[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 56 (Friday, March 22, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13329-13331]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-6855]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[OPP-66292A; FRL-6823-8]


Fenamiphos and Metolachlor; Registered Uses Cancellation Order

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces the use cancellations as requested by 
the companies that hold the registrations of pesticide end-use and 
manufacturing-use products containing the active ingredient (a.i.) 
fenamiphos and metolachlor and accepted by EPA, pursuant to section 
6(f) of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act 
(FIFRA). This order follows up a September 20, 2001, notice of receipt 
of requests for voluntary cancellation of uses. EPA indicated that it 
would issue an order confirming the voluntary use cancellations unless 
the Agency received any substantive comment within the comment period 
that would merit its further review of these requests. Any 
distribution, sale, or use of fenamiphos and metolachlor products 
labeled for the canceled uses are only permitted in accordance with the 
terms of the existing stocks provisions of this cancellation order.

DATES: The cancellations are effective March 22, 2002.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: By mail: Tawanda Spears, telephone 
number: (703) 308-8050; e-mail address: [email protected] 
(Fenamiphos) and Anne Overstreet, telephone number: (703) 308-8068; e-
mail address: [email protected] (Metolachlor), Special Review and 
Reregistration Division (7508C), Office of Pesticide Programs, 
Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., 
Washington, DC 20460.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

 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 fenamiphos and/or metolachlor 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

[[Page 13330]]

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-66292A. 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 Cancel and Amend Registrations to Delete 
Uses

A. Background

    EPA is publishing a single notice in response to registrants' 
requests to delete some uses for fenamiphos and metolachlor from their 
labels. (See the table in this unit for specific information regarding 
the cancellation requests.)
    Reregistration Eligibility Decision (RED) documents summarize the 
findings of EPA's reregistration process for individual chemical cases, 
and reflect the Agency's decisions on risk assessment and risk 
management for uses of individual pesticides. The metolachlor RED was 
issued in April of 1995. However, since the Federal Food, Drug, and 
Cosmetic Act (FFDCA) as amended by the Food Quality Protection Act 
(FQPA) of 1996, the Agency is required to reconsider metolachlor 
tolerances consistent with the provisions of the Act. This tolerance 
reassessment decision is scheduled to be completed in 2002. In defining 
the scope of this review, Syngenta, the metolachlor registrant, has 
elected to voluntarily drop certain uses from their manufacturing-use 
product label.
    For fenamiphos, an organophosphate, a RED has not been issued. 
Although the Agency has not yet completed its cumulative risk 
assessment for a RED, the Agency is issuing an interim reregistration 
eligibility decision (IRED) to inform the public of the Agency's 
completion of assessment of risks associated with the active ingredient 
fenamiphos alone, any unreasonable adverse effect from the exposure to 
fenamiphos, and mitigation measures necessary to eliminate such 
unreasonable adverse effects to the environment. When the Agency 
completes assessing the cumulative effects of pesticides sharing a 
common effect of toxicity with fenamiphos, the Agency will issue a 
final decision on the reregistration eligibility of pesticides 
containing fenamiphos. As part of this process, Bayer has elected to 
delete certain uses from its product labels rather than develop the 
data necessary to support reregistration.
    In the Federal Register notice published on September 20, 2001 (66 
FR 48459) (FRL-6800-3), EPA published a notice of the Agency's receipt 
of requests for voluntary cancellation of uses from registrants that 
hold the pesticide registrations containing fenamiphos and metolachlor.

B. Requests for Voluntary Cancellation of Registered Uses

    Pursuant to section 6(f)(1)(A) of FIFRA, the following companies 
have submitted a request to amend their end-use and manufacturing-use 
product registrations of pesticide products containing fenamiphos and 
metolachlor, respectively, to delete the listed uses from the listed 
product(s) bearing such use. The registrations, for which amendments to 
delete uses were requested, are identified in the following table.

                                                   Table 1.--Voluntary Cancellation of Registered Uses
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              Chemical                       PC Code             Company/Address        Nature of Action      Products Affected           Comments
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Fenamiphos                           100601                  Bayer Corp., 8400       Cotton and pineapple   3EC1                   Cancel 3EC and 15G on
                                                              Hawthorne Rd., P.O.     use deletion          [3125-283]...........   cotton and 15G on
                                                              Box 4913, Kansas                              15G2.................   pineapple
                                                              City, MO, 64120-0013                          [3125-236]...........
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Metolachlor                          108801                  Syngenta Crop           Stone fruits and       100-587
                                                              Protection, Inc.,       almond use deletion
                                                              P.O. Box 18300,
                                                              Greensboro, NC 27419-
                                                              8300
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1 Nemacur 3 (emulsifiable concentrate - 3 lb a.i./gal)
2 15G: Nemacur 15% (granular formulation - 15% a.i./gal)

    In the Federal Register notice, EPA requested public comment on the 
voluntary cancellation and use deletion requests, and provided a 30-day 
comment period. The registrants requested that the Administrator waive 
the 180-day comment period provided under FIFRA section 6(f)(1)(C). No 
public comments were submitted to the docket in response to EPA's 
request for comments.

III. Cancellation Order

    Pursuant to section 6(f) of FIFRA, EPA is approving the requested 
use deletions and the requested registration cancellations. The Agency 
orders that the registrations of the uses identified in the table are 
hereby canceled. Any distribution, sale, or use of existing stocks of 
the products identified in the table (i.e., products bearing labeling 
for the canceled uses) 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 (56 FR 29362, June 
26, 1991), as those stocks of

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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. The existing 
stocks provisions of this Cancellation Order are as follows:
    1. Distribution or sale of manufacturing-use products by 
registrants. Distribution or sale by the registrant of the existing 
stocks of any product identified in Table 1 will not be lawful under 
FIFRA after 12 months from the effective date of the cancellation 
order, except for the purposes of shipping such stocks for export 
consistent with the requirements of section 17 of FIFRA, or proper 
disposal.
    2. Distribution or sale of manufacturing-use products byothers. 
Distribution or sale by persons other than the registrant of the 
existing stocks of any product identified in Table 1 will not be lawful 
under FIFRA after 24 months from the effective date of the cancellation 
order, except for the purposes of shipping such stocks for export 
consistent with the requirements of section 17 of FIFRA, or proper 
disposal.

List of Subjects

    Environmental protection, Pesticides and pests.

    Dated: March 11, 2002.
Jack E. Housenger,
Acting Director, Special Review and Reregistration Division, Office of 
Pesticide Programs.
[FR Doc. 02-6855 Filed 3-21-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-S