[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 28 (Wednesday, February 11, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7588-7589]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-02861]


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

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OPP-2014-0577; FRL-9922-11]


Diclofop-methyl; Notice of Receipt of Request To Voluntarily 
Cancel Certain Pesticide Registrations

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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

SUMMARY: In accordance with the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and 
Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), EPA is issuing a notice of receipt of a 
request by the registrants to voluntarily cancel all pesticide product 
registrations containing the pesticide diclofop-methyl. The request 
would cancel diclofop-methyl use in or on wheat, barley, and golf 
course turf and would terminate the last diclofop-methyl 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, or unless the 
registrants withdraw their request. The cancellation for diclofop-
methyl products will be effective on January 1, 2018 as described in 
Unit II below. If this request is granted, any sale, distribution, or 
use of products listed in this notice will be permitted after the 
registrations have been cancelled 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 March 13, 2015.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by docket identification 
(ID) number EPA-HQ-OPP-2014-0577, 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: Rich Dumas, Pesticide Re-Evaluation 
Division (7508P), Office of Pesticide Programs, Environmental 
Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW., Washington, DC 20460-
0001; telephone number: (703) 308-8115; 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 preparing and submitting 
your comments, see the commenting tips at http://www.epa.gov/dockets/comments.html.

II. Background on the Receipt of Requests To Cancel Registrations

    This notice announces receipt by EPA of a request from registrants, 
Bayer CropScience and Bayer Environmental Science, to cancel all 
diclofop-methyl product registrations. Diclofop-methyl is a restricted 
use herbicide registered for use on wheat, barley, and golf course turf 
to control wild oats and annual grassy weeds. In a letter dated October 
23, 2014, Bayer CropScience and Bayer Environmental Science requested 
EPA to cancel certain pesticide product registrations identified in 
Table 1 of Unit III. Specifically, Bayer requests that all diclofop-
methyl registrations be cancelled effective January 1, 2018. This 
action will terminate the last diclofop-methyl products registered in 
the United States.

III. What action is the agency taking?

    This notice announces receipt by EPA of a request from registrants 
to cancel all diclofop-methyl product registrations. The affected 
products and the registrants making the requests are identified in 
Tables 1 and 2 of this unit.
    On September 24, 2014, the public phase of registration review for 
diclofop-methyl began with the opening of the initial docket (EPA-HQ-
OPP-2014-0577) and publication of the Preliminary Work Plan (PWP) and 
supporting science documents. The comment period for the diclofop-
methyl registration review docket was open for 60 days, from September 
24, 2014 to November 24, 2014. The Agency's projected registration 
review timeline described in the PWP established that preliminary risk 
assessments would be completed by December 2018, and the final 
registration decision would be

[[Page 7589]]

completed in 2020. The technical registrants subsequently requested 
cancellation of all diclofop-methyl products effective January 1, 2018.
    Unless a request is withdrawn by the registrant or if the Agency 
determines that there are substantive comments that warrant further 
review of this request, EPA intends to issue an order canceling the 
affected registrations.

              Table 1--Diclofop-Methyl Product Registrations With Pending Requests for Cancellation
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
          Registration No.                  Product name                            Company
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
264-641.............................  Hoelon 3EC Herbicide...  Bayer CropScience.
264-642.............................  Hoelon Technical.......  Bayer CropScience.
432-1231............................  Illoxan 3EC Herbicide..  Bayer Environmental Science.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    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, in 
sequence by EPA company number. This number corresponds to the first 
part of the EPA registration numbers of the products listed in Table 1 
of this unit.

Table 2--Registrants Requesting Voluntary Cancellation and/or Amendments
------------------------------------------------------------------------
              EPA company No.                 Company name  and address
------------------------------------------------------------------------
264.......................................  Bayer CropScience.
432.......................................  Bayer Environmental Science.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

IV. What is the agency's authority for taking this action?

    Section 6(f)(1) of FIFRA (7 U.S.C. 136d(f)(1)) 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 (7 U.S.C. 136d(f)(1)(B)) 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) 
(7 U.S.C. 136d(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.
    Because diclofop-methyl is not registered for any minor 
agricultural uses, this 180-day comment provision does not apply, and 
EPA is providing a 30-day comment period on the proposed voluntary 
cancellation of diclofop-methyl registrations.

V. Procedures for Withdrawal of Requests

    Registrants who choose to withdraw a request for product 
cancellation or use deletion should submit the withdrawal in writing to 
the person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. 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 
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. Because these diclofop-methyl products are reregistered 
pesticides, there are no known risks of concern, and the effective 
cancellation date for the products will occur two years prior to the 
time of the planned registration review decision for diclofop-methyl, 
the Agency expects to grant this request unless the Agency receives 
substantive comments that warrant further review of the request or the 
registrants withdraw their request. In 2015, the Agency intends to 
issue an order in the Federal Register canceling all registrations 
effective January 1, 2018. On issuance of the cancellation order, EPA 
anticipates allowing registrants to sell and distribute existing stocks 
of these products until January 1, 2018. Thereafter, registrants will 
be prohibited from selling or distributing the pesticides identified in 
Table 1 of Unit III., except for export consistent with FIFRA section 
17 or for proper disposal. Persons other than registrants will 
generally be allowed to sell, distribute, or use existing stocks until 
such stocks are exhausted, provided that such sale, distribution, or 
use is consistent with the terms of the previously approved labeling 
on, or that accompanied, the canceled products.

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

    Dated: January 30, 2015.
Richard P. Keigwin, Jr.,
Director, Pesticide Re-Evaluation Division, Office of Pesticide 
Programs.
[FR Doc. 2015-02861 Filed 2-10-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P