E6-20429. Diazinon; Notice of Receipt of Requests to Voluntarily Amend Pesticide Registrations to Terminate Certain Uses

AGENCY:

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

In accordance with section 6(f)(1) of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), as amended, EPA is issuing a notice of receipt of requests by the registrants to voluntarily amend their registrations to terminate uses of certain products containing the pesticide diazinon. The requests would terminate use of granular diazinon products in or on beets (red and table), broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, collards, endive (escarole), ginseng, kale, melons, mustard, onions (bulb and green), radishes, spinach, sugar beets, sweet corn, and tomatoes, and use of liquid or wettable powder diazinon products in or on Chinese broccoli, Chinese cabbage, Chinese mustard, Chinese radish, corn, grapes, hops, mushroom houses, sugar beets, and walnuts, or as a seed treatment. The requests would not terminate the last diazinon products registered for use in the U.S. EPA intends to grant these requests 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 requests, or unless the registrants withdraw their request(s) within this period. Upon acceptance of these requests, any sale, distribution, or use of products listed in this notice will be permitted 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 January 5, 2007.

ADDRESSES:

Submit your comments, identified by docket identification (ID) number EPA-HQ-OPP-2006-0909, 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-2006-0909. 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:

Stephanie Plummer, Special Review and Reregistration Division (7508P), Office of Pesticide Programs, Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460-0001; telephone number: [phone]; fax number: [phone]; e-mail address: [e-mail].

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 on the Receipt of Requests to Cancel and/or Amend Registrations to Delete Uses

This notice announces receipt by EPA of requests from registrants Makhteshim Chemical Works, Ltd., Makhteshim Agan of North America, Inc., Drexel Chemical Company, Wilber Ellis Company, and Helena Chemical Company to terminate use of granular diazinon products on 20 crops and 11 uses of liquid or wettable powder diazinon products. Diazinon is an organophosphate insecticide used on a variety of fruit, nut, vegetable, and field crops, as well as ornamentals. In letters submitted to the Agency in October 2005 through November 2006, Makhteshim Chemical Works, Ltd., Makhteshim Agan of North America, Inc., Drexel Chemical Company, Wilber Ellis Company, and Helena Chemical Company requested that EPA amend their pesticide product registrations to terminate uses identified in this notice (Tables 1 and 2). Specifically, as per the diazinon Interim Reregistration Eligibility Decision (IRED) issued in September 2002, the registrants requested voluntary cancellation of the use of granular diazinon products on beets (red and table), broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, collards, endive (escarole), ginseng, kale, melons, mustard, onions (bulb and green), radishes, spinach, sugar beets, sweet corn, and tomatoes. The registrants also requested voluntary cancellation of the use of liquid or wettable powder diazinon products in/on Chinese broccoli, Chinese cabbage, Chinese mustard, Chinese radish, corn, grapes, hops, mushroom houses, sugar beets, and walnuts, and as a seed treatment. Termination of these uses will not result in cancellation of the last diazinon products registered in the United States, or the last pesticide products registered in the United States for these uses.

These uses are being terminated as a result of the Diazinon IRED, which was issued in September 2002. The Diazinon IRED and supporting documents can be accessed through www.regulations.gov,, docket number EPA-HQ-2005-0251.

III. What Action is the Agency Taking?

This notice announces receipt by EPA of requests from registrants to amend pesticide registrations to terminate certain uses of diazinon. The affected products and the registrants making the requests are identified in Tables 1 through 3 of this unit.

Under section 6(f)(1)(A) of FIFRA, registrants may request, at any time, that their pesticide registrations be canceled or amended to terminate one or more pesticide uses. Section 6(f)(1)(B) of FIFRA 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, section 6(f)(1)(C) of FIFRA 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 Administrator determines that continued use of the pesticide would pose an unreasonable adverse effect on the environment.

The diazinon registrants have requested that EPA waive the 180-day comment period. EPA will provide a 30-day comment period on the proposed requests.

Unless a request is withdrawn by the registrant within 30 days of publication of this notice, or if the Agency determines that there are substantive comments that warrant further review of this request, an order will be issued amending the affected registrations.

Table 1. Diazinon Manufacturing Use Product Registrations with Pending Requests for Amendment

Registration No.	Product name	Company
11678-61	Diazol Diazinon Technical Stabilized Ag	Makhteshim Chemical Works, Ltd
11678-63	Diazol (Diazinon) Stabilized Oil Concentrate Ag	Makhteshim Chemical Works, Ltd.
19713-523	Drexel Diazinon Technical Ag	Drexel Chemical Company

Table 2. Diazinon End-Use Product Registrations with Pending Requests for Amendment

Registration No.	Product name	Company
2935-408	Diazinon 14G>	Wilbur Ellis Co.
5905-248	Diazinon AG500	Helena Chemical Co.
19713-95	Drexel Diazinon 14G	Drexel Chemical Co.
19713-91	Drexel Diazinon Insecticide	Drexel Chemical Co.
19713-492	Diazinon 50WP Insecticide	Drexel Chemical Co.
66222-9	Diazinon AG500	Makhteshim Agan North America
66222-10	Diazinon 50W	Makhteshim Agan North America
66222-103	Diazinon Ag600WBC Insecticide	Makhteshim Agan North America

Table 3 of this unit includes the names and addresses of record for the registrants of the products listed in Tables 1 and Table 2 of this unit.

Table 3.—Registrants Requesting Voluntary Cancellation and/or Amendments

EPA Company No.	Company name and address
2935	Wilbur Ellis Company P.O. box 1286 Fresno, CA 93715
5905	Helena Chemical Company 225 Schilling Blvd, Suite 300 Collierville, TN 38017
11678	Makhteshim Chemical Works, Ltd. Makhteshim Agan of North America, Inc. 4515 Falls of Neuse Rd. Suite 300 Raleigh, NC 27609
19713	Drexel Chemical Company 1700 Channel Ave. P.O. Box 13327 Memphis, TN 38113
66222	Makhteshim Agan of North America 4515 Falls of Neuse Rd. Suite 300 Raleigh, NC 27609

IV. What is the Agency's Authority for Taking this Action?

Section 6(f)(1) of FIFRA 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. Thereafter, following the public comment period, the Administrator may approve such a request.

V. Procedures for Withdrawal of Request and Considerations for Reregistration of Diazinon

Registrants who choose to withdraw a request for cancellation must submit such withdrawal in writing to the person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT, postmarked before January 5, 2007. This written withdrawal of the request for cancellation will apply only to the applicable FIFRA section 6(f)(1) request listed in this notice. If the products 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 which are currently in the United States and which were packaged, labeled, and released for shipment prior to the effective date of the cancellation action.

If the request for voluntary use termination is granted as discussed above, the Agency intends to issue a cancellation order that will allow persons other than the registrant to continue to sell and/or use existing stocks of cancelled products until such stocks are exhausted, provided that such use is consistent with the terms of the previously approved labeling on, or that accompanied, the cancelled product. The order will specifically prohibit any use of existing stocks that is not consistent with such previously approved labeling. If, as the Agency currently intends, the final cancellation order contains the existing stocks provision just described, the order will be sent only to the affected registrants of the cancelled products. If the Agency determines that the final cancellation order should contain existing stocks provisions different than the ones just described, the Agency will publish the cancellation order in the Federal Register.

List of Subjects

• Environmental protection
• Pesticides and pests

Dated: November 21, 2006.

Debra Edwards,

Director, Special Review and Reregistration Division, Office of Pesticide Programs.