[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 100 (Wednesday, May 27, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25237-25239]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-12287]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OPP-2008-0560; FRL-8418-2]


Ethoprop; Notice of Receipt of Request to Voluntarily Amend a 
Pesticide Registration to Terminate a Use

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with section 6(f)(1) of the Federal Insecticide, 
Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), as amended, EPA is issuing a 
notice of receipt of a request by the registrant Bayer CropScience to 
voluntarily amend a product registration to terminate use of ethoprop 
in or on pineapple. EPA intends to grant this request at the close of 
the comment period for this announcement unless the Agency receives 
substantive comments within the comment period that would merit its 
further review of the request, or unless the registrant withdraws their 
request within this period. Upon acceptance of this request, any sale, 
distribution, or use of products listed in this notice will be 
permitted only if such sale, distribution, or use is consistent with 
the terms as described in the final order.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before June 26, 2009.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by docket identification 
(ID) number EPA-HQ-OPP-2008-0560, 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-
2008-0560. 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

[[Page 25238]]

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:

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. 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 on the Receipt of Request to Amend Registration to 
Delete a Use

    This notice announces receipt by EPA of a request from registrant 
Bayer CropScience to amend EPA Registration Number 264-599, Ethoprop 
Technical, to terminate a use. In a letter dated April 23, 2009, Bayer 
CropScience requested EPA to amend the Ethoprop Technical pesticide 
product to terminate use in or on pineapple. There are no active 
ethoprop end-use products registered for this use. Special Local Need 
registration PR920002, the last remaining registration for use of 
ethoprop on pineapple, was voluntarily cancelled by the registrant, 
effective March 11, 2009. PR920002, for use in Puerto Rico only, was 
linked to a Section 3 product that had also been voluntarily cancelled. 
Since none of the three active ethoprop end-use products are registered 
for use in or on pineapple, the Agency does not anticipate opposition 
to terminating this use on the Ethoprop Technical product label.

III. What Action is the Agency Taking?

    This notice announces receipt by EPA of a request from Bayer 
CropScience to amend an ethoprop product registration to terminate a 
use. The affected product and the registrant making the request are 
identified in Tables 1 and 2 of this unit.
    Under section 6(f)(1)(A) of FIFRA, registrants may request, at any 
time, that their pesticide registrations be canceled or amended to 
terminate one or more pesticide uses. Section 6(f)(1)(B) of FIFRA 
requires that before acting on a request for voluntary cancellation, 
EPA must provide a 30-day public comment period on the request for 
voluntary cancellation or use termination. In addition, section 
6(f)(1)(C) of FIFRA requires that EPA provide a 180-day comment period 
on a request for voluntary cancellation or termination of any minor 
agricultural use before granting the request, unless:
    1. The registrants request a waiver of the comment period, or
    2. The Administrator determines that continued use of the pesticide 
would pose an unreasonable adverse effect on the environment.
    The ethoprop registrant has requested that EPA waive the 180-day 
comment period. EPA will provide a 30-day comment period on the 
proposed request.
    Unless a request is withdrawn by the registrant within 30 days of 
publication of this notice, or if the Agency determines that there are 
substantive comments that warrant further review of this request, an 
order will be issued amending the affected registration.

    Table 1.--Ethoprop Product Registration with Pending Request for
                                Amendment
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                                                           Use Being
       Registration Number           Product Name         Terminated
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264-599                           Ethoprop Technical  Pineapple
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    Table 2 of this unit includes the name and address of record for 
the registrant of the product listed in Table 1 of this unit.

           Table 2.--Registrant Requesting Voluntary Amendment
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            EPA Company Number                Company Name and  Address
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264                                         Bayer CropScience
                                            2 T.W. Alexander Drive
                                            Research Triangle Park, NC
                                             27709
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IV. What is the Agency's Authority for Taking this Action?

    Section 6(f)(1) of FIFRA provides that a registrant of a pesticide 
product may at any time request that any of its pesticide registrations 
be canceled or amended to terminate one or more uses. FIFRA further 
provides that, before acting on the request, EPA must publish a notice 
of receipt of any such request in the Federal Register. Thereafter, 
following the public comment period, the Administrator may approve such 
a request.

V. Procedures for Withdrawal of Request and Considerations for 
Reregistration of Ethoprop

    Registrants who choose to withdraw a request for cancellation must 
submit such withdrawal in writing to the person listed under FOR 
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT, postmarked before June 26, 2009. This 
written withdrawal of the request for cancellation will apply only to 
the applicable FIFRA section 6(f)(1) request listed in this notice. If 
the products has been subject to a previous cancellation action, the 
effective date of cancellation and all other provisions of any earlier 
cancellation action are controlling.

VI. Provisions for Disposition of Existing Stocks

    Existing stocks are those stocks of registered pesticide products 
which are currently in the United States and which were packaged, 
labeled, and released for shipment prior to the effective date of the 
cancellation action.
    If the request for voluntary use termination is granted as 
discussed in this unit, the Agency intends to issue a cancellation 
order that will allow persons other than the registrant to continue to 
sell and/or use existing stocks of canceled products until such stocks 
are exhausted, provided that such use is consistent with the terms of 
the previously approved labeling on, or that accompanied, the canceled 
product. The order will specifically prohibit any use of existing 
stocks that is not consistent with such previously approved labeling. 
If, as the Agency currently intends, the final cancellation order 
contains the existing stocks provision just described, the order will 
be sent only to the affected registrants of the canceled products. If 
the Agency determines that the final cancellation order should contain 
existing stocks provisions different than the ones just described, the 
Agency will publish the cancellation order in the Federal Register.

List of Subjects

    Environmental protection, Pesticides and pests.

    Dated: May 19, 2009.
 Richard P. Keigwin, Jr.,
Director, Special Review and Reregistration Division, Office of 
Pesticide Programs.
[FR Doc. E9-12287 Filed 5-26-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-S