[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 244 (Wednesday, December 21, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 75808-75810]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E5-7636]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OPP-2005-0301; FRL-7751-5]


Notice of Filing of a Pesticide Petition for the Amendment of 
Regulations for Residues of Glufosinate-ammonium and its Metabolite, 3-
Methylphosphinicopropionic Acid in or on Food and Feed Commodities

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces the initial filing of a pesticide 
petition proposing the amendment of regulations in 40 CFR 180.473(d) 
for the indirect or inadvertent residues of the herbicide glufosinate-
ammonium (butanoic acid, 2-amino-4-(hydroxymethylphosphinyl)-,

[[Page 75809]]

monoammonium salt) and its metabolite, 3-methylphosphinicopropionic 
acid expressed as2-amino-4-(hydroxymethylphosphinyl)butanoic acid 
equivalents in or on forage, hay, and straw of small grains (Crop Group 
16).

DATES: Comments must be received on or before January 20, 2006.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by docket identification 
(ID) number EPA-HQ-OPP-2005-0301 and pesticide petition (PP) number 
5F6954, by one of the following methods:
     http://www.regulations.gov/. Follow the on-line 
instructions for submitting comments.
     E-mail: [email protected].
     Mail: Public Information and Records Integrity Branch 
(PIRIB) (7502C), Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP), Environmental 
Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460-
0001.
     Hand Delivery: Public Information and Records Integrity 
Branch (PIRIB) (7502C), Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP), 
Environmental Protection Agency, Rm. 119, Crystal Mall 2, 1801 
S. Bell St., Arlington, VA, Attention: Docket ID number EPA-HQ-OPP-
2005-0301. The docket facility is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday 
through Friday, excluding legal holidays. The telephone number for the 
docket facility is (703) 305-5805. Such deliveries are only accepted 
during the Docket's normal hours of operation, and special arrangements 
should be made for deliveries of boxed information.
    Instructions: Direct your comments to docket ID number EPA-HQ-OPP-
2005-0301. EPA's policy is that all comments received will be included 
in the public docket without change and may be made available on-line 
at http://www.regulations.gov/, including any personal information 
provided, unless the comment includes information claimed to be 
Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other information whose 
disclosure is restricted by statute. Do not submit information that you 
consider to be CBI or otherwise protected through www.regulations.gov 
or e-mail. The www.regulations.gov website is an ``anonymous access'' 
system, which means EPA will not know your identity or contact 
information unless you provide it in the body of your comment. If you 
send an e-mail comment directly to EPA without going through http://www.regulations.gov, your e-mail address will be captured automatically 
and included as part of the comment that is placed in the public docket 
and made available on the Internet. If you submit an electronic 
comment, EPA recommends that you include your name and other contact 
information in the body of your comment and with any disk or CD ROM you 
submit. If EPA cannot read your comment due to technical difficulties 
and cannot contact you for clarification, EPA may not be able to 
consider your comment. Electronic files should avoid the use of special 
characters, any form of encryption, and be free of any defects or 
viruses. For additional information about EPA's public docket, visit 
the EPA Docket Center homepage at http://www.epa.gov/epahome/docket.htm/.
    Docket: All documents in the docket are listed in the 
www.regulation.gov index. Although listed in the index, some 
information is not publicly available, i.e., CBI or other information 
whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Certain other material, such 
as copyrighted material, will be publicly available only in hard copy. 
Publicly available docket materials are available either electronically 
in http://www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at the Public Information 
and Records Integrity Branch (PIRIB) (7502C), Office of Pesticide 
Programs (OPP), Environmental Protection Agency, Rm. 119, Crystal Mall 
2, 1801 S. Bell St., Arlington, VA. The docket facility is 
open from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal 
holidays. The telephone number for the docket facility is (703) 305-
5805.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: James Stone, Registration Division 
(7505C), Office of Pesticide Programs, Environmental Protection Agency, 
1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460-0001; telephone 
number: (703) 305-7391; e-mail address:[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. General Information

A. Does this Action Apply to Me?

    You may be potentially affected by this action if you are an 
agricultural producer, food manufacturer, or pesticide manufacturer. 
Potentially affected entities may include, but are not limited to:
     Crop production (NAICS code 111).
     Animal production (NAICS code 112).
     Food manufacturing (NAICS code 311).
     Pesticide manufacturing (NAICS code 32532).
    This listing is not intended to be exhaustive, but rather provides 
a guide for readers regarding entities likely to be affected by this 
action. Other types of entities not listed in this unit could also be 
affected. The North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) 
codes have been provided to assist you and others in determining 
whether this action might apply to certain entities. 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. What Should I Consider as I Prepare My Comments for EPA?

