[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 9 (Thursday, January 13, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2403-2404]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-711]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[OPPT-2004-0132; FRL-7694-6]


Response to Petition; Notice of Availability

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: On October 5, 2004, EPA received a petition filed under 
section 21 of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) and section 
553(e) of the Administrative Procedure Act from People for the Ethical 
Treatment of Animals (PETA). The Physicians Committee for Responsible 
Medicine (PCRM) joined the petition by a letter dated November 9, 2004. 
The petition requests that EPA revoke the TSCA developmental 
neurotoxicity test guideline codified at 40 CFR 799.9630 and withdraw a 
harmonized test guideline issued by the Office of Prevention, 
Pesticides and Toxic Substances (OPPTS) titled, ``Health Effects Test 
Guidelines: OPPTS 870.6300 Developmental Neurotoxicity Study'' (EPA-
712-C-98-239). Although EPA believes the petitioners' requests are 
outside the scope of TSCA section 21, and thus the submission in its 
entirety is being treated as a petition under the Administrative 
Procedure Act, EPA responded to the petitioners within the 90-day 
timeframe established in TSCA for section 21 petitions. EPA has 
responded to the petition by denying these requests and is announcing 
the public availability of this response.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For general information contact: Colby 
Lintner, Regulatory Coordinator, Environmental Assistance Division 
(7408M), Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics, Environmental 
Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460-
0001; telephone number: (202) 554-1404; e-mail address:[email protected].
    For technical information contact: Laura Bunte, Chemical Control 
Division (7405M), Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics, 
Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., 
Washington, DC 20460-0001; telephone number: (202) 564-8157; 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, and may be of 
particular interest to those persons who are or may be required to 
conduct testing of chemical substances under the Toxic Substances 
Control Act (TSCA), the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA), 
or the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). 
Since other entities may also be interested, the Agency has not 
attempted to describe all the specific entities that may be interested 
in this action. If you have any questions regarding the applicability 
of this action to a particular entity, consult the technical contact 
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 ID number OPPT-2004-0132. The official public 
docket consists of the documents specifically referenced in this 
action, including the petitioner's request, supporting information 
submitted by the petitioners, and EPA's response to the petition. 
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 EPA Docket Center, Rm. B102-Reading Room, EPA West, 1301 
Constitution Ave., NW., Washington, DC. The EPA Docket Center is open 
from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal 
holidays. The EPA Docket Center Reading Room telephone number is(202) 
566-1744 and the telephone number for the OPPT Docket, which is

[[Page 2404]]

located in the EPA Docket Center, is (202) 566-0280.
    2. Electronic access. You may access this Federal Register document 
electronically through the EPA Internet under theFederal Register 
listings athttp://www.epa.gov/fedrgstr/. The documents referenced in 
Unit I.B.1 are also accessible through the EPA Internet athttp://www.epa.gov/opptintr/chemtest/dnt/index.htm. To access the OPPTS 
Harmonized Test Guideline referenced in this document, go directly to 
the guideline at http://www.epa.gov/opptsfrs/home/guidelin.htm/.
    In addition, 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 
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.B.1. 
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.

II. What Action is the Agency Taking?

    This action announces the availability of EPA's response to the 
petition. The public may access both the petition and EPA's response as 
described in Unit I.B. of this document.

List of Subjects

    Environmental protection, Pesticides, Toxic substances, Test 
guidelines.


    Dated: January 3, 2005.
Susan B. Hazen,
Acting Assistant Administrator, Office of Prevention, Pesticides and 
Toxic Substances.

[FR Doc. 05-711 Filed 1-12-05 8:45 am]
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