[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 81 (Wednesday, April 29, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19558-19559]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-9238]
[[Page 19558]]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[EPA-HQ-OPP-2008-0615; FRL-8410-2]
Endosulfan; Petitions Requesting Cancellation of All Uses
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: This notice asks the public to comment on requests from the
Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and the Pesticide Action
Network North America (PANNA) that EPA cancel all uses of the
organochlorine pesticide endosulfan.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before June 29, 2009.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by docket identification
(ID) number EPA-HQ-OPP-2008-0615, 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-
2008-0615. 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: Melanie Biscoe, Special Review and
Reregistration Division (7508P), Office of Pesticide Programs,
Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW.,
Washington, DC 20460-0001; telephone number: 703-305-7106; fax number:
703-308-8090; 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 the 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
A. What Action is the Agency Taking?
EPA seeks public comment on petitions from the NRDC and PANNA
requesting that EPA cancel all uses of endosulfan. These petitions,
available at regulations.gov under docket ID number EPA-HQ-OPP-2008-
0615, were submitted on February 19, 2008 in response to EPA's 2007
human health and ecological effects assessment updates for endosulfan
(72 FR 64624, November 16, 2007)(FRL-8339-5). The updated assessments,
as well as the
[[Page 19559]]
2002 endosulfan Reregistration Eligibility Decision (RED), are
available in the electronic docket at http://www.regulations.gov under
docket number EPA-HQ-OPP-2002-0262.
Although the NRDC and PANNA petitions requested both cancellation
of uses and revocation of tolerances, this notice is seeking public
comment only on the requests to cancel all uses of endosulfan under
section 6 of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act
(FIFRA) (7 U.S.C. 136d(b)). EPA issued a separate Federal Register
notice on August 20, 2008 (73 FR 49194) soliciting public comment on
the NRDC and PANNA petitions' requests to revoke all tolerances under
section 408 of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA), as
amended by the Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA) and codified at 40
CFR 180.182.
The Agency notes that findings from its October 2008 Scientific
Advisory Panel (SAP) meeting on Persistent Bioaccumulative Toxicants
(PBTs), which were published on January 29, 2009, may be useful for the
public in commenting on these petitions seeking cancellation of all
uses under FIFRA. Key components of the meeting include review of
methods for assessing environmental persistence, bioaccumulation, long-
range transport, toxicity, and the role of sediment dynamics on
estimating aquatic exposure concentrations for pesticides with varying
persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic characteristics. Meeting minutes
from the PBT SAP (73 FR 42796, July 23, 2008), are available at http://www.epa.gov/scipoly/sap/meetings/2008/october/minutes.pdf and are also
in the electronic docket at http://www.regulations.gov under docket
number EPA-HQ-OPP-2008-0550.
Later in April 2009 the Agency will publish a separate Notice in
the Federal Register to solicit comments on its recently completed
impact assessments on endosulfan, as well as any additional information
stakeholders may have on the importance of endosulfan use in
agriculture (EPA-HQ-OPP-2002-0262)(FRL-8411-1). The impact assessments
evaluate the impacts on growers that could result from various risk
management options, such as cancellation of uses and longer Restricted
Entry Intervals (REIs). All stakeholders are encouraged to comment on
these assessments, submit additional information for the Agency to
consider, and provide data with which the Agency can better define the
likely impacts. Please see docket number EPA-HQ-OPP-2002-0262 to access
documents and submit comments related to the impact assessments and the
importance of endosulfan use.
The Agency asks that comments on the NRDC and PANNA petitions'
requests to cancel all uses of endosulfan be submitted to docket number
EPA-HQ-OPP-2008-0615 within 60 days.
B. What is the Agency's Authority for Taking this Action?
This action is being taken under authority of FFDCA section
408(d)(3), 21 U.S.C. 346a(d)(3).
List of Subjects
Environmental protection, pesticides, and pests.
Dated: April 10, 2009.
Richard P. Keigwin, Jr.,
Director, Special Review and Reregistration Division, Office of
Pesticide Programs.
[FR Doc. E9-9238 Filed 4-28-09; 8:45 a.m.]
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