[Federal Register: August 2, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 148)]
[Notices]
[Page 43746-43748]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr02au06-71]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[EPA-HQ-OPP-2004-0202; FRL-8066-6]
Pentachloronitrobenzene (PCNB) Reregistration Eligibility
Decision; Notice of Availability
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: This notice announces the availability of EPA's Reregistration
Eligibility Decision (RED) for the pesticide PCNB, and opens a public
comment period on this document. The Agency's risk assessments and
other related documents also are available in the PCNB Docket. PCNB is
an organochlorine fungicide used to control plant diseases on
vegetables (predominantly green beans and cole crops), field crops
(cotton, potatoes, and peanuts), and seeds (seed treatments of barley,
beans, corn, cotton, oats, peas, peanut, rice, safflower, sorghum,
soybean, sugar beet, and wheat). EPA has reviewed PCNB through the
public participation process that the Agency uses to involve the public
in developing pesticide reregistration and tolerance reassessment
decisions. Through these programs, EPA is ensuring that all pesticides
meet current health and safety standards.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before October 2, 2006.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by docket identification
(ID) number EPA-HQ-OPP-2004-0202, 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
Building), 2777 S. Crystal Drive, Arlington, VA. Deliveries are only
accepted during the Docket'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 telephone number is (703) 305-5805.
Instructions: Direct your comments to docket ID number EPA-HQ-OPP-
2004-0202. 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 Federal regulations.gov website 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
[[Page 43747]]
encryption, and be free of any defects or viruses.
Docket: All documents in the docket are listed in the docket index.
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
Building), 2777 S. Crystal Drive, 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 telephone number is (703)
305-5805.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jill Bloom, Special Review and
Reregistration Division (7508P), Office of Pesticide Programs,
Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW.,
Washington, DC 20460-0001; telephone number: (703) 308-8019; fax
number: (703) 308-7070; e-mail address: bloom.jill@epa.gov.
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. 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
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.
II. Background
A. What Action is the Agency Taking?
Under section 4 of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and
Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), EPA is reevaluating existing pesticides to
ensure that they meet current scientific and regulatory standards. EPA
has completed a Reregistration Eligibility Decision (RED) for the
pesticide, PCNB under section 4(g)(2)(A) of FIFRA. PCNB is an
organochlorine fungicide used to control plant diseases on vegetables
(predominantly green beans and cole crops), field crops (cotton,
potatoes, and peanuts), and seeds (seed treatments of barley, beans,
corn, cotton, oats, peas, peanut, rice, safflower, sorghum, soybean,
sugar beet, and wheat). EPA has determined that the data base to
support reregistration is substantially complete and that products
containing PCNB are eligible or not eligible for reregistration
depending on their specific uses. Most uses of PCNB have been found to
be ineligible for reregistration. These uses are: turf, residential
ornamentals, cole crops (unless registered for control of clubroot
only), green beans, cotton, potatoes, dry beans and peas, garlic,
peanuts, tomatoes, peppers, and ornamentals in commercial production
(except for flowering bulbs). The following uses of PCNB are eligible
for reregistration provided the risk mitigation measures noted in the
RED are implemented and product labels are amended accordingly: cole
crops (registered for control of clubroot only), ornamental bulbs for
commercial production, and seed treatments of PCNB. Upon submission of
any required product specific data under section 4(g)(2)(B) and any
necessary changes to the registration and labeling (either to address
concerns identified in the RED or as a result of product specific
data), EPA will make a final reregistration decision under section
4(g)(2)(C) for products containing PCNB.
EPA must review tolerances and tolerance exemptions that were in
effect when the Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA) was enacted in
August 1996, to ensure that these existing pesticide residue limits for
food and feed commodities meet the safety standard established by the
new law. Tolerances are considered reassessed once the safety finding
has been made or a revocation occurs. EPA has reviewed and made the
requisite safety finding for the PCNB tolerances included in this
notice.
EPA is applying the principles of public participation to all
pesticides undergoing reregistration and tolerance reassessment. The
Agency's Pesticide Tolerance Reassessment and Reregistration; Public
Participation Process, published in the Federal Register on May 14,
2004, (69 FR 26819)(FRL-7357-9) explains that in conducting these
programs, EPA is tailoring its public participation process to be
commensurate with the level of risk, extent of use, complexity of
issues, and degree of public concern associated with each pesticide.
Due to its uses, risks, and other factors, PCNB was reviewed through
the full 6-Phase process. Through this process, EPA worked extensively
with stakeholders and the public to reach the regulatory decisions for
PCNB.
The reregistration program is being conducted under Congressionally
mandated time frames, and EPA recognizes the need both to make timely
decisions and to involve the public. The Agency is issuing the PCNB RED
for public comment. This comment period is intended to provide an
additional opportunity for public input and a mechanism for initiating
any necessary amendments to the RED. All comments
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should be submitted using the methods in ADDRESSES, and must be
received by EPA on or before the closing date. These comments will
become part of the Agency Docket for PCNB. Comments received after the
close of the comment period will be marked ``late.'' EPA is not
required to consider these late comments.In particular, during the 60-
day comment period following the publication of this Notice, the Agency
is soliciting comments on the benefits associated with several minor
uses of PCNB. The Agency has based its reregistration eligibility
decision for most uses of PCNB on an evaluation of the risk-benefit
relationships for those uses. The Agency is soliciting information on
benefits for specific minor uses of PCNB in order to confirm that the
Agency's reregistration decisions for these uses are supported by an
accurate understanding of their risk-benefit relationships, and to
determine if amendments should be made to this eligibility decision
based on comments which inform these risk-benefit evaluations. The
specific kinds of benefits information that the Agency believes will be
helpful in this regard and the specific uses for which the Agency is
soliciting such information are discussed below.The use sites of PCNB
for which the Agency is soliciting information on benefits at this time
are: dry beans and peas, peanuts, tomatoes, peppers (all types), and
ornamentals in commercial production (all types except for flowering
bulbs). The types of information that the Agency believes could be
useful in informing the risk-benefit evaluations for these uses include
data from comparative efficacy trials for different pesticides used to
control diseases on these sites, information about the relative costs
of using PCNB and potential alternatives, production cost data,
information on why registered alternatives are not appropriate for
specific diseases in a particular State or under particular climatic
conditions, and documentation of the lack of alternatives for
controlling a particular disease.
The Agency will carefully consider all comments received by the
closing date and will provide a Response to Comments Memorandum in the
Docket and regulations.gov. If any comment significantly affects the
document, EPA also will publish an amendment to the RED in the Federal
Register. In the absence of substantive comments requiring changes, the
PCNB RED will be implemented as it is now presented.
B. What is the Agency's Authority for Taking this Action?
Section 4(g)(2) of FIFRA as amended directs that, after submission
of all data concerning a pesticide active ingredient, the Administrator
shall determine whether pesticides containing such active ingredient
are eligible for reregistration, before calling in product specific
data on individual end-use products and either reregistering products
or taking other appropriate regulatory action.
Section 408(q) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA),
21 U.S.C. 346a(q), requires EPA to review tolerances and exemptions for
pesticide residues in effect as of August 2, 1996, to determine whether
the tolerance or exemption meets the requirements of section 408(b)(2)
or (c)(2) of FFDCA. This review is to be completed by August 3, 2006.
List of Subjects
Environmental protection, Pesticides and pests.
Dated: July 26, 2006.
Debra Edwards,
Director, Special Review and Reregistration Division, Office of
Pesticide Programs.
[FR Doc. E6-12485 Filed 8-1-06; 8:45 am]