[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 40 (Friday, February 28, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9655-9656]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-4774]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[OPP-2003-0028; FRL-7290-3]


EPTC; Receipt of Request For Amendments to Delete Uses

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with section 6(f)(1) of the Federal Insecticide, 
Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), as amended, EPA is issuing a 
notice of receipt of request for amendment by Syngenta Crop Protection 
Inc. (formerly Zeneca Ag Products) to delete uses in certain 
registrations for products containing S-Ethyl di propyl thiocarbamate 
or EPTC. In addition, Drexel Chemical Company has asked EPA to cancel 
or amend their registrations for end-use products containing EPTC. 
Pursuant to section 6(f)(1) of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and 
Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), EPA is announcing the Agency's receipt of 
these requests. These requests for voluntary cancellation were 
submitted to EPA in March 2000 and February 2002. EPA also plans to 
issue a cancellation order for the deleted uses at the close of the 
comment period for this announcement. EPA will decide whether to 
approve the requests after consideration of public comment.

DATES: Comments on the requested amendments to delete uses must be 
submitted to the address provided below by March 31, 2003. Withdrawal 
of request for deletion of use must be submitted in writing to the 
person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT, postmarked before 
March 31, 2003.

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; 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 EPTC 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. Docket. EPA has established an official public docket for this 
action under docket identification (ID) number OPP-2003-0028. The 
official public docket consists of the documents specifically 
referenced in this action, any public comments received, and other 
information related to this action. Although a part of the official 
docket, the public docket does not include Confidential Business 
Information (CBI) or other information whose disclosure is restricted 
by statute. The official public docket is the collection of materials 
that is available for public viewing at the Public Information and 
Records Integrity Branch (PIRIB), Rm. 119, Crystal Mall 2, 
1921 Jefferson Davis Hwy., Arlington, VA. This docket facility is open 
from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal 
holidays. The docket telephone number is (703) 305-5805.
    2. Electronic access. You may access this Federal Register document 
electronically through the EPA Internet under the ``Federal Register'' 
listings at http://www.epa.gov/fedrgstr/. To access RED documents and 
RED fact sheets electronically, go directly to the REDs table on the 
EPA Office of Pesticide Programs Home Page, at http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/reregistration/status.htm.
    An electronic version of the public docket is available through 
EPA's electronic public docket and comment system, EPA Dockets. You may 
use EPA Dockets at http://www.epa.gov/edocket/ to submit or view public 
comments, access the index listing of the contents of the official 
public docket, and to access those documents in the public docket that 
are available electronically. Once in the system, select ``search,'' 
then key in the appropriate docket ID number.
    Certain types of information will not be placed in the EPA Dockets. 
Information claimed as CBI and other information whose disclosure is 
restricted by statute, which is not included in the official public 
docket, will not be available for public viewing in EPA's electronic 
public docket. EPA's policy is that copyrighted material will not be 
placed in EPA's electronic public docket but will be available only in 
printed, paper form in the official public docket. To the extent 
feasible, publicly available docket materials will be made available in 
EPA's electronic public docket. When a document is selected from the 
index list in EPA Dockets, the system will identify whether the 
document is available for viewing in EPA's electronic public docket. 
Although not all docket materials may be available electronically, you 
may still access any of the publicly available docket materials through 
the docket facility identified in Unit I.B.1. EPA intends to work 
towards providing electronic access to all of the publicly available 
docket materials through EPA's electronic public docket.
    For public commenters, it is important to note that EPA's policy is 
that public comments, whether submitted electronically or in paper, 
will be made available for public viewing in EPA's electronic public 
docket as EPA receives them and without change, unless the comment 
contains copyrighted material, CBI, or other information whose 
disclosure is restricted by statute. When EPA identifies a comment 
containing copyrighted material, EPA will provide a reference to that 
material in the version of the comment that is placed in EPA's 
electronic public docket. The entire printed comment, including the 
copyrighted material, will be available in the public docket.
    Public comments submitted on computer disks that are mailed or 
delivered to the docket will be transferred to EPA's electronic public 
docket. Public comments that are mailed or delivered to the docket will 
be scanned and placed in EPA's electronic public docket. Where 
practical, physical objects will be photographed, and the photograph 
will be placed in EPA's electronic public docket along with a

[[Page 9656]]

brief description written by the docket staff.

