[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 55 (Wednesday, March 22, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14522-14524]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 06-2635]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OPP-2005-0537; FRL-7767-8]


Notice of Filing of Pesticide Petitions for Establishment of 
Regulations for Residues of Ethofumesate and Its Metabolites in or on 
Various Food Commodities

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces the initial filing of pesticide 
petitions proposing the establishment of regulations for residues of 
the herbicide ethofumesate (2-ethoxy-2,3-dihydro-3,3-dimethyl-5-
benzofuranyl methanesulfonate) and its metabolites NC 8493 and NC 9607 
(both calculated as the parent compound) in or on carrots (with 
regional restriction for use in Washington and Oregon only), garden 
beets (tops and roots), onion dry bulb, garlic bulb, and shallots.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before April 21, 2006.

[[Page 14523]]


ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by docket identification 
(ID) number EPA-HQ-OPP-2005-0537 and pesticide petition numbers (PPs) 
3E6564, 3E6565, and 5E6914, by one of the following methods:
     http://www.regulations.gov/. Follow the on-line 
instructions for submitting comments.
     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-
2005-0537. 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-
2005-0537. 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 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 at 
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/dockets.htm/.
     Docket: All documents in the docket are listed in the 
regulation.gov index. Although listed in the index, some information is 
not publicly available, e.g., 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 at 
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 Docket telephone number is (703) 305-5805.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Barbara Madden, Registration Division 
(7505C), Office of Pesticide Programs, U. S. Environmental Protection 
Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460-0001; 703-
305-6463; e-mail: [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 
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:
    i. Identify the document by docket number and other identifying 
information (subject heading, Federal Register date and page number).
    ii. 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.
    iii. Explain why you agree or disagree; suggest alternatives and 
substitute language for your requested changes.
    iv. Describe any assumptions and provide any technical information 
and/or data that you used.
    v. If you estimate potential costs or burdens, explain how you 
arrived at your estimate in sufficient detail to allow for it to be 
reproduced.
    vi. Provide specific examples to illustrate your concerns, and 
suggest alternatives.
    vii. Explain your views as clearly as possible, avoiding the use of 
profanity or personal threats.
    viii. 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 each pesticide petition received under 
section 408 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA), 21 
U.S.C.346a, proposing the establishment or amendment of regulations in 
40 CFR part 180 for residues of pesticide chemicals in or on various 
food commodities. EPA has determined that these pesticide petitions 
contain data or information regarding the elements set forth in FFDCA 
section 408(d)(2); however, EPA has not fully evaluated

[[Page 14524]]

the sufficiency of the submitted data at this time or whether the data 
support granting of these pesticide petitions. Additional data may be 
needed before EPA rules on these pesticide petitions.
    Pursuant to 40 CFR 180.7(f), a summary of each 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. 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.

New Tolerances

    1. PP 3E6564. Interregional Research Project No. 4 (IR-4), 681 U. 
S. Highway No. 1 South, North Brunswick, NJ 08902-3390, proposes to 
establish a tolerance for residues of the herbicide ethofumesate (2-
ethoxy-2,3-dihydro-3,3-dimethyl-5-benzofuranyl methanesulfonate) and 
its metabolites NC 8493 and NC 9607 (both calculated as the parent 
compound) in or on food commodities garden beet tops at 4.0 parts per 
million (ppm) and garden beet roots at 0.5 ppm; and
    2. PP 3E6565. Carrots (with regional restriction for use in 
Washington and Oregon only) at 10.0 ppm; and
    3. PP 5E6914. Onion dry bulb, garlic bulb, and shallots at 0.3 ppm.
    Analytical methods have been developed and validated for the 
determination of ethofumesate and its metabolites NC 9607 and NC 8493 
in sugar beet (roots and tops), meat, and milk. The method has also 
been shown to capture NC 20645 as NC 9607 in sugar beet and milk. 
Therefore, reported residues of NC 9607 include any NC 20645 that may 
be present. Ethofumesate and its related residues are extracted in a 
two-part process and quantified using gas chromatography equipped with 
flame photometric detector (GC-NPD) operated in sulfur mode. The method 
limit of quantification is 0.05 ppm. Therefore, adequate analytical 
methodology is available for enforcement purposes and it 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: March 13, 2006.
Lois Rossi,
Director, Registration Division, Office of Pesticide Programs.
[FR Doc. 06-2635 Filed 3-21-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-S