[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 84 (Tuesday, May 1, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25716-25717]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-10315]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OPP-2012-0254; FRL-9344-3]


Fipronil; Receipt of Applications for Emergency Exemptions, 
Solicitation of Public Comment

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: EPA has received specific exemption requests from the Oregon 
Department of Agriculture to use the pesticide fipronil (CAS No. 
120068-37-3) to treat up to 600 acres of rutabagas and turnips to 
control the cabbage maggot. The applicant proposes a use which is 
supported by the Interregional (IR)-4 program and has been requested in 
5 or more previous years, and a petition for tolerance has not yet been 
submitted to the Agency. EPA is soliciting public comment before making 
the decision whether or not to grant the exemption.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before May 16, 2012.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by docket identification 
(ID) number EPA-HQ-OPP-2012-0254, by one of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the online 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-
2012-0254. EPA's policy is that all comments received will be included 
in the docket without change and may be made available online 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 email. 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 email comment 
directly to EPA without going through regulations.gov, your email 
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: Andrea Conrath, Registration Division 
(7505P), Office of Pesticide Programs, Environmental Protection Agency, 
1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW., Washington, DC 20460-0001; telephone 
number: (703) 308-9356; fax number: (703) 605-0781; email 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

[[Page 25717]]

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.

B. What should I consider as I prepare my comments for EPA?

    1. Submitting CBI. Do not submit this information to EPA through 
www.regulations.gov or email. 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 
pesticide(s) discussed in this document, compared to the general 
population.

II. What action is the Agency taking?

    Under section 18 of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and 
Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) (7 U.S.C. 136p), at the discretion of the 
Administrator, a Federal or State agency may be exempted from any 
provision of FIFRA if the Administrator determines that emergency 
conditions exist which require the exemption. The Oregon Department of 
Agriculture has requested the Administrator to issue specific 
exemptions for the use of fipronil on turnip and rutabaga to control 
the cabbage maggot. Information in accordance with 40 CFR part 166 was 
submitted as part of these requests.
    As part of the requests, the applicant asserts that an emergency 
situation exists based upon three factors:
    1. A severe increase in cabbage maggot populations;
    2. Apparent increasing resistance of the maggot to the registered 
alternative; and
    3. Phytotoxicity of the registered alternative to emerging 
seedlings.
    The applicant states that significant economic losses will be 
suffered without adequate control of the cabbage maggot in turnip and 
rutabaga production. The applicant indicates that fipronil has been 
shown to provide excellent crop safety, and overall provides better 
control than the registered alternative.
    The applicant proposes to make no more than one application at 4.16 
fluid oz. of product per acre, to a maximum of 600 acres of rutabagas 
and turnips, for use of up to a potential maximum of 19.5 gallons of 
product. Applications would potentially be made from April 1 through 
September 30, 2012, in the Oregon counties of Clackimas, Marion, 
Multnomah, and Umatilla.
    This notice does not constitute a decision by EPA on the 
applications themselves. The regulations governing section 18 of FIFRA 
require publication of a notice of receipt of an application for a 
specific exemption proposing a use which is supported by the IR-4 
program and has been requested in 5 or more previous years, and a 
petition for tolerance has not yet been submitted to the Agency. The 
notice provides an opportunity for public comment on the applications.
    The Agency will review and consider all comments received during 
the comment period in determining whether to issue the specific 
exemptions requested by the Oregon Department of Agriculture.

List of Subjects

    Environmental protection, Pesticides and pests.

    Dated: April 19, 2012.
Daniel J. Rosenblatt,
Acting Director, Registration Division, Office of Pesticide Programs.
[FR Doc. 2012-10315 Filed 4-30-12; 8:45 am]
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