termination of use on corn grown for seed. In 
accordance with the MOA, Cheminova, Inc., has requested that its end-
use product registrations be amended to immediately terminate the use 
on corn grown for seed. The requested use termination of the end-use 
products identified in Table 1 is granted by EPA's cancellation order 
in this notice.

 Table 1. -- End-Use Product Registration Deleting Use on Corn Grown for
                                  Seed.
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             Company               Registration No.      Product Name
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cheminova, Inc.                   67760-37            Parathion 4EC
 
                                  67760-38            Parathion 8EC
 
                                  67760-39            Ethyl-Methyl
                                                       Parathion 6-3 EC
------------------------------------------------------------------------


[[Page 47669]]

    2. Requests for voluntary cancellation of manufacturing-use product 
registrations. Pursuant to the Agreement and FIFRA section 6(f)(1)(A), 
Cheminova, A/S, the only registrant with a manufacturing-use product 
registration, has submitted a request for voluntary cancellation of 
registration for its one and only ethyl parathion manufacturing-use 
product. This cancellation request is granted by EPA's cancellation 
order in this notice. The registration for which cancellation was 
requested is identified in the following Table 2.

     Table 2. -- Manufacturing-Use Product Registration Cancellation
                                Requests.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
             Company               Registration No.      Product Name
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cheminova, A/S                    4787-17             Parathion
                                                       Technical
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    3. Requests for voluntary cancellation of end-use product 
registrations. Several registrants have submitted letters of requests 
for immediate voluntary cancellation of their registrations for end-use 
pesticide products containing ethyl parathion. The registrants who 
signed the MOA requested for cancellation of their ethyl parathion end-
use product registrations effective as of December 31, 2002. These 
cancellation requests are granted by EPA's cancellation order in this 
notice. The end-use product registrations for which cancellation was 
requested by MOA are identified in the following Table 3, and end-use 
product registrations for which cancellation was requested by separate 
letters of requests are identified in the following Table 4.

 Table 3. -- End-Use Product Registration Cancellation Requests by MOA.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
             Company               Registration No.      Product Name
------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Cheminova, Inc.                  67760-37            Parathion 4EC
 
                                  67760-38            Parathion 8EC
 
                                  67760-39            Ethyl-Methyl
                                                       Parathion 6-3 EC
------------------------------------------------------------------------


    Table 4. -- End-Use Product Registration Cancellation Requests by
                                 Letter.
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             Company               Registration No.      Product Name
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Universal Cooperatives, Inc.      1386-646            Red Panther
                                                       Parathion 8
 
 Wilbur Ellis, Co.                2935-481            Parathion 4 Spray
 
                                   2935-483           Parathion 8 Aqua
 
 Amvac, Chemical Co.              5481-435            Parathion 8
 
                                  5481-436            Parathion 4E
 
 Helena Chemical                  5905-513            Parathion 4E
                                                       Emulsifiable
                                                       Insecticide
                                                       Concentrate
 
                                  5905-514            Parathion 8E
                                                       Emulsifiable
                                                       Insecticide
                                                       Concentrate
 
                                  5905-515            Parathion - Methyl
                                                       Parathion 6-3
                                                       Insecticide
                                                       Concentrate
 
                                  5905-516            Helena Parathion 8
                                                       Flowable
                                                       Insecticide
                                                       Concentrate
 
Agriliance, LLC                   9779-322            Parathion 8
 
Micro-Flo, Co.                    51036-180           Micro Flo Co./
                                                       Parathion 8E
------------------------------------------------------------------------

III. Potential Actions Relative to Remaining End-Use Product 
Registrations

    EPA is contemplating various enforcement and regulatory actions 
with respect to the remaining end-use product registrations after EPA 
grants the voluntary cancellation requests set forth in Unit II of this 
notice. These remaining registrations cite the manufacturing-use 
product listed in Table 2 as the source of active ingredient in these 
products. Because EPA will limit the sale, distribution and use of the 
existing stocks of this source with this order canceling its 
registration, production of these remaining end-use products may be 
illegal under the cancellation order or the current registrations for 
these end-use products. Accordingly, EPA may initiate appropriate 
enforcement actions to ensure that the remaining end-use products are 
not being produced illegally after the source is canceled. As shown in 
the Agency's revised risk assessment dated September 1999, EPA is 
concerned with the risks associated with the use of pesticide products 
containing ethyl parathion. Because of these concerns, EPA is 
contemplating initiating a proceeding to cancel these remaining 
registrations. The remaining end-use product registrations that may be 
subject to enforcement and regulatory actions discussed in this section 
are identified in the following Table 5.

