[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 147 (Wednesday, July 30, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44263-44264]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-17334]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OPP-2004-0340; FRL-8375-7]


Disulfoton; Amendment to Terminate Certain Uses of Disulfoton 
Pesticide Registrations

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces EPA's order for the amendments to 
terminate certain uses, voluntarily requested by the registrant and 
accepted by the Agency, of products containing the pesticide 
disulfoton, pursuant to section 6(f)(1) of the Federal Insecticide, 
Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), as amended. This termination 
order follows a May 21, 2008 Federal Register Notice of Receipt of 
Requests from the disulfoton technical registrant to voluntarily amend 
to terminate certain uses of their disulfoton product registrations. 
The request included termination of all disulfoton use on barley and 
wheat. Additionally, the use of the granular formulation of disulfoton, 
Di-Syston 15G (EPA Reg. No. 264-723), on broccoli and commercial 
ornamentals is being terminated. This order also terminates the use of 
Di-Syston 15G and the emulsifiable concentrate formulation of 
disulfoton, Di-Syston 8 EC, (EPA Reg. No. 264-734) on potatoes. This 
order also amends the disulfoton technical product registration (EPA 
Reg. No. 264-734) to terminate potato, barley, and wheat uses. These 
are not the last disulfoton uses or products registered in the United 
States. In the May 21, 2008 notice, EPA indicated that it would issue 
an order implementing the amendments to terminate uses, unless the 
Agency received substantive comments within the 30 day comment period 
that would merit its further review of these requests, or unless the 
registrant withdrew their requests within this period. The Agency 
received comments on the notice but none merited its further review of 
the requests. The comments received by the Agency are described in Unit 
III. of this notice. Further, the registrant did not withdraw their 
requests. Accordingly, EPA hereby issues in this notice a cancellation 
order granting the requested amendments to terminate uses. Any 
distribution, sale, or use of the disulfoton products subject to this 
cancellation order is permitted only in accordance with the terms of 
this order, including any existing stocks provisions.

DATES: The cancellations are effective July 30, 2008.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Eric Miederhoff, Special Review and 
Reregistration Division (7508P), Office of Pesticide Programs, 
Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., 
Washington, DC 20460-0001; telephone number: (703) 347-8028; 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. How Can I Get Copies of this Document and Other Related Information?

    1. Docket. EPA has established a docket for this action under 
docket identification (ID) number EPA-HQ-OPP-2004-0340. 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 Office of Pesticide Programs (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.
    2. Electronic access. You may access this Federal Register document 
electronically through the EPA Internet under the Federal Register 
listings at http://www.epa.gov/fedrgstr.

II. What Action is the Agency Taking?

    This notice announces the amendments to terminate certain uses, as 
requested by the technical registrant, of several disulfoton products 
registered under section 3 of FIFRA. The affected registrations are 
listed in sequence by registration number in Table 1 of this unit.

  Table 1--Disulfoton Product Registration Amendments to Terminate Uses
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     EPA Registration Number         Product Name      Delete from Label
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264-723                           Di-Syston 15G       Broccoli, Potato,
                                                       Wheat, Barley,
                                                      Ornamentals
                                                       (commercial uses)
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264-725                           Di-Syston           Potato, Wheat,
                                   Technical           Barley
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264-734                           Di-Syston 8 EC      Potato, Wheat,
                                                       Barley
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Table 2 of this unit includes the names and addresses of record for 
all registrants of the products in Table 1 of this unit, in sequence by 
EPA company number.

           Table 2--Registrants of Amended Disulfoton Products
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            EPA Company Number                Company Name and Address
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264                                         Bayer CropSciences,
                                            2 T.W. Alexander Drive,
                                            Research Triangle Park, NC
                                             27709
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III. Summary of Public Comments Received and Agency Response to 
Comments

    Two comments were received during the 30 day comment period 
established by the May 21, 2008 notice (73 FR 29507; FRL-8364-7). One 
comment noted the importance of rotating chemicals with different modes 
of action to help reduce the development of chemical resistance in pest 
populations. However, this comment did not articulate a specific 
concern with the actions proposed by the notice. The other comment 
requested the retention of disulfoton use for control of leafminers in 
buxus, a family of evergreen shrubs and small trees, often grown for 
ornamental purposes. The 2002 disulfoton Reregistration Eligibility 
Decision (RED) examined the risks and benefits of continued use of the 
granular formulation of disulfoton on commercial ornamentals. Exposure

[[Page 44264]]

risk to agricultural workers for this scenario was very high and 
overall documented usage was very low. Additionally, there are several 
viable leafminer control alternatives to disulfoton. In addition to 
numerous chemical alternatives, non-chemical pest control options 
include the employment of leafminer resistant cultivars. Due to the 
high exposure risk inherent with disulfoton use on commercial 
ornamentals and the availability of alternative control methods, the 
Agency maintains the decision described in the 2002 RED, which is that 
this use is ineligible for reregistration. For these reasons, the 
Agency does not believe that the comments submitted during the comment 
period merit further review or a denial of the requests for voluntary 
use termination.

IV. Cancellation Order

    Pursuant to FIFRA section 6(f), EPA hereby approves the requested 
amendments to terminate certain uses of disulfoton product 
registrations identified in Table 1 of Unit II. Accordingly, the Agency 
orders that the disulfoton product registrations identified in Table 1 
of Unit II. are hereby amended to terminate the affected uses. Any 
distribution, sale, or use of existing stocks of the products 
identified in Table 1 of Unit II. in a manner inconsistent with any of 
the Provisions for Disposition of Existing Stocks set forth in Unit VI. 
will be considered a violation of FIFRA.

V. 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.

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. The cancellation order issued in this notice 
includes the following existing stocks provisions.
    The registrant may continue to sell and distribute existing stocks 
of products with previously approved labeling that includes the uses 
terminated by this order, for six months from the effective date of 
this cancellation order. Persons other than the registrant may continue 
to sell and/or use existing stocks of products with previously approved 
labeling that includes the discontinued uses, until such stocks are 
exhausted, provided that such use is consistent with the terms of the 
previously approved labeling on, or that accompanied, the associated 
products.

List of Subjects

    Environmental protection, Pesticides and pests.

    Dated: July 23, 2008.
Steven Bradbury,
Director, Special Review and Reregistration Division, Office of 
Pesticide Programs.
[FR Doc. E8-17334 Filed 7-29-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-S