[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 94 (Wednesday, May 16, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 27563-27565]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-9205]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OPP-2006-0909; FRL-8128-9]


Diazinon; Notice of Receipt of Request to Voluntarily Cancel 
Diazinon 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 registration of its sole product containing the pesticide diazinon. 
The request would terminate granular diazinon use in or on lettuce. The 
request would also terminate the last granular diazinon product 
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 June 15, 2007.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by docket identification 
(ID) number EPA-HQ-OPP-2006-0909, 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-
2006-0909]. EPA's policy is that all

[[Page 27564]]

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 
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: Jude Andreasen, Special Review and 
Reregistration Division (7508P), Office of Pesticide Programs, 
Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., 
Washington, DC 20460-0001; telephone number: (703) 308-9342; 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 
April 13, 2007 from Wilbur-Ellis, a registrant of diazinon, to cancel 
its sole remaining granular diazinon product registration. Diazinon is 
an organophosphate insecticide. The affected product is provided in 
Table 1. This request will result in the termination of the last 
granular diazinon product registered in the United States. An amended 
label for this product incorporating all risk mitigation measures 
required by the Registration Eligibility Decision (RED) of 2002, except 
for the closed system packaging requirement, was submitted with this 
voluntary cancellation request. The Agency intends to approve this 
label.
    Unless comments are received to the contrary, the Agency intends to 
allow Wilbur-Ellis to continue to sell and distribute diazinon products 
through December 2008. 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 its remaining granular diazinon product registration. The 
affected product 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:

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    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.
    Wilbur-Ellis, a diazinon 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 will be issued canceling the affected registrations.

   Table 1.--Diazinon; Product Registrations with Pending Requests for
                              Cancellation
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        Registration No.             Product name           Company
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2935-408                          Diazinon 14G        Wilbur-Ellis
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    Table 2 of this unit includes the name and address of record for 
the registrant of the product 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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2935                                        Wilbur-Ellis, P.O. Box 1286,
                                             Fresno, CA 93715
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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 Diazinon

    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 June 15, 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 through December 2008. In addition, 
existing stocks of diazinon 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 registrants 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: May 3, 2007.
Peter Caulkins,
Acting Director, Special Review and Reregistration Division, Office of 
Pesticide Programs.
[FR Doc. E7-9205 Filed 5-15-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-S