[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 80 (Wednesday, April 26, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 24696-24698]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-6288]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OPP-2006-0308; FRL-8063-6]


Pronamide; Receipt of Application for Emergency Exemption, 
Solicitation of Public Comment

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: EPA has received a specific exemption request from the 
Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources to use the pesticide 
pronamide (CAS No. 23950-58-5) to treat up to 8,000 acres of 
cranberries to control dodder. The applicant proposes a use which has 
been requested in 3 or more previous years, and a petition for 
tolerance has not yet been submitted to the Agency. Due to the urgent 
nature of the emergency and the very narrow and extremely limited use 
being requested, EPA has eliminated the public comment period. 
Nonetheless, interested parties may still contact the Agency with 
comments about this notice and treatment program.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by docket identification 
(ID) number EPA-HQ-OPP-2006-0308, by one of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the on-line instructions for submitting comments.
     Mail: Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP) Regulatory Public 
Docket (7502C), Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania 
Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460-0001.
     Hand Delivery: OPP Regulatory Public Docket, Environmental 
Protection Agency, Rm. 119, Crystal Mall 2, 1801 S. Bell St., 
Arlington, VA. Deliveries are only accepted during the Docket's normal 
hours of operation (8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, 
excluding legal holidays). Special arrangements should be made for 
deliveries of boxed information. The Docket telephone number is (703) 
305-5805.
     Important Note: OPP will be moving to a new location the 
first week of May 2006. As a result, from Friday, April 28 to Friday, 
May 5, 2006, the OPP Regulatory Public Docket will NOT be accepting any 
deliveries at the

[[Page 24697]]

Crystal Mall 2 address and this facility will be closed to the 
public. Beginning on May 8, 2006, the OPP Regulatory Public Docket will 
reopen at 8:30 a.m. and deliveries will be accepted in Rm. S-4400, One 
Potomac Yard (South Building), 2777 S. Crystal Drive, Arlington, VA 
22202. The mail code for the mailing address will change to (7502P), 
but will otherwise remain the same. The OPP Regulatory Public Docket 
telephone number and hours of operation will remain the same after the 
move.
    Instructions: Direct your comments to docket ID number EPA-HQ-OPP-
2006-0308. EPA's policy is that all comments received will be included 
in the 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 Federal regulations.gov Web site 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 automatically captured and 
included as part of the comment that is placed in the 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.
    Docket: All documents in the docket are listed in the docket 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, is not placed on the Internet and will be publicly available 
only in hard copy form. Publicly available docket materials are 
available in the electronic docket at http://www.regulations.gov, or, 
if only available in hard copy, at the OPP Regulatory Public Docket at 
the location identified under ``Delivery'' and ``Important Note.'' The 
hours of operation for this docket facility are 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: Andrew Ertman, Registration Division 
(7505C), Office of Pesticide Programs, Environmental Protection Agency, 
1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460-0001; telephone 
number: (703) 308-9367; fax number: (703) 308-5433; 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 
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

A. What Action is the Agency Taking?

    Under section 18 of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and 
Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) (7 U.S.C. 136p), at the discretion of the 
Administrator, a Federal or State agency may be exempted from any 
provision of FIFRA if the Administrator determines that emergency 
conditions exist which require the exemption. The Massachusetts 
Department of Agricultural Resources has requested the Administrator to 
issue a specific exemption for the use of pronamide on cranberries to 
control dodder. Information in accordance with 40 CFR part 166 was 
submitted as part of this request.
    As part of this request, the applicant asserts that with the 
widespread adoption of water harvesting, dodder infestations have 
become practically ubiquitous in the Massachusetts cranberry production 
area. The detrimental impact of dodder infestations on cranberry yields 
have been reported widely in scientific journals, extension 
publications and internal memorandum. Yield losses can range from 12% 
in slight infestations up to 100% in severe infestations. Currently 
registered herbicides have not been totally effective, leading to a 
steady increase in dodder infestations.

[[Page 24698]]

    The Applicant proposes to make no more than two pre-emergence 
broadcast applications at a rate of 1.0-2.0 lbs of product per acre 
(0.5-1.0 lbs acre (a.i.) on 8,000 acres of cranberries. No more than 
2.0 lbs of product/acre/season 1.0 lbs a.i. may be made as a result of 
single or split application.
    This notice does not constitute a decision by EPA on the 
application itself. The regulations governing section 18 of FIFRA 
require publication of a notice of receipt of an application for a 
specific exemption proposing a use which has been requested in 3 or 
more previous years, and a petition for tolerance has not yet been 
submitted to the Agency.
    As noted above, the Agency is eliminating the comment period due to 
the urgent nature of an emergency situation and the very narrow and 
extremely limited use being requested. Nonetheless, interested parties 
may still contact the Agency with comments about this notice and 
treatment program.

List of Subjects

    Environmental protection, Pesticides and pests.

    Dated: April 17, 2006.
Donald R. Stubbs,
Acting Director, Registration Division, Office of Pesticide Programs.
[FR Doc. E6-6288 Filed 4-25-06; 8:45 am]
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