[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 18 (Wednesday, January 28, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4135-4136]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-1824]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[OPP-2004-0015; FRL-7340-1]


Dimethoate; Use Cancellation Order

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces EPA's cancellation order, as requested 
the registrants, for certain uses associated with the manufacturing-use 
registrations for products containing dimethoate (O,O-Dimethy S-
((methylcarbamoyl)methyl phosphodithioate), pursuant to section 6(f) of 
the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). This 
order follows up a September 10, 2003 Notice of receipt of requests 
from the registrants for cancellation of use on grapes, apples, head 
lettuce, spinach, chard, broccoli raab, fennel, tomatillo, lespedeza 
and trefoil on all technical registrations. The cancellations are 
effective as of the date of this notice. The registrants are permitted 
to sell or distribute existing stocks for 1-year after the effective 
date of this cancellation order. Other persons are permitted to use 
existing stocks only to produce products that are not labeled for the 
above uses.

DATES: This order is effective January 28, 2004.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Patrick Dobak, Special Review and 
Reregistration Division (7508C), Office of Pesticide Programs, 
Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., 
Washington, DC 20460-0001; telephone number: (703) 308-8180; 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. Although this 
action may be of particular interest to persons who produce or use 
pesticides, 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 information in this notice, consult the person listed 
under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.

B. How Can I Get Copies of this Document and Other Related Information?

    1. Docket. EPA has established an official public docket for this 
action under docket identification (ID) number OPP-2003-0263. 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/.
    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. 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.A.1. Once in the system, select ``search,'' then key in the 
appropriate docket ID number.

II. What Action is the Agency Taking?

    This notice announces cancellation, as requested by the dimethoate 
technical registrants, of the following crop uses from all dimethoate 
technical products registered under section 3 of FIFRA: Apples, grapes, 
spinach, head lettuce, chard, broccoli raab, fennel, tomatillo, 
lespedeza and trefoil.

A. Requests for Voluntary Cancellations

    The manufacturing-use product registrations for which cancellation 
was requested are identified below in Tables 1 and 2. The Agency is 
affording the 1-year period from this cancellation date to allow 
registrants to exhaust existing stocks of products with labels that 
still include the uses canceled in this notice. The Agency reserves the 
right to propose shorter existing stocks time periods for dimethoate 
products in future Federal Register Notices and to include end-use 
products as well.

 Table 1.--Manufacturing-Use Products Subject to Cancellation of Certain
                                  Uses
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                                                            Product
          Company Name               Product Name        Registration
                                                            Number
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Cheminova                         Chemethoate         4787-7
                                   Technical
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Drexel                            Drexel Dimethoate   19713-209 and
                                   Technical           19713-525
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Gowan                             Gowan Dimethoate    10163-211
                                   Technical
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Micro Flo                         Dimethoate          51036-279
                                   Technical
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Table 2 of this unit includes the name and product for the 
registrant that requested cancellation of their technical product 
altogether:

[[Page 4136]]



           Table 2.--Technical Product Subject to Cancellation
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          Company Name               Product Name       Product Number
------------------------------------------------------------------------
BASF Corporation                  Perfekthion         7969-32
                                   Manufacturers'
                                   Concentrate
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    BASF is continuing to support their dimethoate end-use products.

B. Comments Received on Basis for this Action

    In the notice of receipt of requests for voluntary cancellation (68 
FR 53371, September 10, 2003) (FRL-7321-2), the Agency stated that the 
dimethoate uses subject to the requests for cancellation contributed 
significantly to dietary risk, and that cancellation was necessary in 
order to address dietary risk from dimethoate. The Agency would like to 
clarify that these statements are the Agency's, and that the 
registrants' state that their requests for voluntary cancellation were 
made as business decisions and did not acknowledge any dietary risks 
for dimethoate.

III. Cancellation Order

    Pursuant to section 6(f) of FIFRA, EPA hereby approves the 
requested cancellations of the dimethoate uses on apples, grapes, 
spinach, head lettuce, chard, broccoli raab, fennel, tomatillo, 
lespedeza and trefoil for the product registrations identified in Table 
1 of Unit II.A. In addition, also pursuant to section 6(f), EPA 
approves the requested cancellation of the dimethoate manufacturing-use 
product registration identified in Table 2 of Unit II.A. Any 
distribution, sale, or use of existing stocks of the products 
identified in Tables 1 and 2 in a manner inconsistent with any of the 
Provisions for Disposition of Existing Stocks set forth below in Unit 
V. will be considered a violation of FIFRA.
    EPA is not at this time proposing to revoke existing tolerances 
issued pursuant to the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act for 
residues of dimethoate in or on apples, grapes, spinach, head lettuce, 
chard, broccoli raab, fennel, tomatillo, lespedeza, and trefoil. This 
is because registrations authorizing such uses are still in effect for 
certain end use products containing dimethoate.

IV. 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 further provides that, before acting on the request, 
EPA must publish a notice of receipt of any such request in the Federal 
Register. The Administrator may approve such a request after a public 
comment period. Notice of receipt of the cancellation requests was 
published on September 10, 2003 (68 FR 53371). The registrants have 
waived the 180-day comment period, and the 30-day comment period 
provided in section 6(f)(1)(B) has ended.

V. Provisions for Disposition of Existing Stocks

    For purposes of this cancellation order, the term ``existing 
stocks'' is defined, pursuant to EPA's existing stocks policy (56 FR 
29362, June 26, 1991), as those stocks of registered pesticide products 
which are currently in the United States and which have been packaged, 
labeled, and released for shipment prior to the effective date of the 
cancellation action. See 56 FR 29362 (June 26, 1991). The existing 
stocks provisions of this cancellation order are as follows:
    1. Distribution or sale. It is unlawful for any person to 
distribute or sell existing stocks of any product identified in Table 1 
that is labeled for use on apples, grapes, spinach, head lettuce, 
chard, broccoli raab, fennel, tomatillo, lespedeza and trefoil, or any 
product identified in Table 2, except:
    i. Registrants identified in Tables 1 and 2 may sell and distribute 
existing stocks of their own products until January 28, 2005.
    ii. Any person may ship such existing stocks for the purpose of 
export consistent with FIFRA section 17 or for proper disposal in 
accordance with applicable law.
    2. Use for producing other products. It is unlawful for any person 
to use existing stocks of any product identified in Table 1 or 2 to 
produce any product labeled for use on apples, grapes, spinach, head 
lettuce, chard, broccoli raab, fennel, tomatillo, lespedeza or trefoil. 
Existing stocks of products identified in Tables 1 and 2 may be used to 
produce products that are not labeled for use on apples, grapes, 
spinach, head lettuce, chard, broccoli raab, fennel, tomatillo, 
lespedeza or trefoil.

List of Subjects

    Environmental protection, Pesticides and pests.


    Dated: January 8, 2004.
Debra Edwards,
Director, Special Review and Reregistration Division, Office of 
Pesticide Programs.

[FR Doc. 04-1824 Filed 1-27-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-S