II. Request to Amend Registrations

A. Background Information

    The Reregistration Eligibility Decision (RED) for EPTC was 
completed in December 1999. At that time, EPA requested that Syngenta 
(formerly Zeneca Ag Products) submit field trial data for citrus. On 
March 21, 2000, Syngenta submitted a written request to EPA seeking to 
amend the registrations for EPTC, specifically requesting that EPA 
amend registrations to terminate the use of EPTC on citrus. On August 
27, 2000, the registrant further submitted labeling amendments deleting 
citrus from each label on which it appears. In addition, on February 
15, 2002, Drexel Chemical Company requested a voluntary cancellation of 
citrus for its End-Use products containing EPTC.

B. Requests for Voluntary Cancellation

    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 (1) the registrants request a waiver of the comment 
period, or (2) the Administrator determines that continued use of the 
pesticide would pose an unreasonable adverse effect on the environment. 
The registrants have requested that EPA waive the 180-day comment 
period. EPA is granting the registrants' request to waive the 180-day 
comment period. Therefore, EPA will provide a 30-day comment period on 
the proposed requests. EPA anticipates granting the cancellation 
request shortly after the end of the 30-day comment period for this 
notice. The registrations that will be affected by the deletion of 
citrus are listed in the following Table 1.

        Table 1.--End-Use Product Registration Amendment Request
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            Company                   Reg. No           Product Use
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Syngenta Crop Protection, Inc.            100-1023  EPTAM Technical...
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Syngenta Crop Protection, Inc.            100-1025  EPTAM 7-E
                                                     Selective
                                                     Herbicide.
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Drexel Chemical Company.                 19713-101  Drexel EPTC-7EC...
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III. What is the Agency's Authority for Taking this Action?

    Section 6(f)(1) of FIFRA provides that a registrant of a pesticide 
product may at any time request that any of its pesticide registrations 
be canceled. FIFRA section 6(f)(1) further provides that, before acting 
on the request, EPA must publish a notice of receipt of any such 
request in the Federal Register, make reasonable efforts to inform 
persons who rely on the pesticide for minor agricultural uses, and 
provide a 30-day period in which the public may comment. Thereafter, 
the Administrator may approve such a request.

IV. Procedures for Withdrawal of Request

    Registrants who choose to withdraw a request for deletion of use 
must submit such withdrawal in writing to the person listed under FOR 
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT, postmarked before March 31, 2003. This 
written withdrawal of the request for deletion of use will apply only 
to the applicable FIFRA section 6(f)(1) request listed in this notice. 
If the use(s) have been subject to a previous cancellation action, the 
effective date of cancellation and all other provisions of any earlier 
cancellation action are controlling. The withdrawal request must also 
include a commitment to pay any reregistration fees due, and to fulfill 
any applicable unsatisfied data requirements.

V. Provisions for Disposition of Existing Stocks

    The registrants have submitted amendments to amend registrations to 
delete uses of EPTC identified in Table 1. Pursuant to section 6(f) of 
FIFRA, EPA expects to grant these requests for amendment upon the close 
of the comment period. The effective date of this amendment will be the 
date of the cancellation order. The orders effecting this requested 
amendment will generally permit a registrant to sell or distribute 
existing stocks for 1 year after the date the amendment request was 
received. This policy is in accordance with the Agency's statement of 
policy as prescribed in the Federal Register of June 26, 1991 (56 FR 
29362) (FRL-3846-4). Exceptions to this general rule will be made if a 
product poses a risk concern, or is in noncompliance with 
reregistration requirements, or is subject to a Data Call-In. In all 
cases, product-specific disposition dates will be given in the 
cancellation orders.

VI. Future Tolerance Revocations

    EPA anticipates drafting a future Federal Register notice proposing 
revocation of this tolerance on commodities which no longer have 
registered uses of EPTC. In this notice, EPA seeks comment as to 
whether any individuals or groups want to support continuation of these 
tolerances.

List of Subjects

    Environmental protection, Pesticides and pests.

    Dated: February 6, 2003.
Lois Rossi,
Director, Special Review and Reregistration Division, Office of 
Pesticide Programs.
[FR Doc. 03-4774 Filed 2-27-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-S