[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 66 (Wednesday, April 8, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15980-15981]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-7991]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OPP-2009-0207; FRL-8408-4]


Petition Requesting Cancellation of Propoxur Pet Collar Uses; 
Notice of Availability

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: EPA is seeking public comment on a November 26, 2007 petition 
from the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), requesting that the 
Agency cancel propoxur pet collar uses. The petitioner, NRDC, requests 
this action because they believe that modifications to the non-dietary 
oral exposure pathway presented in the Revised N-methyl Carbamate (NMC) 
Cumulative Risk Assessment (CRA) underestimate exposure to propoxur 
from pet collar uses.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before June 8, 2009.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by docket identification 
(ID) number EPA-HQ-OPP-2009-0207, 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-
2009-0207. 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 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: Monica Wait, Special Review and 
Reregistration Division (7508P), Office of Pesticide Programs, 
Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., 
Washington, DC 20460-0001; telephone number: (703) 347-8019; fax 
number: (703) 308-7070; e-mail address: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

[[Page 15981]]

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, farm worker, 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

What Action is the Agency Taking?

    EPA requests public comment during the next 60 days on a petition 
received from the NRDC requesting that the Agency cancel all pet collar 
uses for the pesticide propoxur. NRDC submitted a petition dated 
November 26, 2007 as a public comment to the Revised N-methyl Carbamate 
Cumulative Risk Assessment docket (available under docket ID number 
EPA-HQ-OPP-2007-0935). NRDC claims that the NMC CRA underestimates 
exposure to propoxur from pet collar uses, that there are effective 
alternatives to this use, and therefore, EPA should cancel all pet 
collar uses for propoxur. NRDC states that exposure levels from pet 
collars for household children may be significantly higher than EPA 
estimates through common daily activities and intimate contact between 
children and pets. NRDC cites specific revised hand-to-mouth exposure 
parameters and claims that these revisions to the NMC CRA non-dietary 
exposure assessment are biased towards reducing the exposure estimate, 
making it appear that the pet collar uses do not exceed the Agency's 
level of concern.
    EPA's 1997 Reregistration Eligibility Decision (RED) for Propoxur 
is available on EPA's pesticide webpage at http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/reregistration/status.htm. The 2007 NMC CRA, related 
documents, and comments are available in the electronic docket at 
http://www.regulations.gov/ and can be found under the docket number 
provided in the paragraph above.

List of Subjects

    Environmental protection, Natural Resources Defense Council, 
pesticides and pests, propoxur.


    Dated: March 25, 2009.
Richard P. Keigwin, Jr.,
Director, Special Review and Reregistration Division, Office of 
Pesticide Programs.
[FR Doc. E9-7991 Filed 4-7-09; 8:45 am]
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