[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 248 (Wednesday, December 24, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 79100-79102]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-30527]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OPP-2008-0877; FRL-8395-7]


Petition to Revoke all Tolerances and Cancel all Registrations 
for the Pesticide 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic Acid; Notice of 
Availability

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: EPA is seeking public comment on a November 6, 2008, petition 
from the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), requesting that the 
Agency revoke all tolerances and cancel all registrations for the 
pesticide 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D). The petitioner, NRDC, 
requests 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 February 23, 2009.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by docket identification 
(ID) number EPA-HQ-OPP-2008-0877, 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 Facility'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-
2008-0877. 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.

[[Page 79101]]

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 at http://www.regulations.gov. 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: Cathryn O'Connell, Special Review and 
Reregistration Division (7508P), Office of Pesticide Programs, 
Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., 
Washington, DC 20460-0001; telephone number: (703) 308-0136; fax 
number: (703) 308-7070; e-mail address: oconnell.cathryn @epa.gov.

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 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?

    EPA requests public comment during the next 60 days on a petition 
(available under docket ID number EPA-HQ-OPP-2008-0877) received from 
the NRDC requesting that the Agency revoke all tolerances (maximum 
legal residue limits) and cancel all registrations for the pesticide 
2,4-D. The petitioner, NRDC, claims that EPA cannot make a finding that 
there is a reasonable certainty of no harm from dietary residues of 
2,4-D and, therefore, that the Agency must revoke all tolerances 
established under section 408 of FFDCA, as amended by FQPA.
    As a part of the petition, NRDC claims that the Agency did not 
consider the full spectrum of potential human health effects associated 
with 2,4-D in connection with EPA's reassessment of the existing 2,4-D 
tolerances, and EPA's environmental risk assessment including:
    1. Information on the endocrine disrupting effects of 2,4-D.
    2. Information on the neurotoxicity related to 2,4-D exposure.
    3. Information that products containing 2,4-D are mutagenic.
    4. Data showing that dermal absorption of 2,4-D is enhanced by 
alcohol consumption, sunscreen, and DEET which the EPA's exposure 
assessment failed to include.
    5. Information about adverse developmental effects at doses below 
those included in EPA's risk assessment for exposure of infants to 2,4-
D in breast milk.
    EPA's risk assessment of 2,4-D and findings on whether the 
tolerances for 2,4-D comply with the safety standard in FFDCA section 
408, as amended by FQPA, are contained in the Reregistration 
Eligibility Decision (RED) document for 2,4-D which is available on 
EPA's pesticide webpage at http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/reregistration/status.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 can be found under 
docket ID number EPA-HQ-OPP-2004-0167.

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

    This action is taken under the authority of FFDCA section 
408(d)(3), 21 U.S.C. 346a(d)(3).

[[Page 79102]]

List of Subjects

    Environmental protection, 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid, 2,4-D, 
Natural Resources Defense Council, pesticides and pests.

    Dated: December 16, 2008.
Margaret J. Rice,
Acting Director, Special Review and Reregistration Division, Office of 
Pesticide Programs.
[FR Doc. E8-30527 Filed 12-23-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-S