[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 204 (Wednesday, October 22, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 63120-63121]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-24586]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OPP-2014-0558; FRL-9916-22]


Proposed Removal of Certain Inert Ingredients From Approved 
Chemical Substance List for Pesticide Products

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: EPA is proposing to remove certain chemical substances from 
the current listing of inert ingredients approved for use in pesticide 
products because the inert ingredients are no longer used in any 
registered pesticide product.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before November 21, 2014.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by docket identification 
(ID) number EPA-HQ-OPP-2014-0558, 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.html. 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: For general information contact: Cameo 
G. Smoot, Field and External Affairs Division (7506P), Office of 
Pesticide Programs, Environmental Protection Agency; 1200 Pennsylvania 
Ave. NW., Washington DC 20460-0001; telephone number: (703) 305-5454; 
email address: [email protected].
    For chemical listing inquiries contact: Kerry B. Leifer, 
Registration Division (7505C), Office of Pesticide Programs, 
Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW., Washington 
DC 20460-0001; telephone number (703) 308-8811; 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 engage in 
activities related to the registration of pesticide products, including 
but not limited to, the use of approved inert ingredients used in 
registered pesticide products. Potentially affected entities may 
include, but are not limited to, engaging in the formulation and 
preparation of agricultural and household pest control chemicals or 
pesticide and other agricultural and household pest control chemicals 
or inert manufacturers and those who make proprietary inert ingredient 
formulations or pesticide and other agricultural chemical manufacturing 
generally identified by the North American Industrial Classification 
System (NAICS). You may also be affected by this action if you are a 
consumer or user of pesticides, or if you are exposed to pesticides.
    This listing is not intended to be exhaustive, but rather provides 
a guide for readers to help determine whether this document applies to 
them and which entities are likely to be affected by this action. Other 
types of entities not listed in this unit could also be affected. The 
NAICS code 325320 has 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 either person

[[Page 63121]]

listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.

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

    1. Submitting CBI. Do not submit CBI information to EPA through 
regulations.gov or email. Contact Kerry Leifer, email address: 
[email protected], to discuss options for submitting CBI to the 
Agency.
    2. Tips for preparing your comments. When preparing and submitting 
your comments, see the commenting tips at http://www.epa.gov/dockets/comments.html.

II. Discussion

    EPA maintains a list of chemical substances that have been approved 
for use as inert ingredients in pesticide products. Inert ingredients 
on this list do not need further approval prior to inclusion in a 
pesticide formulation for a non-food use. These individual formulations 
are subject to data requirements in 40 CFR part 158, regardless of 
whether the inert ingredient is on the approved list. If an application 
for registration of a pesticide product includes inert ingredients not 
on the approved list, the inert ingredient will need approval and 
require payment of a fee in accordance with section 33 of FIFRA, 7 
U.S.C. 136w-8.
    EPA is considering removing from this list a set of 72 chemical 
substances that are no longer being used as an inert ingredient in a 
pesticide product. Some of the 72 chemical substances are a subset of a 
larger list of 371 inert ingredients that were the subject of two 
petitions submitted to EPA in 2006 (see docket) requesting that the 
Agency require that the identities of hazardous ingredients identified 
in the petitions be disclosed on pesticide products containing those 
ingredients. EPA is taking this action, fulfilling a commitment as 
described in an EPA May 22, 2014 amended response to the petitioners 
(see docket). EPA would remove from the approved list those inert 
ingredients listed in the petitions that are no longer being used in 
pesticide products.
    The list of 72 inert ingredients was generated by an Agency 
evaluation of pesticide product compositional information to determine 
which of those 371 chemical substances listed as inert ingredients on 
the EPA-approved list are in use or not in use in currently registered 
pesticide formulations. The list of chemical substances that are no 
longer being used as an inert ingredient is available in the docket for 
this action, under docket ID number EPA-HQ-OPP-2014-0558 at http://www.regulations.gov.
    Once an inert ingredient is removed from the list, any proposed 
future use of the inert ingredient would need to be supported by data 
provided to and reviewed by the EPA as part of a new inert ingredient 
submission request. The type of data needed to evaluate a new inert 
ingredient may include, among others, studies to evaluate potential 
carcinogenicity, adverse reproductive effects, developmental toxicity, 
genotoxicity as well as environmental effects associated with any 
chemical substance that is persistent or bioaccumulative. Information 
regarding the inert ingredient approval process may be found at http://www2.epa.gov/pesticide-registration/guidance-documents-inert-ingredients.
    EPA suggests that pesticide registrants review their records to 
ensure that the chemical substances, listed by chemical name and 
Chemical Abstracts Service Registry Number, listed in the docket for 
this action are, in fact, no longer used as inert ingredients in their 
registered pesticide products. While EPA has endeavored to prepare an 
accurate list, if a pesticide registrant is aware of a registered 
product containing any of the 72 chemical substances, that registrant 
should contact the Agency directly, using the contact listed under FOR 
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT (Chemical Listing Inquiries).
    Similarly, producers of proprietary mixtures currently approved for 
use as inert ingredients in pesticide products should also review their 
records to ensure that the chemical substances listed in the docket for 
this action are, in fact, not currently used in their proprietary 
mixtures.
    After the close of the comment period, EPA will consider all 
comments received and determine appropriate action.

    Authority: 7 U.S.C. 136 et seq.

    Dated: October 7, 2014.
James Jones,
Assistant Administrator, Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution 
Prevention.
[FR Doc. 2014-24586 Filed 10-21-14; 8:45 am]
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