[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 200 (Wednesday, October 17, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58845-58846]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-20442]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OPP-2007-1005; FRL-8153-2]


Petition to Revoke All Tolerances and Cancel All Registrations 
for the Pesticide Chlorpyrifos; Notice of Availability

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: EPA is seeking public comment on a September 12, 2007, 
petition from the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and 
Pesticide Action Network North America (PANNA), available in docket 
number EPA-HQ-OPP-2007-1005, requesting that the Agency revoke all 
tolerances and cancel all registrations for the pesticide chlorpyrifos. 
The petitioners, NRDC and PANNA, request this action to obtain what 
they believe would be proper application of the safety standards of the 
Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) and the 
Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA), section 408, as amended 
by the Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA) of 1996.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before December 17, 2007.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by docket identification 
(ID) number EPA-HQ-OPP-2007-1005, 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 Facility telephone number is (703) 305-5805.
    Instructions: Direct your comments to docket ID number EPA-HQ-OPP-
2007-1005. 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 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 
website 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 Facility telephone number is (703) 
305-5805.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tom Myers, Special Review and 
Reregistration Division (7508P), Office of Pesticide Programs, 
Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., 
Washington, DC 20460-0001; telephone number: (703) 308-8589; 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. This listing is not intended to be 
exhaustive, but rather provides a guide for readers regarding entities 
likely to be affected by this action. 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

[[Page 58846]]

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. What Action is the Agency Taking?

    EPA requests public comment during the next 60 days on a petition 
(available in docket number EPA-HQ-OPP-2007-1005) received from the 
NRDC and PANNA requesting that the Agency revoke all tolerances 
(maximum legal residue limits) and cancel all registrations for the 
pesticide chlorpyrifos. The petitioners, NRDC and PANNA, claim that EPA 
cannot make a finding that there is a reasonable certainty of no harm 
from dietary residues of chlorpyrifos and, therefore, that the Agency 
must revoke all tolerances established under section 408 of the FFDCA, 
as amended by the FQPA. As a part of their petition, NRDC and PANNA 
claim that the Agency did not consider the full spectrum of potential 
health effects associated with chlorpyrifos in connection with EPA's 
reassessment of the existing chlorpyrifos tolerances, including:
    1. Evidence showing the potential for a greater than 10-fold 
difference in susceptibility to chlorpyrifos across human populations 
and, in particular, evidence of greater susceptibility in early life 
stages than EPA estimated;
    2. The endocrine disrupting effects of the chemical, or
    3. Evidence of cancer risk data as indicated from a National 
Institutes of Health study.
The petition further asserts that EPA's evaluation of chlorpyrifos in 
the organophosphate cumulative risk assessment (CRA) misrepresented the 
risks of chlorpyrifos and that EPA failed to incorporate inhalation 
routes of exposure to chlorpyrifos in conducting its assessment. EPA's 
human health assessment of chlorpyrifos and findings on whether the 
tolerances for chlorpyrifos comply with the safety standard in FFDCA 
Section 408, as amended by the FQPA, are contained in the Interim 
Reregistration Eligibility Decision document for chlorpyrifos and the 
organophosphate CRA, which are available on EPA's pesticide webpage at 
http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/reregistration/status.htm and http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/cumulative/2006-op/index.htm. Docket materials 
for this pesticide are available in the electronic docket at http://www.regulations.gov; risk assessment and related documents for this 
pesticide have been removed to Special Docket EPA-HQ-OPP-2007-0151.

List of Subjects

    Environmental protection, Pesticides and pests, Chlorpyrifos, 
National Resources Defense Council, Pesticide Action Network North 
America.


    Dated: October 9, 2007.
Steven Bradbury,
Director, Special Review and Reregistration Division, Office of 
Pesticide Programs.
[FR Doc. E7-20442 Filed 10-16-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-S