E6-5392. Notice of Filing of Pesticide Petitions for Establishment or Amendment to Regulations for Residues of Pesticide Chemicals in or on Various Commodities

AGENCY:

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

This notice announces the initial filing of pesticide petitions proposing the establishment or amendment of regulations for residues of pesticide chemicals in or on various commodities.

DATES:

Comments must be received on or before May 12, 2006.

ADDRESSES:

Submit your comments, identified by docket identification (ID) number EPA-HQ-OPP-2006-0181 and pesticide petition numbers (PPs) 5E6965, 5E6966, and 5E6967, 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-2006-0181. 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 [phone]. 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-2006-0181. 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/​dockets.htm.

Docket: All documents in the docket are listed in the regulations.gov 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, 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 Docket Facility is [phone].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Shaja R. Brothers, Registration Division (7505C), Office of Pesticide Programs, Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460, telephone number [phone]; e-mail: [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 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 a 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 or amendment of regulations in 40 CFR part 180 for residues of pesticide chemicals in or on various food commodities. EPA has determined that these pesticide petitions contain 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 these pesticide petitions. Additional data may be needed before EPA rules on these pesticide petitions.

-Pursuant to 40 CFR 180.7(f), a summary of each petition included in this notice, prepared by the petitioner along with a description of the analytical method available for the detection and measurement of the pesticide chemical 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 Tolerance

(PPs) 5E6965, 5E6966, 5E6967. Interregional Project Number 4, 681 Highway 1 South, North Brunswick, NJ 08902-3390, proposes to establish tolerances for residues of the insecticide diflubenzuron, (N-[[(4-chlorophenyl)amino]carbonyl]-2,6-difluorobenzamide) and metabolites convertible to p-chloroaniline expressed as diflubenzuron in or on the following food commodities:

1. (PP) 5E6965 proposes to establish tolerances for barley, grain; oat, grain; and wheat, grain at 0.06 parts per million (ppm); barley, forage; oat, forage; and wheat, forage at 5.0 ppm; barley, hay; oat, hay; and wheat, hay at 2.0 ppm; barley, straw; oat, straw; and wheat, straw at 2.0 ppm; barley, aspirated barley fractions; oat, aspirated oat fractions, and wheat, aspirated wheat fractions at 3.0 ppm; and pummelo at 0.5 ppm.

2. (PP) 5E6966 proposes to establish tolerances for brassica, leafy greens subgroup 5B; turnip at 8.0 ppm; eggplant at 1.0 ppm; and okra at 1.0 ppm.

3. (PP) 5E6967 proposes to establish a tolerance for peanut at 0.2 ppm.

A practical analytical method for detecting and quantifying levels of diflubenzuron in or on food with a limit of detection that allows monitoring of the residue at or above the level set in the tolerance was used to determine residues in wheat and barley commodities.

Residues of the individual analytes are detectable and quantifiable using three separate analytical methods. Residues of diflubenzuron are extracted from wheat and barley with dichloromethane and are purified with deactivated florisil. An aliquot of the extract is hydrolyzed with phosphoric acid and the diflubenzuron is partitioned into hexane. The resulting extract is derivatized in heptafluorobutyric anhydride (HFBA). Quantification of diflubenzuron is accompanied by gas chromatography using electron capture detection.

The analytical method for quantitation of the 4-chlorophenylurea requires ethyl acetate extraction of the residue from the crop matrix. Column chromatography is utilized for clean-up of the extract immediately prior to derivitiation with HFBA. Derivatized extracts are analyzed by gas chromatography equipped with an electron capture detector.

Analysis for the determination of PCA residues in wheat and barley matrices utilizes an internal standard method. Samples of matrix to be analyzed are fortified with an internal standard. Residues of 14C-PCA and the internal standard are subjected to acid and base hydrolysis. The final extract is passed through a florisil column for clean-up and derivatized with HFBA in hexane. An aliquot of the derivatized extract is analyzed by gas chromatography equipped with Mass Spectrometry detection. Recovery of PCA is determined from the combined peak areas for the two mass spectral ions obtained from the derivatized PCA relative to the response factor derived from the combined areas of the corresponding two mass spectral ions of the internal standard.

List of Subjects

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

Dated: April 3, 2006

Meredith F. Laws,

Acting Director, Registration Division, Office of Pesticide Programs.