[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 188 (Wednesday, September 30, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 50199-50201]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-23458]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OPP-2005-0123; FRL-8792-8]


Methyl Bromide; Notice of Receipt of Requests to Amend Pesticide 
Registrations to Terminate Uses of Certain Products

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 requests by the registrants to amend 
their registrations to terminate uses of certain products containing 
the pesticide methyl bromide. The requests would terminate post harvest 
methyl bromide use in or on alfalfa hay and cottonseed. The requests 
would terminate alfalfa hay and cottonseed uses from all methyl bromide 
products registered for use in the United States. EPA intends to grant 
these requests 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 requests, or unless 
the registrants withdraw their requests within this period. Upon 
acceptance of these requests, 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 October 30, 2009.

ADDRESSES:  Submit your comments, identified by docket identification 
(ID) number EPA-HQ-OPP-2005-0123, 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-
2005-0123. 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:  Susan Bartow, Pesticide Re-evaluation 
Division (7508P), Office of Pesticide Programs, Environmental 
Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460-
0001; telephone number: (703) 603-0065; 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 use of pesticides. Since

[[Page 50200]]

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 Requests to Cancel and/or Amend 
Registrations to Delete Uses

    This notice announces receipt by EPA of requests from registrants 
Great Lakes Chemical a Chemtura Company, Soil Chemicals Corporation 
doing business as Cardinal Professional Products, and ICL-IP America, 
Inc. to amend to terminate uses of 5785-11, Meth-O-Gas 100, 5785-41, 
Meth-O-Gas Q; 8536-15, Methyl Bromide 100, 8536-29, Methyl Bromide 
Quarantine Fumigant; 8622-16, Metabrom 100, and 8622-55, Metabrom Q 
product registrations. In letters dated June 29, 2009, June 30, 2009, 
and July 21, 2009, Great Lakes Chemical, a Chemtura Company, Soil 
Chemicals Corporation doing business as Cardinal Professional Products, 
and ICL-IP America, Inc. requested EPA to amend to terminate uses of 
pesticide product registrations identified in Table 1 of this notice. 
Specifically, the registrants request voluntary termination of post-
harvest alfalfa hay and post-harvest cottonseed uses of methyl bromide. 
The registrants also request the following provisions for sale, 
distribution, and use of existing stocks: All sale or distribution by 
the registrant of existing stocks labeled for post-harvest alfalfa hay 
and post-harvest cottonseed uses is prohibited after October 31, 2009, 
unless that sale or distribution is solely for the purpose of 
facilitating disposal or export of the product.
     Existing stocks labeled for post-harvest alfalfa hay and post-
harvest cottonseed uses may be sold and distributed by persons other 
than the registrant until October 31, 2010.
     Existing stocks labeled for post-harvest alfalfa hay and post 
harvest cottonseed uses may be used until all such stocks are 
exhausted, provided that such use complies with the EPA-approved label 
of the product.
     Action on the registrants' requests would terminate alfalfa hay 
and cottonseed uses from all methyl bromide products registered for use 
in the United States.

III. What Action is the Agency Taking?

    This notice announces receipt by EPA of requests from registrants 
to amend to terminate uses of methyl bromide product registrations. The 
affected products and the registrants making the requests 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 methyl bromide registrants have requested that EPA waive the 
180-day comment period. EPA will provide a 30-day comment period on the 
proposed requests.
    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 registrations.

Table 1.--Methyl Bromide Product Registrations with Pending Requests for
                                Amendment
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       Registration Number           Product Name           Company
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5785-11                           Meth-O-Gas 100      Great Lakes
                                                       Chemical a
                                                       Chemtura Company
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5785-41                           Meth-O-Gas Q        Great Lakes
                                                       Chemical a
                                                       Chemtura Company
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8536-15                           Methyl Bromide 100  Soil Chemicals
                                                       Corporation doing
                                                       business as
                                                       Cardinal
                                                       Professional
                                                       Products
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8536-29                           Methyl Bromide      Soil Chemicals
                                   Quarantine          Corporation doing
                                   Fumigant            business as
                                                       Cardinal
                                                       Professional
                                                       Products
------------------------------------------------------------------------

[[Page 50201]]

 
8622-16                           Metabrom 100        ICL-IP America,
                                                       Inc.
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8622-55                           Metabrom Q          ICL-IP America,
                                                       Inc.
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    Table 2 of this unit includes the names and addresses of record for 
the registrants of the products listed in Table 1 of this unit.

               Table 2.--Registrants Requesting Amendments
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            EPA Company Number                Company Name and Address
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5785                                        Great Lakes Chemical
                                             Corporation
                                            P.O. Box 2200
                                            West Lafayette, IN 47996-
                                             2200
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8536                                        Soil Chemicals Corporation
                                             (doing business as Cardinal
                                             Professional Products)
                                            P.O. Box 782
                                            Hollister, CA 95024-9487
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8622                                        ICL-IP America, Inc.
                                            95 MacCorkle Avenue, S.W.
                                            South Charleston, WV 25303-
                                             1411
------------------------------------------------------------------------

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 Methyl Bromide

    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 October 30, 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(s) have 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 order.
     In any order issued in response to these requests for amendments 
to terminate uses, the Agency proposes to include the following 
provisions for the treatment of any existing stocks of the products 
identified or referenced in Table 1 in Unit III:
     All sale or distribution by the registrant of existing stocks 
labeled for post-harvest alfalfa hay and post-harvest cottonseed uses 
is prohibited after October 31, 2009, unless that sale or distribution 
is solely for the purpose of facilitating disposal or export of the 
product. Existing stocks labeled for post-harvest alfalfa hay and post-
harvest cottonseed uses may be sold and distributed by persons other 
than the registrant until October 31, 2010. Existing stocks labeled for 
post-harvest alfalfa hay and post-harvest cottonseed uses may be used 
until all such stocks are exhausted, provided that such use complies 
with the EPA-approved label of the product.
    If the request for use termination is granted, the Agency intends 
to publish the cancellation order in the Federal Register.

List of Subjects

    Environmental protection, Pesticides and pests.

    Dated: September 22, 2009.
 Richard P. Keigwin, Jr.
Director, Pesticide Re-evaluation Division, Office of Pesticide 
Programs.
[FR Doc. E9-23458 Filed 9-29-09; 8:45 a.m.]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-S