    1. Submitting CBI. Do not submit this information to EPA through 
http://www.regulations.gov or e-mail. Clearly mark the part or all of 
the information that you claim to be CBI. For CBI information in a disk 
or CD ROM that you mail to EPA, mark the outside of the disk or CD ROM 
as CBI and then identify electronically within the disk or CD ROM the 
specific information that is claimed as CBI. In addition to one 
complete version of the comment that includes information claimed as 
CBI, a copy of the comment that does not contain the information 
claimed as CBI must be submitted for inclusion in the public docket. 
Information so marked will not be disclosed except in accordance with 
procedures set forth in 40 CFR part 2.

    2. Tips for preparing your comments. When submitting comments, 
remember to:
     Identify this document by docket ID number and other 
identifying information (subject heading, Federal Register date and 
page number).
     Follow directions. The Agency may ask you to respond to 
specific questions or organize comments by referencing a Code of 
Federal Regulations (CFR) part or section number.
     Explain why you agree or disagree; suggest alternatives 
and substitute language for your requested changes.
     Describe any assumptions and provide any technical 
information and/or data that you used.
     If you estimate potential costs or burdens, explain how 
you arrived at your estimate in sufficient detail to allow for it to be 
reproduced.
     Provide specific examples to illustrate your concerns, and 
suggest alternatives.
     Explain your views as clearly as possible, avoiding the 
use of profanity or personal threats.
     Make sure to submit your comments by the comment period 
deadline identified.

II. What Action is the Agency Taking?

    EPA is printing a summary of a pesticide petition received under

[[Page 75810]]

section 408 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA), 21 
U.S.C. 346a, proposing the amendment of regulations in 40 CFR 
180.473(d) for the indirect or inadvertent residues of the herbicide 
glufosinate-ammonium (butanoic acid, 2-amino-4-
(hydroxymethylphosphinyl)-, monoammonium salt) and its metabolite, 3-
methylphosphinicopropionic acid expressed as 2-amino-4-
(hydroxymethylphosphinyl) butanoic acid equivalents in or on forage, 
hay, and straw of small grains (Crop Group 16). EPA has determined that 
this pesticide petition contains data or information regarding the 
elements set forth in FFDCA section 408(d)(2); however, EPA has not 
fully evaluated the sufficiency of the submitted data at this time or 
whether the data support granting of the pesticide petition. Additional 
data may be needed before EPA rules on this pesticide petition.
    Pursuant to 40 CFR 180.7(f), a summary of the petition included in 
this notice, prepared by the petitioner along with a description of the 
analytical method available for the detection and measurement of the 
pesticide chemical residues is available on EPA's Electronic Docket at 
http://www.regulations.gov/. To locate this information on the home 
page of EPA's Electronic Docket, select ``Quick Search'' and type the 
OPP docket ID number ``EPA-HQ-OPP-2005-0301'' in the search field. Once 
the search has located the docket, clicking on the ``Docket ID'' will 
bring up a list of all documents in the docket for the pesticide 
including the petition summary.

Amendment to an Existing Tolerance

    PP 5F6954. Bayer CropScience, 2 T.W. Alexander Drive, Research 
Triangle Park, NC 27709, proposes to amend the tolerances in 40 CFR 
180.473(d) for the indirect or inadvertent residues of the herbicide 
glufosinate-ammonium (butanoic acid, 2-amino-4-
(hydroxymethylphosphinyl)-, monoammonium salt) and its metabolite, 3-
methylphosphinicopropionic acid expressed as 2-amino-4-
(hydroxymethylphosphinyl)butanoic acid equivalents in or on the food 
and feed commodities forage, hay and straw of small grains (Crop Group 
16) at 0.2 parts per million (ppm). The enforcement analytical method 
utilizes gas chromatography for detecting and measuring levels of 
glufosinate-ammonium and its metabolites with a general limit of 
quantification of 0.05 ppm. This method allows detection of residues at 
or above the proposed tolerances.

List of Subjects

    Environmental protection, Agricultural commodities, Feed additives, 
Food additives, Pesticides and pests, Reporting and recordkeeping 
requirements.

    Dated: December 13, 2005.
Lois Rossi,
Director, Registration Division, Office of Pesticide Programs.
[FR Doc. E5-7636 Filed 12-20-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-S