[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]



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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

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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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