E6-18777. Notice of Filing of Pesticide Petitions for Establishment of Regulations for Residues of Thiophanate-methyl in or on Various Commodities

AGENCY:

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

This notice announces the initial filing of pesticide petition proposing the establishment and amendment of regulations for residues of pesticide thiophanate-methyl in or on bushberry subgroup 13B; juneberry; lingonberry; salal; caneberry subgroup 13A; brassica, leafy greens, subgroup 5B; turnip greens; cotton, undelinted seed; cotton, gin byproducts; citrus; ginseng; mushroom; nut, tree, group 14; pistachio; sunflower; vegetable, tuberous and corm, subgroup 1C; tomato; tomatillo; and mustard.

DATES:

Comments must be received on or before December 8, 2006.

ADDRESSES:

Submit your comments, identified by docket identification (ID) number EPA-HQ-OPP-2006-0644 and pesticide petition number (PP) 6E7075 and 6F7069 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 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 [phone].

Instructions: Direct your comments to docket ID number EPA-HQ-OPP-2006-0644. 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 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 Bldg.), 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 [phone].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Shaja Brothers, Registration Division (7505P), Office of Pesticide Programs, Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460-0001; telephone number: [phone]; e-mail address: [e-mail].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. General Information

A. Does this Action Apply to Me?

You may be potentially affected by this action if you are an agricultural producer, food manufacturer, or pesticide manufacturer. Potentially affected entities may include, but are not limited to:

• Crop production (NAICS code 111).
• Animal production (NAICS code 112).
• Food manufacturing (NAICS code 311).
• Pesticide manufacturing (NAICS code 32532).

This listing is not intended to be exhaustive, but rather provides a guide for readers regarding entities likely to be affected by this action. Other types of entities not listed in this unit could also be affected. The North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) codes have 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 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. What Action is the Agency Taking?

EPA is printing each summary of each pesticide petition received under section 408 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA), 21 U.S.C. 346a, proposing the establishment of regulations in 40 CFR part 180 for residues of pesticide chemical thiophanate-methyl in or on bushberry subgroup 13B; juneberry; lingonberry; salal; caneberry subgroup 13A; brassica, leafy greens, subgroup 5B; turnip, tops; cotton, undelinted seed; cotton, gin byproducts; citrus; ginseng; mushroom; nut, tree, group 14; pistachio; sunflower; vegetable, tuberous and corm, subgroup 1C; tomato; tomatillo; and mustard. EPA has determined that this pesticide petition contains data or information regarding the elements set forth in FFDCA section 408(d)(2); however, EPA has not fully evaluated the sufficiency of the submitted data at this time or whether the data support granting of the pesticide petition. Additional data may be needed before EPA rules on this pesticide petition.

Pursuant to 40 CFR 180.7(f), a summary of the petitions included in this notice, prepared by the petitioner along with a description of the analytical method available for the detection and measurement of the thiophanate-methyl residues is available on EPA's Electronic Docket at http://www.regulations.gov. To locate this information on the home page of EPA's Electronic Docket, select “Quick Search” and type the OPP docket ID number. Once the search has located the docket, clicking on the “Docket ID” will bring up a list of all documents in the docket for the pesticide including the petition summary.

New Tolerances

1. PP 6E7075. Interregional Research Project Number 4 (IR-4), 500 College Rd., East, Princeton, NJ 08540, proposes to establish tolerances for residues of the fungicide thiophanate-methyl, (dimethyl [(1,2-phenylene)-bis(iminocarbonothioyl)] bis[carbamate]), its oxygen analogue dimethyl-4,4-o-phenylene bis(allophonate), and its benzimidazole-containing metabolites] in or on the following raw agricultural commodities: Bushberry subgroup 13B at 4.0 parts per million (ppm); juneberry, lingonberry, and salal at 4.0 ppm; caneberry subgroup 13A at 25 ppm; brassica, leafy greens, subgroup 5B at 7.0 ppm; turnip greens at 7.0 ppm; fruit, citrus, group 10 at 6.0 ppm; ginseng at 0.3 ppm; mushroom at 0.09 ppm; nut, tree, group 14 at 0.2 ppm; sunflower at 0.05 ppm; vegetable, tuberous and corm, subgroup 1C at 0.1 ppm; tomato, tomatillo at 1.4 ppm; and mustard (grown for seed) at 0.1 ppm. The IR-4 pesticide petition also proposes to amend 40 CFR 180.371 by amending the existing tolerance for the raw agricultural commodity pistachio currently at 0.1 ppm to 0.9 ppm, and the existing tolerance for almond hulls currently at 1.0 ppm to 14.0 ppm.

2. PP 6F7069. Cerexagri, Inc., agent for Nisso TM, LLC, 630 Freedom Business Center, Suite 402, King of Prussia, Pennsylvania 19406 also proposes to establish tolerances for residues of the fungicide thiophanate-methyl, (dimethyl [(1,2-phenylene)-bis(iminocarbonothioyl)] bis[carbamate]), its oxygen analogue dimethyl-4,4-o-phenylene bis(allophonate), and its benzimidazole-containing metabolites] in or on cotton, undelinted seed at 0.05 ppm, and cotton, gin byproducts at 14.0 ppm.

An adequate method for purposes of enforcement of the proposed thiophanate-methyl tolerances is available. The method uses an HPLC system employing column-switching capabilities. It consists of reverse phase HPLC with UV detection, and is capable of analyzing for residues of thiophanate-methyl and its metabolite, MBC.

List of Subjects

• Environmental protection
• Agricultural commodities
• Feed additives
• Food additives
• Pesticides and pests
• Reporting and recordkeeping requirements

Dated: October 26, 2006.

Lois Rossi,

Director, Registration Division, Office of Pesticide Programs.