[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 86 (Wednesday, May 6, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20942-20944]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-10149]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OPP-2002-0262; FRL-8411-1]


EPA Impact Assessments on Endosulfan; Request for Comments and 
Additional Information on Importance of Use

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This notice requests public comment on the Agency's endosulfan 
impact assessments for eight crops (potato, tomato, cotton, apple, 
cucumber, squash, pumpkin and melons) and additional information on the 
importance of endosulfan use in agriculture.

[[Page 20943]]


DATES: Comments must be received on or before July 6, 2009.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by docket identification 
(ID) number EPA-HQ-OPP-2002-0262, 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 on the Agency's impact 
assessments and importance of endosulfan use to docket ID number EPA-
HQ-OPP-2002-0262. 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?

    The Agency has recently completed impact assessments on endosulfan 
for the following eight crops: Apple, cotton, cucumber, melon, potato, 
pumpkin, squash, and tomato.
    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. The impact assessments are 
available in the electronic docket at http://www.regulations.gov under 
docket ID number EPA-HQ-OPP-2002-0262.
    The Agency chose to assess apple, cotton, cucumber, melon, potato, 
pumpkin, squash, and tomato because they are crops for which endosulfan 
use is more prevalent (when compared to other crops on which endosulfan 
is used), and because the Agency received

[[Page 20944]]

public comments on several of these crops in response to its 2007 usage 
analysis available at regulations.gov under docket ID number EPA-HQ-
OPP-2002-0262-0063. With regard to the 2007 usage analysis, the Agency 
received and considered comments from various stakeholders concerning 
apple, cherry, cotton, peach, pear, potato, cucurbit, pepper, tomato, 
Christmas tree, macadamia nut, and pineapple uses of endosulfan. The 
Agency also received but did not consider comments from stakeholders 
regarding grape and green bean uses of endosulfan because these uses 
were cancelled as a result of the 2002 Reregistration Eligibility 
Decision (RED).
    In addition to comments on the eight impact assessments, the Agency 
requests that stakeholders provide any additional information they may 
have on the importance of endosulfan use in agriculture. In particular, 
since publishing the 2007 usage analysis, the Agency has not received 
any comments suggesting that use of endosulfan is important for the 
following crops:
     Almond,
     Apricot,
     Blueberry,
     Broccoli,
     Brussels spouts,
     Cabbage,
     Carrots,
     Cauliflower,
     Celery,
     Citrus (nonbearing trees and nursery stock),
     Collard greens,
     Crops grown for seed (alfalfa, cabbage, collard greens, 
cucumber, kale, kohlrabi, melons, pumpkin, radish, rutabaga, squash, 
turnip),
     Dry beans,
     Dry peas,
     Eggplant,
     Filbert,
     Kale,
     Lettuce,
     Mustard greens,
     Nectarine,
     Ornamental trees, Shrubs, and Woody plants,
     Plum and Prune,
     Sweet corn,
     Sweet potato,
     Strawberry,
     Tobacco,
     Turnip, and
     Walnut.
    When commenting on the eight impact assessments and the importance 
of endosulfan use on the crops listed above, stakeholders may want to 
consider the following questions:
    1. What additional usage information is available to supplement the 
2007 and 2009 analyses?
    2. What effect would extended REIs or other risk management 
measures have on the ability of growers to perform necessary post-
application activities?
    3. For what crops and against what pests is the use of endosulfan 
critical, and why?
    4. Are there any local or niche uses of endosulfan that are 
critical, and why?
    5. What alternatives are available for control of the pests 
targeted by endosulfan?
    In the April 29, 2009 issue of the Federal Register, the Agency 
published a separate Notice to solicit comments on petitions from the 
National Resources Defense Council and the Pesticide Action Network 
North America requesting that EPA cancel all uses of endosulfan. Please 
see docket ID number EPA-HQ-OPP-2008-0615 (FRL-8410-2) in 
regulations.gov to access the petitions and related documents, as well 
as to submit comments on the petitioners' requests to cancel all uses 
of endosulfan.
    The Agency asks that comments on the Agency's eight impact 
assessments and any additional information on the importance of 
endosulfan use in agriculture be submitted to docket number EPA-HQ-OPP-
2002-0262 within 60 days.

B. What Is the Agency's Authority for Taking This Action?

    This action is 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 13, 2009.
Richard P. Keigwin, Jr.,
Director, Special Review and Reregistration Division, Office of 
Pesticide Programs.
[FR Doc. E9-10149 Filed 5-5-09; 8:45 am]
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