[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 119 (Wednesday, June 21, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 35666-35668]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-9470]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OPP-2005-0496;FRL-8065-3]


Propazine; Tolerance Reassessment Progress and Risk Management 
Decision for Low Risk Pesticide; Notice of Availability

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces the availability of EPA'sTolerance 
Reassessment Progress and Risk Management Decision (TRED) for the 
chlorinated triazine pesticide propazine, and opens a public comment 
period on this document, related risk assessments, and other support 
documents. EPA has reviewed the low risk pesticide propazine through a 
modified, streamlined version of the public participation process that 
the Agency uses to involve the public in developing pesticide tolerance 
reassessment and reregistration decisions. Through the tolerance 
reassessment program, EPA is ensuring that all pesticides meet current 
health and food safety standards. The Agency is concurrently issuing 
for public comment the Triazine Cumulative Risk Assessment; see EPA-HQ-
OPP-2005-0481 in the Notices section of this issue of the Federal 
Register.

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

ADDRESSES:  Submit your comments, identified by docket identification 
(ID) number EPA-HQ-OPP-2005-0496, 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 (7502P), Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania 
Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460-0001.
     Delivery: OPP Regulatory Public Docket (7502P), 
Environmental Protection Agency, Rm. S-4400, One Potomac Yard (South 
Building), 2777 S. Crystal Drive, 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.
    Instructions: Direct your comments to docket ID number EPA-HQ-OPP-
2005-0496. 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 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 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 either in the electronic docket at http://www.regulations.gov,or, if only available in hard copy, at the OPP 
Regulatory Public Docket in Rm. S-4400, One Potomac Yard (South 
Building), 2777 S. Crystal Drive, Arlington, VA. The hours of operation 
of 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: Diane Sherman,Special Review and 
Reregistration Division (7508P), Office of Pesticide Programs, 
Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., 
Washington, DC 20460-0001; telephone number: (703) 308-0128; fax 
number: (703) 308-8005; 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 
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 ID 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.

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    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 
deadlineidentified.

