[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 22 (Wednesday, February 4, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6031-6032]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-2361]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[EPA-HQ-OPP-2008-0941; FRL-8399-1]
Pesticide Experimental Use Permit; Receipt of Amendment/Extension
Application; Comment Request
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: This notice announces EPA's receipt of an application 524-EUP-
1 from Monsanto Company requesting to amend and extend an experimental
use permit (EUP) for the plant-incorporated protectant (PIP) Bacillus
thuringiensis Cry1Ac protein and the genetic material necessary for its
production (vector PV-GMIR9) in MON 87701 soybean. The Agency has
determined that the permit may be of regional and national
significance. Therefore, in accordance with 40 CFR 172.11(a), the
Agency is soliciting comments on this application.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before March 6, 2009.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by docket identification
(ID) number EPA-HQ-OPP-2008-0941, 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
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-
2008-0941. 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 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
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: Alan Reynolds, Biopesticides and
Pollution Prevention Division (7511P), Office of Pesticide Programs,
Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW.,
Washington, DC 20460-0001; telephone number: (703) 605-0515; e-mail
address: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. General Information
A. Does this Action Apply to Me?
This action is directed to the public in general. This action may,
however, be of interest to those persons interested in agricultural
biotechnology or those who are or may be required to conduct testing of
chemical substances under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act
(FFDCA) or the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act
(FIFRA). Since other entities may also 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
[[Page 6032]]
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 5 of FIFRA, 7 U.S.C. 136c, EPA can allow
manufacturers to field test pesticides under development. Manufacturers
are required to obtain an EUP before testing new pesticides or new uses
of pesticides if they conduct experimental field tests on 10 acres or
more of land or one acre or more of water.
Pursuant to 40 CFR 172.11(a), the Agency has determined that the
following EUP application may be of regional and national significance,
and therefore is seeking public comment on the EUP application:
Submitter: Monsanto Company, (524-EUP-1).
Pesticide Chemical: Bacillus thuringiensis Cry1Ac protein and the
genetic material necessary for its production (vector PV-GMIR9) in MON
87701 soybean.
Summary of Request: Monsanto Company has requested an amendment and
extension of permit 524-EUP-1, which was first granted by EPA on
September 13, 2007 and extended on April 11, 2008. Under the existing
EUP, plantings are permitted through July 31, 2009. Monsanto is now
proposing to extend the experimental program until December 31, 2010
and to amend it by conducting testing with up to 0.466 pounds of Cry1Ac
protein and the genetic material necessary for its production in MON
87701 soybean on 1,362 acres (282.86 acres of non-PIP and border rows
are also proposed for a total of 1,644.86 acres). Two trial protocols
will be conducted, including:
Breeding and observation.
Regulatory trials.
States and Commonwealth involved in the trials include: Arkansas,
Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, North Carolina, Puerto
Rico, South Carolina, and Virginia.
A copy of the application and any information submitted is
available for public review in the docket established for this EUP
application as described under ADDRESSES.
Following the review of the application and any comments and data
received in response to this solicitation, EPA will decide whether to
issue or deny the EUP request, and if issued, the conditions under
which it is to be conducted. Any issuance of an EUP will be announced
in the Federal Register.
List of Subjects
Environmental protection, Experimental use permits.
Dated: January 16, 2009.
Janet L. Andersen,
Director, Biopesticides and Pollution Prevention Division, Office of
Pesticide Programs.
[FR Doc. E9-2361 Filed 2-3-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-S