[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 148 (Wednesday, August 2, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 43742-43744]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-12346]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OPP-2006-0352; FRL-8080-8]


Sodium Cyanide; Tolerance Reassessment 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's Tolerance 
Reassessment Decision (TRED) for the pesticide sodium cyanide, and 
opens a public comment period on this document, related risk 
assessments, and other support documents. EPA has reviewed this 
pesticide sodium cyanide 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.

DATES:  Comments must be received on or before October 2, 2006.

ADDRESSES:  Submit your comments, identified by docket identification 
(ID) number EPA-HQ-OPP-2006-0352, 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-
2006-0352. 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

[[Page 43743]]

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:  Wilhelmena Livingston, Special Review 
and Reregistration Division (7508P), Office of Pesticide Programs, 
Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., 
Washington, DC 20460-0001; telephone number: (703) 308-8025; 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.
    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

     EPA has reassessed the uses of sodium cyanide, reassessed the one 
existing tolerance or legal residue limit established for residues of 
the insecticide hydrogen cyanide as a result of application of sodium 
cyanide, and on July 13, 2006, reached a tolerance reassessment 
decision for this pesticide. Sodium cyanide is used as a predacide/
rodenticide and as an insecticide. As a predacide/rodenticide, it is 
used as a single dose poison in the M-44 ejector device to control 
animals that prey upon livestock and threatened or endangered species 
or that are vectors of communicable disease. The eligibility of the 
predacide/rodenticide use was determined in the September 1994 
Reregistration Eligibility Decision document (RED) published in the 
Federal Register on January 25, 1995 (60 FR 4910) (FRL-4391-9). As an 
insecticide, sodium cyanide is used in California to control red scale 
on fresh market citrus bound for Arizona. It is applied by professional 
applicators as a post-harvest fumigant. Although a TRED typically does 
not include an occupational assessment, the decision document addresses 
potential occupational exposures that were not addressed in the 1994 
RED.
    The Agency is now issuing for comment the resulting Report on Food 
Quality Protection Act (FQPA) Tolerance Reassessment Progress and Risk 
Management Decision for sodium cyanide, known as a TRED, as well as 
related risk assessments and technical support documents.
    EPA developed the sodium cyanide 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, and Rodenticide 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 sodium cyanide 
tolerances included in this notice.
    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 sodium 
cyanide, which pose no risk concerns, 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 sodium cyanide 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. Sodium cyanide, however, poses no 
risks that require mitigation. The Agency therefore is issuing the 
sodium cyanide TRED, its risk assessments, and related support 
documents simultaneously for public comment. The comment period is 
intended to provide an opportunity for public input and a mechanism for

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initiating any necessary amendments to the TRED. All comments should be 
submitted using the methods in ADDRESSES, and must be received by EPA 
on or before the closing date. These comments will become part of the 
Agency Docket for sodium cyanide. 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.

List of Subjects

    Environmental protection, Pesticides and pests.

    Dated: July 21, 2006.
 Debra Edwards,
Director, Special Review and Reregistration Division, Office of 
Pesticide Programs.
[FR Doc. E6-12346 Filed 7-1-06; 8:45 am]
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