[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 25 (Wednesday, February 7, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5705-5706]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-2006]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OPP-2004-0346; FRL-8111-2]


Ethofumesate; Modification and Closure of Reregistration 
Eligibility Decision; Notice of Availability

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: This notice announces EPA's intention to modify certain risk 
mitigation measures that were imposed as a result of the 2005 
Reregistration Eligibility Decision (RED) for the pesticide 
ethofumesate, and opens a public comment period on these changes. EPA 
conducted this reassessment of the ethofumesate RED in response to new 
dermal absorption data submitted by the technical registrant, Bayer 
CropScience, Inc. These data allowed the Agency to modify its original 
assumption of 100% dermal absorption to 27% and thus modify the 
ethofumesate label requirements including: removing the 9-day re-entry 
interval for maintenance activity and adjusting the existing harvest 
prohibition for sod from 16 days to 3 days.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before March 9, 2007.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by docket identification 
(ID) number EPA-HQ-OPP-2004-0346, 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 
Bldg.), 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-
2004-0346. 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 Bldg.), 
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.

[[Page 5706]]


FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:  Nathan Mottl, Special Review and 
Reregistration Division (7508P), Office of Pesticide Programs, 
Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., 
Washington, DC 20460-0001; telephone number: (703) 305-0208; fax 
number: (703) 308-7070; 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

A. What Action is the Agency Taking?

    In 2005, EPA issued a RED for ethofumesate under section 4(g)(2)(A) 
of FIFRA. Subsequent to publication of this RED, the technical 
registrant submitted additional data to further refine ethofumesate use 
and exposure scenarios. After receiving an acceptable dermal absorption 
study from Bayer CropScience, the Agency refined the existing dermal 
absorption assumption of 100% in the RED to 27%. Using the 27% dermal 
absorption assumption from the new study, the Agency recalculated the 
re-entry intervals (REIs) and as a result will lower the prohibition 
for sod harvesting at maximum application rate from 16 days to 3 days 
and will no longer require a re-entry interval of 9 days for turf 
maintenance workers. The Agency has also updated the existing 
ethofumesate docket with additional memoranda addressing how the Agency 
refined the existing RED using the dermal absorption study. The docket 
also includes response to comments memoranda.
    All comments should be submitted using the methods in ADDRESSES, 
and must be received by EPA on or before the closing date. Comments and 
proposals will become part of the Agency Docket for ethofumesate. 
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 RED in the Federal Register. 
In the absence of substantive comments requiring changes, the 
ethofumesate RED will be implemented as it is now presented.

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

    Section 4(g)(2) of FIFRA as amended directs that, after submission 
of all data concerning a pesticide active ingredient, ``the 
Administrator shall determine whether pesticides containing such active 
ingredient are eligible for reregistration,'' before calling in product 
specific data on individual end-use products and either reregistering 
products or taking other ``appropriate regulatory action.''
    Section 408(q) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (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 was completed on August 3, 2006.

List of Subjects

    Environmental protection, Pesticides and pests.

    Dated: January 30, 2007.
Peter Caulkins,
 Acting Director, Special Review and Reregistration Division, Office of 
Pesticide Programs.
[FR Doc. E7-2006 Filed 2-6-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-S