[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 55 (Wednesday, March 22, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14519-14521]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 06-2713]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OPP-2005-0253; FRL-7768-9]


Propylene Oxide; Notice of Receipt of Request to Terminate Bird 
Seed Uses on Pesticide Registrations

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with section 6(f)(1) of the Federal Insecticide, 
Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), as amended, EPA is issuing a 
notice of receipt of a request by the registrant to voluntarily 
terminate the use of the pesticide propylene oxide (PPO) on bird seed 
products. The request would terminate non-food PPO use as an 
insecticidal fumigant for the control of stored product insects in bird 
seed. The request would terminate bird seed use for all PPO product(s) 
registered in the U.S. EPA intends to grant this request at the close 
of the comment period for this announcement unless the Agency receives 
substantive comments within the comment period that would merit its 
further review of the request, or unless the registrant withdraws their 
request within this period. Upon acceptance of this request, any sale, 
distribution, or use of products listed in this notice will be 
permitted only if such sale, distribution, or use is consistent with 
the terms as described in the final order.

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

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by docketidentification 
(ID) number EPA-HQ-OPP-2005-0253, 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-2005-0253. 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-
2005-0253. 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 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 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 
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 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 telephone number for the docket facility is (703) 305-
5805.

[[Page 14520]]


FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Susan Bartow, Special Review and 
Reregistration Division (7508C), Office of Pesticide Programs, 
Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., 
Washington, DC 20460-0001; telephone number: (703) 603-0065; fax 
number: (703) 308-8041; 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 
interest to a wide range of stakeholders including environmental, human 
health, and agricultural advocates; the chemical industry; pesticide 
users; and members of the public interested in the sale, distribution, 
or use of pesticides. Since others also may 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. What Should I Consider as I Prepare My Comments for EPA?

    1. Submitting CBI. Do not submit this information to EPA through 
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:
    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. Background on the Receipt of Requests to Amend Registrations to 
Delete Uses

    This notice announces receipt by EPA of a request from registrant 
ABERCO, Inc. to voluntarily terminate bird seed uses of 47870-1, 47870-
2, and 47870-3 PPO product registrations. PPO is an insecticidal 
fumigant used on several food items such as processed spices, cocoa 
(beans and powder), and in-shell and processed nutmeats (except 
peanuts). PPO also has nonfood uses for bird seeds, cosmetic articles, 
gums, ores, packaging, pigments, pharmaceutical materials, and 
discarded nut shells prior to disposal. In a letter dated January 26, 
2006, ABERCO, Inc. requested EPA to terminate PPO's use on bird seed 
for pesticide product registrations identified in this notice (Table 
1). Specifically, ABERCO, Inc. requests that the nonfood use of PPO as 
an insecticidal fumigant for the control of stored product insects in 
bird seed be terminated. ABERCO, Inc. requests provisions for sale, 
distribution, and use of existing stocks, as EPA defined that term in a 
document published on June 26, 1991 at 56 Fed. Reg. 29362, as follows:
    1. Registrants may sell and distribute existing stocks for one year 
from the date of this letter making the use termination request, and
    2. The product may be sold, distributed, and used by people other 
than the registrant until their stocks have been exhausted, provided 
that such sale, distribution, and use complies with the EPA-approved 
label and labeling of the product. There will be no more PPO pesticide 
products registered in the United States for bird seed use.

III. What Action is the Agency Taking?

    This notice announces receipt by EPA of a request from a registrant 
to terminate bird seed uses of PPO product registrations. The affected 
products and the registrant making the requests are identified in Table 
1 of this unit.
    Under section 6(f)(1)(A) of FIFRA, registrants may request, at any 
time, that their pesticide registrations be canceled or amended to 
terminate one or more pesticide uses. Section 6(f)(1)(B) of FIFRA 
requires that before acting on a request for voluntary cancellation, 
EPA must provide a 30-day public comment period on the request for 
voluntary cancellation or use termination. In addition, section 
6(f)(1)(C) of FIFRA requires that EPA provide a 180-day comment period 
on a request for voluntary cancellation or termination of any minor 
agricultural use before granting the request, unless:
     1. The registrants request a waiver of the comment period, or
     2. The Administrator determines that continued use of the 
pesticide would pose an unreasonable adverse effect on the environment.
     The PPO registrant has requested that EPA waive the 180-day 
comment period. EPA will provide a 30-day comment period on the 
proposed requests.
    Unless a request is withdrawn by the registrant within 30 days of 
publication of this notice, or if the Agency determines that there are 
substantive comments that warrant further review of this request, an 
order will be issued amending the affected registrations.

Table 1.-- PPO Product Registrations with Pending Requests for Amendment
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        Registration No.             Product name           Company
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47870-1                           Propylene Oxide     ABERCO, Inc.
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47870-2                           Propylene Oxide     ABERCO, Inc.
                                   Technical
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47870-3                           Propoxide 892       ABERCO, Inc.
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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 or amended to terminate one or more uses. FIFRA further 
provides that, before acting on the request, EPA must publish a notice 
of receipt of any such request in the Federal Register. Thereafter, 
following the public comment period, the Administrator may approve such 
a request.

[[Page 14521]]

V. Procedures for Withdrawal of Request and Considerations for 
Reregistration of PPO

    Registrants who choose to withdraw a request for cancellation must 
submit such withdrawal in writing to the person listed under FOR 
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT, postmarked before April 21, 2006. This 
written withdrawal of the request for cancellation will apply only to 
the applicable FIFRA section 6(f)(1) request listed in this notice. If 
the products(s) have been subject to a previous cancellation action, 
the effective date of cancellation and all other provisions of any 
earlier cancellation action are controlling.

VI. Provisions for Disposition of Existing Stocks

    Existing stocks are those stocks of registered pesticide products 
which are currently in the United States and which were packaged, 
labeled, and released for shipment prior to the effective date of the 
cancellation action.
     In any order issued in response to this request for amendment(s) 
to terminate bird seed use, the Agency proposes to include the 
following provisions for the treatment of any existing stocks of the 
products identified or referenced in Table 1:
    1. The registrant may sell and distribute existing stocks for one 
year from the date of this letter making the use termination request, 
and
    2. The product may be sold, distributed, and used by people other 
than the registrant until their stocks have been exhausted, provided 
that such sale, distribution, and use complies with the EPA-approved 
label and labeling of the product.
    If the request for voluntary termination is granted as discussed 
above, the Agency intends to issue a cancellation order that will allow 
persons other than the registrant to continue to sell and/or use 
existing stocks of cancelled products until such stocks are exhausted, 
provided that such use is consistent with the terms of the previously 
approved lable on, or that accompanied, the cancelled product. The 
order will specifically prohibit any use of existing stocks that is non 
consistent with such previously approved labeling. If, as the Agency 
currently intends, the final cancellation order contains the existing 
stocks provision just described, the order will be sent only to the 
affected registrants of the cancelled products. If the Agency 
determines that the final cancellation order should contain existing 
stocks provisions different than the ones just described, the Agency 
will publish the cancellation order in the Federal Register.

List of Subjects

    Environmental protection, Pesticides and pests.


    Dated: March 9, 2006.
Debra Edwards,
Director, Special Review and Reregistration Division, Office of 
Pesticide Programs.

[FR Doc. 06-2713 Filed 3-21-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-S