[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 10 (Tuesday, January 15, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1976-1977]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-958]



[[Page 1976]]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[OPP-66295A; FRL-6817-7]


Benomyl; Cancellation Order

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces a cancellation order for product 
cancellations requested by the American Mushroom Institute, Amvac 
Chemical Corp., Pursell Industries, Inc., the Scotts Company, Value 
Garden Supply LLC, and Voluntary Purchasing Groups, Inc. for their 
registrations of pesticide products containing methyl 1-
(butylcarbamoyl)-2-benzimidazole carbamate, or benomyl, and accepted by 
EPA, pursuant to section 6(f) of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, 
and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). This order follows up an October 12, 2001, 
notice of receipt of request for the above-mentioned voluntary 
registration cancellations. In that notice, EPA requested comments on 
the proposed cancellations and indicated that it would issue an order 
confirming the cancellations. Any distribution, sale, or use of 
canceled benomyl products is only permitted in accordance with the 
terms of the existing stocks provisions of this cancellation order.

DATES: The cancellations are effective January 15, 2002.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
    Demson Fuller, Special Review and Reregistration Division (7508C), 
Office of Pesticide Programs, Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 
Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460, telephone number: (703) 
308-8062; 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 benomyl 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 
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/.
    2. In person. The Agency has established an official record for 
this action under docket control number OPP-66295A. 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 Request to Cancel Registrations

A. Background

    Benomyl is a benzimidazole carbamate and systemic foliar fungicide 
registered for use on a variety of fruit and vegetable crops.
    The technical registrant, E.I. duPont de Nemours and Company 
(DuPont), met with the Agency on April 18, 2001, and requested a 
voluntary cancellation of all their registrations for products 
containing benomyl. DuPont stated that this decision was based on 
business reasons. Following a public comment period on the proposed 
cancellations and consideration of comments received, the cancellation 
order was published in the Federal Register and became effective on 
August 8, 2001.
    The Agency also received letters from the following registrants 
requesting voluntary cancellation of all their products containing 
benomyl: American Mushroom Institute, Amvac Chemical Corp., Pursell 
Industries, Inc., the Scotts Company, Value Garden Supply LLC, and 
Voluntary Purchasing Groups, Inc.
    In their letters, Pursell and Amvac stated that they no longer 
manufacture or distribute end use products that contain benomyl and 
therefore, no end use products should be in the channels of trade. 
Likewise, in their letter, Value Garden Supply noted that their benomyl 
products are no longer being sold and they are not aware of any stocks 
of the products in the channels of trade. The American Mushroom 
Institute requested cancellation of its 24(c) registration due to the 
cancellation of DuPont's registrations. The Scotts Company and 
Voluntary Purchasing Groups, Inc. had end-use products that were 
suspended on April 13, 1994, and May 20, 1998, respectively. Both 
registrants failed to comply with a Data Call-In that was issued on 
June 16, 1992. The Agency contacted both The Scotts Company and 
Voluntary Purchasing Groups, Inc. to notify them that DuPont canceled 
all its benomyl registrations, and both registrants subsequently 
submitted letters requesting voluntary cancellations.
    Pursuant to section 6(f)(1) of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, 
and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), EPA announced receipt of these requests 
from the American Mushroom Institute, Amvac Chemical Corp., Pursell 
Industries, Inc., The Scotts Company, Value Garden Supply LLC, and 
Voluntary Purchasing Groups, Inc., in a Federal Register Notice 
published on October 12, 2001 (66 FR 52132) (FRL-6805-3). In that 
Notice, EPA provided a 30-day comment period. All of the registrants 
requested the Administrator waive the 180-day comment period provided 
under FIFRA section 6(f)(1)(c), and EPA granted this request. No public 
comments were received during the 30-day comment period.

B. Requests for Voluntary Cancellation of Products

    Pursuant to FIFRA section 6(f)(1)(A), American Mushroom Institute, 
Amvac Chemical Corp., Pursell Industries Inc., the Scotts Company, 
Value Garden Supply LLC, and Voluntary Purchasing Groups, Inc., have 
submitted requests for voluntary cancellation of registrations for 
their products containing benomyl. The registrations

[[Page 1977]]

for which cancellations were requested are identified in the following 
table.

