[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 69 (Wednesday, April 11, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18238-18240]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-6846]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OPP-2004-0380; FRL-8123-6]


Dimethipin; Notice of Receipt of Request to Voluntarily Cancel 
Dimethipin Pesticide Registrations

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with section 6(f)(1) of the Federal Insecticide, 
Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), as amended, EPA is issuing a 
notice of receipt of a request by the registrant to voluntarily cancel 
the registrations of all products containing the pesticide dimethipin. 
The request would terminate dimethipin use in or on cotton as a 
defoliant and plant growth regulator. The request would terminate the 
last dimethipin products registered for use in the United States. EPA 
intends to grant this request at the close of the comment period for 
this announcement unless the Agency receives substantive comments 
within the comment period that would merit its further review of the 
request, or unless the registrant withdraws its request within this 
period. Upon acceptance of this request, any sale, distribution, or use 
of products listed in this notice will be permitted only if such sale, 
distribution, or use is consistent with the terms as described in the 
final order.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before May 11, 2007.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by docket identification 
(ID) number EPA-HQ-OPP-2004-0380, 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 Dr., 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-
2004-0380. 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

[[Page 18239]]

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 
available in regulations.gov. To access the electronic docket, go to 
http://www.regulations.gov, select ``Advanced Search,'' then ``Docket 
Search.'' Insert the docket ID number where indicated and select the 
``Submit'' button. Follow the instructions on the regulations.gov web 
site to view the docket index or access available documents. 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 Dr., 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: Amaris Johnson, Special Review and 
Reregistration Division (7508P), Office of Pesticide Programs, 
Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., 
Washington, DC 20460-0001; telephone number: (703) 305-9542; 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 on the Receipt of Requests to Cancel Registrations

    This notice announces receipt by EPA of a written request dated 
February 16, 2007 from Chemtura, the sole registrant of dimethipin, to 
cancel all remaining dimethipin product registrations. Dimethipin is a 
cotton defoliant. A list of the affected products is provided in Table 
1. This request will result in the termination of the last dimethipin 
products registered in the United States.
    Unless comments are received to the contrary, the Agency intends to 
allow Chemtura to continue to sell and distribute dimethipin products 
for two years from the date of the cancellation order. Existing stocks 
may be sold or used until depleted.

III. What Action is the Agency Taking?

    This notice announces receipt by EPA of a request from a registrant 
to cancel all remaining dimethipin product registrations. The affected 
products and the registrant making the request are identified in Table 
1 and Table 2 of this unit.
    Under section 6(f)(1)(A) of FIFRA, registrants may request, at any 
time, that their pesticide registrations be canceled or amended to 
terminate one or more pesticide uses. Section 6(f)(1)(B) of FIFRA 
requires that before acting on a request for voluntary cancellation, 
EPA must provide a 30-day public comment period on the request for 
voluntary cancellation or use termination. In addition, section 
6(f)(1)(C) of FIFRA requires that EPA provide a 180-day comment period 
on a request for voluntary cancellation or termination of any minor 
agricultural use before granting the request, unless:
    1. The registrants request a waiver of the comment period, or
    2. The Administrator determines that continued use of the pesticide 
would pose an unreasonable adverse effect on the environment.
    Chemtura, the dimethipin registrant has requested that EPA waive 
the 180-day comment period. EPA will provide a 30-day comment period on 
the proposed request.
    Unless the request is withdrawn by the registrant within 30 days of 
publication of this notice, or if the Agency determines that there are 
substantive comments that warrant further review of this request, an 
order

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will be issued canceling the affected registrations.

  Table 1.--Dimethipin Product Registrations with Pending Requests for
                              Cancellation
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        Registration No.             Product name           Company
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400-432                           Harvade Technical   Chemtura
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400-155                           Harvade-5F          Chemtura
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400-398                           Harvade-25F         Chemtura
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400-505                           Harvade-4198SC      Chemtura
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    Table 2 of this unit includes the name and address of record for 
the registrant of the products listed in Table 1 of this unit.

         Table 2.--Registrant Requesting Voluntary Cancellation
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              EPA Company No.                 Company name and address
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 400                                        Chemtura
                                            199 Benson Road
                                            Middlebury, CT 06749
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IV. What is the Agency's Authority for Taking this Action?

    Section 6(f)(1) of FIFRA provides that a registrant of a pesticide 
product may at any time request that any of its pesticide registrations 
be canceled or amended to terminate one or more uses. FIFRA further 
provides that, before acting on the request, EPA must publish a notice 
of receipt of any such request in the Federal Register. Thereafter, 
following the public comment period, the Administrator may approve such 
a request.

V. Procedures for Withdrawal of Request and Considerations for 
Reregistration of Dimethipin

    Registrants who choose to withdraw a request for cancellation must 
submit such withdrawal in writing to the person listed under FOR 
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT, postmarked before May 11, 2007. This 
written withdrawal of the request for cancellation will apply only to 
the applicable FIFRA section 6(f)(1) request listed in this notice. If 
the products have been subject to a previous cancellation action, the 
effective date of cancellation and all other provisions of any earlier 
cancellation action are controlling.

VI. Provisions for Disposition of Existing Stocks

    Existing stocks are those stocks of registered pesticide products 
which are currently in the United States and which were packaged, 
labeled, and released for shipment prior to the effective date of the 
cancellation action.
    In any order issued in response to this request for cancellation of 
product registrations, EPA proposes to include the following provisions 
for the treatment of any existing stocks of the products identified or 
referenced in Table 1: The registrant will be allowed to sell and 
distribute the subject products for 2 years from the date that the 
cancellations are made final. In addition, existing stocks of 
dimethipin products may be sold or used until they are depleted.
    If the request for voluntary cancellation is granted as discussed 
above, the Agency intends to issue a cancellation order that will allow 
persons other than the registrant to continue to sell and/or use 
existing stocks of cancelled products until such stocks are exhausted, 
provided that such use is consistent with the terms of the previously 
approved labeling on, or that accompanied, the cancelled product. The 
order will specifically prohibit any use of existing stocks that is not 
consistent with such previously approved labeling. If, as the Agency 
currently intends, the final cancellation order contains the existing 
stocks provision just described, the order will be sent only to the 
affected registrant of the cancelled products. If the Agency determines 
that the final cancellation order should contain existing stocks 
provisions different than the ones just described, the Agency will 
publish the cancellation order in the Federal Register.

List of Subjects

    Environmental protection, Pesticides and pests.

    Dated: April 4, 2007.
Debra Edwards,
Director, Special Review and Reregistration Division, Office of 
Pesticide Programs.
[FR Doc. E7-6846 Filed 4-10-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-S