[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 43 (Wednesday, March 5, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10456-10458]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-4777]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[OPP-2003-0029; FRL-7290-4]


Benomyl; Cancellation Order

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces a cancellation order requested by Hi-
Yield Chemical Company for their registration of the pesticide product 
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 a September 9, 2002, notice of receipt of request for the above 
mentioned voluntary registration cancellation. In that notice, EPA 
requested comments on the proposed cancellation and indicated that it 
would issue an order confirming the cancellation. Any distribution, 
sale, or use of canceled benomyl products is permitted only in 
accordance with the terms of the existing stocks provisions of this 
cancellation order.

DATES: The cancellation is effective March 5, 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; 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. Docket. EPA has established an official public docket for this 
action under docket identification (ID) number OPP-2003-0029. 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)

[[Page 10457]]

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 brief 
description written by the docket staff.

II. Receipt of Request to Cancel Registrations

A. Background

    Benomyl is a benzimidazole carbamate and systemic foliar fungicide 
which was registered for use on a variety of fruit and vegetable crops. 
The technical registrant, E.I. du Pont de Nemours & 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 (66 FR 41589) (FRL-6794-9).
    In addition, 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 letter dated July 31, 2002, Hi-Yield (represented by their 
agent, Brazos Associates Inc.) stated that they no longer manufacture 
or distribute the end use product that contained benomyl and there are 
no inventories of remaining stocks.
    Pursuant to section 6(f)(1) of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, 
and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), EPA announced receipt of the request from 
Hi-Yield Chemical Company in a Federal Register notice published on 
September 9, 2002 (67 FR 57726) (FRL-7197-5). In that notice, EPA 
provided a 30-day comment period. The registrant 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), Hi-Yield Chemical Company has 
submitted a request for voluntary cancellation of registration for 
their product containing benomyl. The registration for which the 
cancellation was requested is identified in the following table.

                Product Registration Cancellation Request
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             Company               Registration No.         Product
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Hi-Yield Chemical Company         34911-27            Hi-Yield Benomyl
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III. Cancellation Order

    Pursuant to section 6(f)(1)(A) of FIFRA, EPA is approving the 
requested cancellation. Accordingly, EPA orders that the registration 
identified in the table in Unit II.B., is 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 
document 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) (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 registrant has stated that they no 
longer manufacture or distribute end use products that contain benomyl.

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 In addition, the distribution of benomyl products in the channels of 
trade ended on December 31, 2002, prohibiting the sale of these 
products. Therefore, the distribution or sale of existing stocks by the 
registrant is not lawful under FIFRA after March 5, 2003 except for the 
purposes of returns and 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 the 
product identified in the table in Unit II.B. is not lawful under FIFRA 
after March 5, 2003. The legal sale and distribution of benomyl 
products ended on December 31, 2002.

List of Subjects

    Environmental protection, Pesticides and pests.


    Dated: February 6, 2003.
Lois A. Rossi,
Director, Special Review and Reregistration Division, Office of 
Pesticide Programs.

[FR Doc. 03-4777 Filed 3-4-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-S