[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 164 (Wednesday, August 26, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 43124-43126]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-20399]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OPP-2009-0208; FRL-8429-6]


Maneb; Product Cancellation Order

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces EPA's order for the cancellations, 
voluntarily requested by the registrant and accepted by the Agency, of 
products containing the pesticide maneb, pursuant to section 6(f)(1) of 
the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), as 
amended. This cancellation order follows a September 12, 2008 Federal 
Register Notice of Receipt of Requests from the United Phosphorous, 
Inc. registrant to voluntarily cancel all their maneb product 
registrations. These are not the last maneb products registered for use 
in the United States. In the September 12, 2008 notice, EPA indicated 
that it would issue an order implementing the cancellations, unless the 
Agency received substantive

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comments within the 30-day comment period that would merit its further 
review of these requests, or unless the registrants withdrew their 
requests within this period. The Agency erroneously issued a 
Cancellation Order on October 14, 2008. For the reasons set forth 
below, on October 31, 2008, EPA revoked the October 14, 2008 
cancellation. The Agency received and subsequently reviewed comments on 
the notice. The comments are summarized below in Unit III. This order 
took into consideration the comments received. Further, the registrants 
did not withdraw their requests. Accordingly, EPA hereby issues in this 
notice a cancellation order granting the requested cancellations. Any 
distribution, sale, or use of the maneb products subject to this 
cancellation order is permitted only in accordance with the terms of 
this order, including any existing stocks provisions.

DATES: The cancellations are effective August 26, 2009.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Cynthia Giles-Parker, Registration 
Division, Office of Pesticide Programs, Environmental Protection 
Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460-0001; 
telephone number: (703) 305-7740; fax number: (703) 308-5320; 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. How Can I Get Copies of this Document and Other Related Information?

    1. Docket. EPA has established a docket for this action under 
docket identification (ID) number EPA-HQ-OPP-2009-0208. 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 Office of Pesticide Programs (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.
    2. Electronic access. You may access this Federal Register document 
electronically through the EPA Internet under the ``Federal Register'' 
listings at http://www.epa.gov/fedrgstr.

II. What Action is the Agency Taking?

    This notice announces the cancellation, as requested by 
registrants, of maneb products registered under section 3 of FIFRA. 
These registrations are listed in ascending sequence by registration 
number in Table 1 of this unit.

                  Table 1--Maneb Product Cancellations
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          EPA Registration Number                   Product Name
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70506-177                                   Maneb 80 WP Fungicide
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70506-181                                   Maneb Technical
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70506-184                                   Maneb 4FL Flowable Fungicide
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70506-186                                   Maneb 75DF Dry Flowable
                                             Fungicide
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    Table 2 of this unit includes the name and address of record for 
the registrant of the products listed in Table 1 of this unit.

             Table 2--Registrant of Canceled Maneb Products
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            EPA Company Number                Company Name and Address
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70506                                       United Phosphorous Inc.
                                            630 Freedom Business Center,
                                             Suite 402
                                            King of Prussia,
                                             Pennsylvania 19406
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III. Summary of Public Comments Received and Agency Response to 
Comments

    The Agency received timely comments in regards to the Federal 
Register notice of September 12, 2008 (73 FR 53007)(FRL-8380-7). E.I. 
du Pont de Nemours and Company (DuPont) provided a comment expressing 
their concerns about the loss of the chemical if the effective date of 
the cancellation is prior to May 29, 2009, due to the supply demand to 
manufacture their products. On December 12, 2008, DuPont submitted to 
the Docket a request to withdraw their earlier comment to the Docket. 
The Florida Fruit and Vegetable Association (FFVA) expressed concern 
about the cancellation of these products because of loss of use on 
their winter crops in Florida which could lead to economic loss and 
loss of their resistance management and IPM strategies. The alternative 
chemical, mancozeb is not currently approved for many of the uses on 
the maneb labels. Until a decision is made on granting tolerances for 
many of these uses, this commenter believes that there is still a high 
need to have maneb products in place. The final commenter expressed 
their approval of the Agency's decision to remove this chemical from 
the market. On October 14, 2008, the Agency issued a cancellation order 
effective October 14, 2008, and 12 months to use existing stocks. The 
order was issued in error and rescinded on October 31, 2008, due to: 
(1) Miscommunication between EPA staff and United Phosphorous Inc. 
regarding what the effective date of the cancellation time period for 
sale and distribution of existing stocks should have been and (2) the 
need to review the timely submitted comments.

 IV. Cancellation Order

    Pursuant to FIFRA section 6(f), EPA hereby approves the requested 
cancellations of maneb registrations identified in Table 1 of Unit II. 
Accordingly, the Agency orders that the maneb product registrations 
identified in Table 1 of Unit II. are hereby canceled. Any 
distribution, sale, or use of existing stocks of the products 
identified in Tables 1 of Unit II. in a manner inconsistent with any of 
the Provisions for Disposition of Existing Stocks set forth in Unit VI. 
will be considered a violation of FIFRA.

V. 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.

VI. Provisions for Disposition of Existing Stocks

    Existing stocks are those stocks of registered pesticide products 
which are

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currently in the United States and which were packaged, labeled, and 
released for shipment prior to the effective date of the cancellation 
action. The cancellation order issued in this notice includes the 
following existing stocks provisions.
    1. The registrant may continue to sell or distribute existing 
stocks of maneb products identified in Table 1 of Unit II. with 
previously approved labeling until December 31, 2009.
    2. Persons other than the registrant may continue to sell or 
distribute existing stocks of maneb products identified in Table 1 of 
Unit II. with previously approved labeling until such stocks are 
exhausted.
    3. Persons other than the registrant may only use existing stocks 
of maneb products identified in Table 1 of Unit II. for the purposes of 
formulating end use products until March 2010. Any use of existing 
stocks must be in a manner consistent with the previously approved 
labeling for that product.

List of Subjects

    Environmental protection, Pesticides and pests.

    Dated: August 11, 2009.
 G. Jeffrey Herndon,
Acting Director, Registration Division, Office of Pesticide Programs.

[FR Doc. E9-20399 Filed 8-25-09; 8:45 a.m.]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-S