[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 225 (Wednesday, November 21, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 69840-69842]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-28210]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OPP-2005-0252; FRL-9370-2]


Iodomethane; Notice of Receipt of Request to Voluntarily Cancel 
Iodomethane Pesticide Registrations and Amend a Registration

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and 
Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), EPA is issuing a notice of receipt of a 
request by the registrant to voluntarily cancel the registrations of 
products containing the pesticide iodomethane. In addition, the 
registrant has amended the terms and conditions of registration for 
their iodomethane technical product so that as of January 1, 2013, 
Arysta LifeScience North America, LLC (Arysta) will not sell or 
distribute this product unless it bears a label statement. The 
registrant's request would terminate the last iodomethane products 
registered for use in the United States. 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. If EPA issues a final 
order granting this request, the sale, distribution, or use of the 
products listed in this notice will be permitted only in accordance 
with the terms as described in the final order.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before December 21, 2012.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by docket identification 
(ID) number EPA-HQ-OPP-2005-0252, by one of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the online instructions for submitting comments. Do not submit 
electronically any information you consider to be Confidential Business 
Information (CBI) or other information whose disclosure is restricted 
by statute.
     Mail: OPP Docket, Environmental Protection Agency Docket 
Center (EPA/DC), (28221T), 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW., Washington, DC 
20460-0001.
     Hand Delivery: To make special arrangements for hand 
delivery or delivery of boxed information, please follow the 
instructions at http://www.epa.gov/dockets/contacts.htm.
    Additional instructions on commenting or visiting the docket, along 
with more information about dockets generally, is available at http://www.epa.gov/dockets.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Andrea Mojica, Pesticide Re-evaluation 
Division (7508P), Office of Pesticide Programs, Environmental 
Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW., Washington, DC 20460-
0001; telephone number: (703) 308-0122; fax number: (703) 308-8090; 
email 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.

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 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.

[[Page 69841]]

II. Background on the Receipt of Requests To Cancel

    This notice announces receipt by EPA of a request from Arysta to 
cancel all of its iodomethane product registrations. Iodomethane is a 
pre-plant soil fumigant used to control pests in soil where fruits, 
vegetables, ornamental plants, and turf will be grown. In a Memorandum 
of Agreement (MOA), Arysta and EPA agreed to cancel and amend the 
pesticide product registrations identified in Tables 1 and 2 of Unit 
III. Specifically, the MOA contains Arysta's irrevocable request that 
its end-use products, EPA Registration Numbers 66330-43, 66330-57, 
66330-58, 66330-59, and 66330-60, will be canceled effective December 
31, 2012, and that its iodomethane technical product, EPA Registration 
Number 66330-44 will be canceled effective December 1, 2015. The MOA 
also adds a condition of registration to the technical product's 
registration that as of January 1, 2013, Arysta will not sell or 
distribute this product unless its label bears the following statement:

    It is unlawful to use this product for any purpose in the United 
States, except for formulation of products intended for export 
consistent with the requirements of FIFRA section 17.

(The request for amendment is conditioned on the issuance of a 
cancellation order including the requested effective dates and existing 
stocks provisions.) Granting the registrant's cancellation request 
would terminate the last iodomethane products registered in the United 
States.

III. What action is the agency taking?

    This notice announces receipt by EPA of the request to cancel the 
iodomethane product registrations described in Unit II. The affected 
products and the registrant making the requests are identified in 
Tables 1-3 of this unit.
    Unless the Agency receives substantive comments in response to this 
notice that warrant further review of this request, EPA intends to 
issue an order canceling the affected registrations on the requested 
effective dates.

                Table 1--Iodomethane Product Registrations With Pending Requests for Cancellation
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        Registration No.              Product name                               Company
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66330-43.......................  Midas 98:2............  Arysta LifeScience North America, LLC.
66330-44.......................  Iodomethane Technical.  Arysta LifeScience North America, LLC.
66330-57.......................  Midas 50:50...........  Arysta LifeScience North America, LLC.
66330-58.......................  Midas EC Bronze.......  Arysta LifeScience North America, LLC.
66330-59.......................  Midas 33:67...........  Arysta LifeScience North America, LLC.
66330-60.......................  Midas EC Gold.........  Arysta LifeScience North America, LLC.
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                  Table 2--Iodomethane Product Registration With Pending Requests for Amendment
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        Registration No.              Product name                               Company
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66330-44.......................  Iodomethane Technical.  Arysta LifeScience North America, LLC.
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    Table 3 of this unit includes the name and address of record for 
the registrant of the products listed in Table 1 and Table 2 of this 
unit. This number corresponds to the first part of the EPA registration 
numbers of the products listed in Table 1 and Table 2 of this unit.

  Table 3--Registrant Requesting Voluntary Cancellation and Amendments
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         EPA Company No.                  Company name and address
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66330............................  Arysta LifeScience North America,
                                    15401 Weston Parkway, Suite 150,
                                    Cary, NC 27513.
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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.
    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, FIFRA section 6(f)(1)(C) 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 EPA Administrator determines that continued use of the 
pesticide would pose an unreasonable adverse effect on the environment.
    The iodomethane registrant has requested that EPA waive the 180-day 
comment period. Accordingly, EPA will provide a 30-day comment period 
on the proposed requests.

V. Provisions for Disposition of Existing Stocks

    Existing stocks are those stocks of registered pesticide products 
that are currently in the United States and that were packaged, 
labeled, and released for shipment prior to the effective date of the 
action. If the request for voluntary cancellation is granted, the 
Agency intends to publish the cancellation order in the Federal 
Register. EPA intends to include in any such final order the following 
provisions for the treatment of any existing stocks of the product(s) 
listed in Tables 1 and 2 of Unit III.
    In any final order granting Arysta's request for voluntary 
cancellation of its iodomethane technical/manufacturing-use product 
registration, as of the effective date of the cancellation order, all 
sale and distribution of existing stocks of Arysta's iodomethane 
technical/manufacturing-use product by Arysta shall be prohibited 
unless the sale or distribution is for proper disposal or is solely for 
purposes of export consistent with the requirements of section 17 of 
FIFRA. In any final order granting Arysta's request for voluntary 
cancellation of end-use product registrations:
    1. As of the effective date of the cancellation order, Arysta is 
prohibited from distributing or selling existing stocks of end-use 
products, unless the

[[Page 69842]]

sale or distribution is for proper disposal, or is solely for export 
consistent with the requirements of FIFRA section 17;
    2. As of the effective date of the cancellation order, persons 
other than Arysta are prohibited from distributing or selling existing 
stocks of Arysta's end-use products, unless the sale or distribution is 
for proper disposal, return to Arysta, or is intended solely for export 
consistent with the requirements of FIFRA section 17; and
    3. As of the effective date of the cancellation order, no person 
may use any existing stocks of any of Arysta's end-use products.

List of Subjects

    Environmental protection, Pesticides and pests.

    Dated: November 14, 2012.
Richard P. Keigwin, Jr.
Director, Pesticide Re-evaluation Division, Office of Pesticide 
Programs.
[FR Doc. 2012-28210 Filed 11-20-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P