II. Background

A. What Action is the Agency Taking?

    EPA has reassessed the uses of propazine, reassessed four existing 
tolerances or legal residue limits, and on April 6, 2006, reached a 
tolerance reassessment decision for this low risk chlorinated triazine 
pesticide. The Agency is now issuing for comment the resulting Report 
onFood Quality Protection Act (FQPA) Tolerance Reassessment Progress 
and Risk Management Decision for propazine, known as a TRED, as well as 
related risk assessments and technical support documents. Propazine is 
a systemic herbicide that is usually applied to the soil, absorbed 
through leaves and roots, and acts by inhibiting photosynthesis within 
the targeted plant. It isused as a selective herbicide to control most 
annual grasses and broadleaf weeds before the weeds emerge or after 
removal of weed growth. Propazine is formulated as a flowable 
concentrate, is registered for use on container grown ornamentals in 
greenhouses, and is to be applied through flood or drench nozzles only. 
The Agency has received a new use petition forsorhgum from the Griffin 
Corporation (PP 7F4837 as announced in a Federal Register Notice 
published on June 22, 2005, 70 FR 36159), and potential risks resulting 
from this use will be assessed when the petition is considered.
    EPA developed the propazine TRED through a modified, streamlined 
version of its public process for making tolerance reassessment and 
reregistration eligibility decisions. Through these programs, the 
Agency is ensuring that pesticides meet current standards under the 
Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA) and the Federal 
Insecticide, Fungicide, andRodenticide Act (FIFRA), as amended by FQPA. 
EPA must review tolerances and tolerance exemptions that were in effect 
when FQPA was enacted, to ensure that these existing pesticide residue 
limits for food and feed commodities meet the safety standard 
established by the new law. Tolerances are considered reassessed once 
the safety finding has been made or a revocation occurs. EPA has 
reviewed and made the requisite safety finding for the propazine 
tolerances included in this notice. EPA has determined that the data 
base to support propazine tolerance reassessment is substantially 
complete and that propazine tolerances meet the FFDCA safety standard.
     The propazine TRED presents the Agency's tolerance reassessment 
conclusions for propazine alone; however, section 408(b)(2)(D)(v) of 
FFDCA directs the Agency also to consider available information on the 
cumulative risk from substances sharing a common mechanism of toxicity. 
Propazine shares a neuroendocrine mechanism of toxicity, which results 
in both reproductive and developmental consequences, with the 
structurally-related chlorinated triazine pesticides atrazine and 
simazine. Because these chlorinated triazine pesticides share a common 
mechanism of toxicity, the Agency evaluated the cumulative risk posed 
by this group while making final tolerance reassessment decisions on 
individual chlorinated triazines. However, propazine was not 
incorporated into the cumulative risk assessment because no dietary, 
drinking water, or residential human exposure to propazine is 
anticipated from any of the currently registered uses.
     EPA is applying the principles of public participation to all 
pesticides undergoing reregistration and tolerance reassessment. The 
Agency's Pesticide Tolerance Reassessment and Reregistration; Public 
Participation Process, published in the Federal Register of May 14, 
2004 (69 FR 26819) (FRL-7357-9) explains that in conducting these 
programs, the Agency is tailoring its public participation process to 
be commensurate with the level of risk, extent of use, complexity of 
issues, and degree of public concern associated with each pesticide. 
EPA can expeditiously reach decisions for pesticides like propazine, 
which pose no risk concerns, have low use, affect few stakeholders, and 
require no risk mitigation. Once EPA assesses uses and risks for such 
low risk pesticides, the Agency may go directly to a decision and 
prepare a document summarizing its findings, such as the propazine 
TRED.
    The tolerance reassessment program is being conducted under 
Congressionally mandated time frames, and EPA recognizes the need both 
to make timely decisions and to involve the public in finding ways to 
effectively mitigate pesticide risks. Propazine, however, poses no 
risks that require mitigation. The Agency therefore is issuing the 
propazine TRED, its risk assessments, and related support documents 
simultaneously for public comment. The commentperiod is intended to 
provide an opportunity for public input and a mechanism for initiating 
any necessary amendments to the TRED. All comments should be submitted 
using the methods in Unit I. of the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION, and must 
be received by EPA on or before the closing date. These comments will 
become part of the Agency Docket for propazine. Comments received after 
the close of the comment period will be marked ``late.'' EPA is not 
required to consider these late comments.
    EPA will carefully consider all comments received by the closing 
date and will provide a Response to Comments Memorandum in the Docket 
and regulations.gov. If any comment significantly affects the document, 
EPA also will publish an amendment to the TRED in the Federal Register. 
In the absence of substantive comments requiring changes, the decisions 
reflected in the TRED will be implemented as presented.

B. What is the Agency's Authority for Taking this Action?

    Section 408(q) of the FFDCA, 21 U.S.C. 346a(q), requires EPA to 
review tolerances and exemptions for pesticide residues in effect as of 
August 2, 1996, to determine whether the tolerance or exemption meets 
the requirements of section 408(b)(2) or (c)(2) of FFDCA. This review 
is to be completed by August 3, 2006.
     A tolerance or exemption meets the requirements of section 
408(b)(2) or (c)(2), respectively, if ``the Administrator determines 
[the pesticide chemical residue] is safe,'' i.e., ``that there is a 
reasonable certainty that no harm will result from aggregate exposure 
to the pesticide chemical residue, including all anticipated dietary 
exposures and all other exposures for which there is reliable 
information.'' 21 U.S.C.346a(b)(2)(A), and (c)(2)(A). In making this 
safety finding, FFDCA requires the Administrator to consider, among 
other factors, ``available information concerning the cumulative 
effects of such residues and other substances that have a common 
mechanism of toxicity . . . '' 21 U.S.C.346a(b)(2)(D)(v), and 
(c)(2)(B).

List of Subjects

    Environmental protection, Pesticides and pests.


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    Dated: June 9, 2006.
Debra Edwards,
Director, Special Review and Reregistration Division, Office of 
Pesticide Programs.
[FR Doc. E6-9470 Filed 6-20-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-S