[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 10 (Wednesday, January 17, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1992-1993]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-351]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OPP-2006-0955; FRL-8104-7]


Rodenticides; Proposed Risk Mitigation Decision; Notice of 
Availability

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces the availability of EPA's proposed risk 
mitigation decision for nine rodenticides, the economic impact 
assessment for the proposed risk mitigation decision, the revised 
comparative ecological risk assessment, updated human health and 
ecological incident reports, and other related documents, and opens a 
60-day public comment period on the proposed risk mitigation decision. 
The nine rodenticides covered by this risk mitigation decision are 
brodifacoum, bromadiolone, difethialone, chlorophacinone, diphacinone, 
warfarin, zinc phosphide, bromethalin, and cholecalciferol. As part of 
the proposed risk mitigation decision, EPA anticipates classifying all 
products containing the active ingredients brodifacoum, bromadiolone, 
and difethialone as restricted use products. EPA also anticipates 
requiring that all products available for sale to consumers be sold 
only in refillable tamper-resistant bait stations. Furthermore, EPA is 
proposing certain additional restrictions and labeling improvements to 
mitigate the risks associated with these nine rodenticides.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before March 19, 2007.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by docket identification 
(ID) number EPA-HQ-OPP-2006-0955, 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-
2006-0955. 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: Kelly 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) 305-8401; fax 
number: (703) 308-8005; e-mail address: [email protected] or Laura 
Parsons, Special Review and Reregistration Division (7508P), Office of 
Pesticide Programs, Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania 
Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460-0001; telephone number: (703) 305-5776; 
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

[[Page 1993]]

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

A. What Action is the Agency Taking?

    EPA is making available the proposed risk mitigation decision 
document and related supporting documents for the following nine 
rodenticides: brodifacoum, bromadiolone, difethialone, chlorophacinone, 
diphacinone, warfarin, zinc phosphide, bromethalin, and 
cholecalciferol.
    Based on an evaluation of the ecological risks associated with the 
use of these nine rodenticides, and consideration of the public health 
and other important benefits of the use of rodenticides, EPA 
anticipates classifying all products containing the active ingredients 
brodifacoum, bromadiolone, and difethialone as restricted use products. 
To decrease the incidence of childrens' exposure to rodenticide 
products used in homes, EPA also anticipates requiring that all 
products available for sale to consumers and labeled for indoor 
residential use be sold only in refillable tamper-resistant bait 
stations. Furthermore, EPA is proposing certain additional restrictions 
and labeling improvements to mitigate the risks associated with these 
nine rodenticides.
    The proposed decision document, including the Agency's supporting 
rationale for the proposed decision, can be found in docket 
identification number EPA-HQ-OPP-2006-0955 at http://www.regulations.gov. Older documents and previous public comments can 
be found in docket ID number EPA-HQ-OPP-2004-0033 or docket EPA-HQ-OPP-
2002-0049 at http://www.regulations.gov.
    EPA is providing an opportunity, through this notice, for 
interested parties to provide comments and input on the Agency's 
proposed decision for rodenticides. Comments should be limited to 
issues raised by the proposed decision and associated documents.
    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 rodenticides. 
Comments received after the close of the comment period will be marked 
``late.'' EPA is not required to consider these late comments.
    The Agency will carefully consider all comments received by the 
closing date and will provide a Response to Comments Memorandum in the 
Docket and regulations.gov. After consideration of the comments, the 
Agency will publish its final mitigation decision for these nine 
rodenticides.

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

    EPA is reevaluating the use of these nine rodenticides pursuant to 
section 4 of FIFRA. The Agency's authority for implementing the risk 
mitigation measures identified in the proposed risk management decision 
would derive from various sections of FIFRA, including, but not limited 
to, sections 3, 4 and 6.

List of Subjects

    Environmental protection, Pesticides and pests.

    Dated: January 8, 2007.
Debra Edwards,
Director, Special Review and Reregistration Division, Office of 
Pesticide Programs.
[FR Doc. E7-351 Filed 1-16-07; 8:45 am]
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