[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 55 (Wednesday, March 22, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14511-14513]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 06-2707]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[EPA-HQ-OPP-2006-0145; FRL-7766-3]
Xylene; Reregistration Eligibility Decision for Low Risk
Pesticide; 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 xylene, and opens a public
comment period on this document, related risk assessments, and other
support documents. EPA has reviewed the low risk pesticide xylene
through a modified, streamlined version of 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 May 22, 2006.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by docket identification
(ID) number EPA-HQ-OPP-2006-0145, by one of the following methods:
http://www.regulations.gov/. Follow the on-line
instructions for submitting comments.
Mail: Public Information and Records Integrity Branch
(PIRIB) (7502C), Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP), Environmental
Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460-
0001.
Hand Delivery: Public Information and Records Integrity
Branch (PIRIB) (7502C), Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP),
Environmental Protection Agency, Rm. 119, Crystal Mall 2, 1801
S. Bell St., Arlington, VA, Attention: Docket ID number EPA-HQ-OPP-
2006-0145. The docket facility is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday
through Friday, excluding legal holidays. The telephone number for the
docket facility is (703) 305-5805. Such deliveries are only accepted
during the Docket's normal hours of operation, and special arrangements
should be made for deliveries of boxed information.
Instructions: Direct your comments to docket ID number EPA -HQ-OPP-
2006-0145. EPA's policy is that all comments received will be included
in the public 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 captured automatically and included as part
of the comment that is placed in the public 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. For additional
information about EPA's public docket, visit the EPA Docket Center
homepage at http://www.epa.gov/epahome/docket.htm/.
Docket: All documents in the docket are listed in the
regulation.gov index. Although listed in the index, some information is
not publicly available, i.e., CBI or other information whose disclosure
is restricted by statute. Certain other material, such as copyrighted
material, will be publicly available only in hard copy. Publicly
available docket materials are available either electronically at
http://www.regulations.gov/ or in hard copy at the Public Information
and Records Integrity Branch (PIRIB) (7502C), Office of Pesticide
Programs (OPP), Environmental Protection Agency, Rm. 119, Crystal Mall
2, 1801 S. Bell St., Arlington, VA. The docket facility is
open from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal
holidays. The telephone number for the docket facility is (703) 305-
5805.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mark Perry, Special Review and
Reregistration Division (7508C), Office of Pesticide Programs,
Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania
[[Page 14512]]
Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460-0001; telephone number: (703) 308-8024;
fax number: (703) 308-7070; 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, 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
www.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 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 alternitives.
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.
Using a modified, streamlined version of its public participation
process, EPA has completed a RED for the low risk pesticide, xylene
under section 4(g)(2)(A) of FIFRA. Xylene is composed of three isomers:
o-, m-, and p-xylene. Most of the products originally registered as
xylene have been either cancelled, the formulation have been modified,
and/or have been considered as an inert ingredient. The only active
ingredient use assessed in this RED is the use of xylene as an aquatic
weed ready-to-use herbicide. The inert uses have been assessed
independently. EPA has determined that the data base to support
reregistration is substantially complete and that products containing
xylene will be eligible for reregistration. 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
any 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 xylene.
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 xylene 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, the Agency 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.
EPA can expeditiously reach decisions for pesticides like xylene, which
pose few risk concerns, have low use, affect few if any stakeholders,
and require little risk mitigation. Once EPA assesses uses and risks
for such low risk pesticides, the Agency may go directly to a decision
and prepare a document summarizing its findings, such as the xylene
RED.
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 in finding ways to effectively
mitigate pesticide risks. Xylene, however, poses few risks that require
mitigation. The Agency therefore is issuing the xylene RED, its risk
assessments, and related support materials simultaneously for public
comment. The comment period is intended to provide an opportunity for
public input and a mechanism for initiating any necessary amendments to
the RED. All comments 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 xylene.
Comments received after the close of the comment period will be marked
``late.'' EPA is not required to consider these late comments.
EPA 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 xylene
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
[[Page 14513]]
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: March 2, 2006.
Debra Edwards,
Director, Special Review and Reregistration Division, Office of
Pesticide Programs.
[FR Doc. 06-2707 Filed 3-21-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-S