               Product Registration Cancellation Requests
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             Company               Registration No.         Product
------------------------------------------------------------------------
American Mushroom Institute       PA-97000200         Dupont
                                                       Benlate
                                                       SP Fungicide
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Amvac Chemical Corp.              5481-138            ALCO
                                                       Systemic
                                                       Fungicide
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pursell Industries Inc.           8660-75             VertaGreen
                                                       Systemic Disease
                                                       Control
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Scotts Company                538-66              Scotts Proturf 28
                                                        0 - 7 Fertilizer
                                                       Plus Fungicide
                                                       DSB
                                  538-132             Scotts Proturf DSB
                                                       Fungicide
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Value Garden Supply LLC           769-874             Pratt Benomyl 50W
                                                       Systemic
                                                       Fungicide
                                  769-921             Science Benomyl
                                                       50W Systemic
                                                       Fungicide
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Voluntary Purchasing Groups,      7401-225            Fertilome Systemic
                                                       Fungicide with
                                                       Benomyl
                                  7401-407            American
                                                       Brand
                                                       Benomyl Systemic
                                                       Fungicide
------------------------------------------------------------------------

III. Cancellation Order

    Pursuant to section 6(f)(1)(A) of FIFRA, EPA is approving the 
requested cancellations. Accordingly, EPA orders that the registrations 
identified in Table 1, are hereby canceled. Any distribution, sale, or 
use of existing stocks of the products identified in the table above in 
a manner inconsistent with the terms of this Order or the Existing 
Stock Provisions in Unit IV. of this Federal Register Notice will be 
considered a violation of section 12(a)(2)(K) of FIFRA and/or section 
12(a)(1)(A) of FIFRA.

IV. Existing Stocks Provisions

    For purposes of this Order, the term ``existing stocks'' is 
defined, pursuant to EPA's existing stocks policy June 26, 1991 (56 FR 
29362) (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 
cancellation.

A. Distribution or Sale by the Registrant

    Cancellation orders generally permit a registrant to sell or 
distribute existing stocks for 1 year after the date the cancellation 
request was received. However, the registrants have stated that they no 
longer manufacture or distribute end use products that contain benomyl. 
Therefore, the distribution or sale of existing stocks by registrants 
will not be lawful under FIFRA after January 15, 2002 except for the 
purposes of returns and relabeling, shipping such stocks for export 
consistent with the requirements of section 17 of FIFRA, or for proper 
disposal.

B. Distribution and Sale by Other Persons

    Sale or distribution by any person of existing stocks of any 
products identified in the table above will not be lawful under FIFRA 
after December 31, 2002.

V. Notification of Intent to Revoke Tolerances

    This Notice also serves as an advance notification that the Agency 
intends to revoke the related tolerances for the canceled registrations 
listed in this Notice unless there is a request from the public to 
support the tolerances for import purposes. EPA believes that 
production of technical benomyl ended in April 2001, and use of any 
remaining existing stocks of these products will likely end in 2003 
given that the sale and distribution of benomyl products will end on 
December 31, 2002. EPA will determine how long treated food containing 
residues of benomyl could remain in the channels of trade assuming that 
the last treatment occurred on December 31, 2003, and will set the 
expiration date accordingly.
    It is EPA's general practice to propose revocation of tolerances 
for residues of pesticide active ingredients for which FIFRA 
registrations no longer exist, to protect the food supply of the U.S. 
and to discourage the misuse of pesticides within the United States. In 
many cases the cancellation of a food use in the U.S. indicates that 
there are insufficient domestic residue data or other information to 
support the continuation of the tolerance and an uncertain amount of 
relevant data concerning residues on imported food. In the absence of 
relevant data, EPA is unable to make a safety finding regarding the 
treated food entering the U.S. Upon request, EPA will provide 
interested parties with its import tolerance policy and data 
requirements, explaining how an interested party should go about 
seeking to retain a tolerance for import purposes.

List of Subjects

    Environmental protection, Pesticides and pests.


    Dated: January 3, 2002.
Lois A. Rossi,
Director, Special Review and Reregistration Division, Office of 
Pesticide Programs.

[FR Doc. 02-958 Filed 1-14-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-S