[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 120 (Wednesday, June 22, 2011)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 36479-36480]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-15267]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Parts 174 and 180

[EPA-HQ-OPP-2010-0602; FRL-8878-1]


Receipt of a Pesticide Petition Filed for Residues of Pesticide 
Chemicals in or on Various Commodities

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of filing of petition and request for comment.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: This document announces the Agency's receipt of an initial 
filing of a pesticide petition requesting the establishment or 
modification of regulations for residues of pesticide chemicals in or 
on various commodities.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before July 22, 2011.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by docket identification 
(ID) number EPA-HQ-OPP-2010-0602 and the pesticide petition number 
(PP), 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-
2010-0602 and the pesticide petition number (PP). 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 Web site 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: Julie Chao, Registration Division 
(7505P), Office of Pesticide Programs, Environmental Protection Agency, 
1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460-0001; telephone 
number: (703) 308-8735; e-mail address: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. General Information

A. Does this action apply to me?

    You may be potentially affected by this action if you are an 
agricultural producer, food manufacturer, or pesticide manufacturer. 
Potentially affected entities may include, but are not limited to:
     Crop production (NAICS code 111).
     Animal production (NAICS code 112).
     Food manufacturing (NAICS code 311).
     Pesticide manufacturing (NAICS code 32532).
    This listing is not intended to be exhaustive, but rather provides 
a guide for readers regarding entities likely to be affected by this 
action. Other types of entities not listed in this unit could also be 
affected. The North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) 
codes have been provided to assist you and others in determining 
whether this action might apply to certain entities. If you have any 
questions regarding the applicability of this action to a particular 
entity, consult the person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION 
CONTACT.

[[Page 36480]]

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.
    3. Environmental justice. EPA seeks to achieve environmental 
justice, the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of any group, 
including minority and/or low-income populations, in the development, 
implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and 
policies. To help address potential environmental justice issues, the 
Agency seeks information on any groups or segments of the population 
who, as a result of their location, cultural practices, or other 
factors, may have atypical or disproportionately high and adverse human 
health impacts or environmental effects from exposure to the pesticides 
discussed in this document, compared to the general population.

II. What action is the agency taking?

    EPA is announcing receipt of a pesticide petition filed under 
section 408 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA), 21 
U.S.C. 346a, requesting the establishment or modification of 
regulations in 40 CFR part 174 or part 180 for residues of pesticide 
chemicals in or on various food commodities. The Agency is taking 
public comment on the request before responding to the petitioner. EPA 
is not proposing any particular action at this time. EPA has determined 
that the pesticide petition described in this document contains data or 
information prescribed in FFDCA section 408(d)(2); however, EPA has not 
fully evaluated the sufficiency of the submitted data at this time or 
whether the data supports granting of the pesticide petition. After 
considering the public comments, EPA intends to evaluate whether and 
what action may be warranted. Additional data may be needed before EPA 
can make a final determination on this pesticide petition.
    Pursuant to 40 CFR 180.7(f), a summary of the petition that is the 
subject of this document, prepared by the petitioner, is included in a 
docket EPA has created for this rulemaking. The docket for this 
petition is available on-line at http://www.regulations.gov.
    As specified in FFDCA section 408(d)(3), (21 U.S.C. 346a(d)(3)), 
EPA is publishing notice of the petition so that the public has an 
opportunity to comment on this request for the establishment or 
modification of regulations for residues of pesticides in or on food 
commodities. Further information on the petition may be obtained 
through the petition summary referenced in this unit.
    Notice of the Agency's receipt of the following petition was 
previously announced in the Federal Register of August 11, 2010 (75 FR 
48667) (FRL-8840-6), however, the petition document was not made 
available in the docket. Therefore, EPA is republishing notice of the 
petition so that the public has an opportunity to comment on this 
request for the establishment or modification of regulations for 
residues of pesticides in or on food commodities.
    PP 0F7734. Syngenta Crop Protection, Inc., P.O. Box 18300, 
Greensboro, NC 27410, proposes to establish a tolerance in 40 CFR part 
180 for residues of the insecticide thiamethoxam, (3-[(2-chloro-5-
thiazolyl) methyl]tetrahydro-5-methyl-N-nitro-4H-1,3,5-oxadiazin-4-
imine) and its metabolite [N-(2-chloro-thiazol-5-ylmethyl)-N'-methyl-
N'-nitroguanidine], in or on food commodities/feed commodities (other 
than those covered by a higher tolerance as a result of use on growing 
crops) in food/feed handling establishments at 0.01 part per million 
(ppm). Syngenta Crop Protection has submitted practical analytical 
methodology for detecting and measuring levels of thiamethoxam in or on 
raw agricultural commodities. This method is based on crop specific 
cleanup procedures and determination by liquid chromatography with 
either ultraviolet (UV) or mass spectrometry (MS) detections. The limit 
of detection (LOD) for each analyte of this method is 1.25 nanogram 
(ng) injected for samples analyzed by UV and 0.25 ng injected for 
samples analyzed by MS, and the limit of quantification (LOQ) is 0.005 
ppm for milk and juices, and 0.01 ppm for all other substrates.

List of Subjects

    Environmental protection, Agricultural commodities, Feed additives, 
Food additives, Pesticides and pests, Reporting and recordkeeping 
requirements.

    Dated: June 7, 2011.
 Lois Rossi,
Director, Registration Division, Office of Pesticide Programs.
[FR Doc. 2011-15267 Filed 6-21-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P