[[Page 47670]]



    Table 5. -- End-Use Product Registrations Potentially Subject to
                        Involuntary Cancellation.
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             Company               Registration No.      Product Name
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Drexel Chemical Co.               19713-322           Seis--Tres 6-3
 
                                  19713-323           Drexel Parathion 8
 
                                  19713-324           Ida Seis--Tres 6-3
 
                                  19713-325           Drexel Parathion
                                                       4EC
------------------------------------------------------------------------

IV. Cancellation Order

    Pursuant to FIFRA section 6(f)(1)(A), EPA hereby grants the 
requested voluntary product and use cancellations of the registrations 
ethyl parathion products as described in Unit II of this notice. 
Accordingly, any distribution, sale, or use of existing stocks in a 
manner inconsistent with the terms of this Order or the Existing Stock 
Provisions in Unit V of this notice will be considered a violation of 
section 12(a)(2)(K) of FIFRA and/or section 12(a)(1)(A) of FIFRA.

V. Existing Stocks Provisions

    Pursuant to section 6(f) of FIFRA, EPA is granting the requests for 
voluntary product and use cancellations. For purposes of the 
cancellation order, the term ``existing stocks'' will be defined, 
pursuant to EPA's existing stocks policy published in the Federal 
Register at (56 FR 29362, June 26, 1991) (FRL-3846-4), 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 amendment or cancellation. Any 
distribution, sale, or use of existing stocks after the effective date 
of the cancellation order that is not consistent with the terms of that 
order will be considered a violation of section 12(a)(2)(K) and/or 
12(a)(1)(A) of FIFRA.

A. Sale, Distribution and Use of Manufacturing-Use Products Imported 
into the United States prior to July 7, 2000

    All sale, distribution, and use of existing stocks of 
manufacturing-use products imported into the United States prior to 
July 7, 2000 will not be lawful as of December 31, 2002, except for the 
purposes of shipping such stocks for export consistent with section 17 
of FIFRA or for proper disposal.

B. Sale and Distribution by Registrants of End-Use Products Subject to 
the MOA

    All sale and distribution by the registrants of existing stocks of 
end-use products identified in Table 3 will not be lawful under FIFRA 
as of the effective date of their cancellations (i.e., December 31, 
2002), except for the purposes of shipping such stocks for export 
consistent with the requirements of section 17 of FIFRA, or for proper 
disposal.

C. Sale and Distribution by Registrants of End-Use Products not Subject 
to the MOA

    All sale and distribution by the registrants of existing stocks of 
end-use products identified in Table 4 are not lawful under FIFRA as of 
the effective date of this cancellation order, except for the purposes 
of shipping such stocks for export consistent with the requirements of 
section 17 of FIFRA, or for proper disposal.

D. Sale and Distribution of End-Use Products by Other Persons

    All sale and distribution by persons other than the registrants of 
existing stocks of end-use products identified in Tables 3 and 4 will 
not be lawful under FIFRA as of August 31, 2003, except for the 
purposes of shipping such stocks for export consistent with the 
requirements of section 17 of FIFRA, or for proper disposal.

E. Use of End-Use Products

    All use of existing stocks of end-use products identified in Tables 
3 and 4 will not be lawful under FIFRA as of October 31, 2003.

List of Subjects

    Environmental protection, Memorandum of Agreement, Pesticides and 
pests.

    Dated: August 31, 2001.

Lois A. Rossi,
Director, Special Review and Reregistration Division, Office of 
Pesticide Programs

[FR Doc. 01-23003 Filed 9-12-01; 8:45 a.m.]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-S