2010-7865. Monosodium Methanearsonate (MSMA); Notice of Receipt of Requests to Voluntarily Cancel Pesticide Registrations

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 cancel their registrations containing the organic arsenical monosodium methanearsonate (MSMA). The requests would not terminate the last MSMA products registered for use in the United States. 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 requests 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 May 7, 2010.

ADDRESSES:

Submit your comments, identified by docket identification (ID) number EPA-HQ-OPP-2009-0191, 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 [phone].

Instructions: Direct your comments to docket ID number EPA-HQ-OPP-2009-0191. 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 [phone].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Tom Myers, Pesticide Re-evaluation 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

This notice announces receipt by EPA of requests from registrants to cancel MSMA product registrations. MSMA is an organic arsenical used as a herbicide for application to cotton, golf courses, sod farms, highway rights of ways, bearing and non-bearing fruit trees, athletic fields, parks, and residential lawns among other sites. In letters received by the Agency, the registrants have requested EPA to cancel affected product registrations identified in this notice in Table 1. Specifically, the registrants' have requested voluntary cancellation of all their products containing MSMA. The registrants requests will not terminate the last MSMA products registered in the United States.

III. What Action is the Agency Taking?

This notice announces receipt by EPA of requests from registrants to cancel MSMA product registrations. The affected products and the registrants making the requests are identified in Tables 1 and 2 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 MSMA 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 canceling the affected registrations.

Table 1.—MSMA Product Registrations with Pending Requests for Cancellation

Registration Number	Product Name	Chemical Name
42750-28	Weed Hoe 120	MSMA
42750-29	Weed Hoe 108	MSMA
61483-13	Daconate	MSMA
61483-14	Daconate 6	MSMA
61483-15	Bueno-6	MSMA
61483-17	Daconate Super Brand	MSMA
61483-18	Bueno	MSMA

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

Table 2.—Registrants Requesting Voluntary Cancellation and/or Amendments

EPA Company Number	Company Name and Address
042750	Albaugh Inc., 1525 NE 36th Street Ankeny, IA 50021
061483	KMG-Bernuth, Inc., 9555 W. Sam Houston Pkwy South, Suite 600, Houston, TX 77099

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 MSMA

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 May 7, 2010. 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.

In any order issued in response to these requests for cancellation of product registrations, EPA proposes to include the following provisions as outlined in the organic arsenicals Agreement in Principle for the treatment of any existing stocks of the products identified or referenced in Table 1 in Unit III.

After December 31, 2009, registrants were prohibited from selling or distributing existing stocks of products containing MSMA labeled for all uses, except cotton, sod farms, golf courses, and highway rights-of-way.

After December 31, 2010, persons other than registrants are prohibited from selling or distributing existing stocks of products containing MSMA labeled for all uses, except cotton, sod farms, golf courses, and highway rights-of-way.

After December 31, 2010, existing stocks of products containing MSMA labeled for all uses, except cotton, sod farms, golf courses, and highway rights-of-way, already in the hands of users can be used legally until they are exhausted, provided that such use complies with the EPA-approved label and labeling of the affected product.

After December 31, 2012, registrants are prohibited from selling or distributing existing stocks of products containing MSMA labeled for use on sod farms, golf courses, and highway rights-of-way.

After June 30, 2013, persons other than registrants are prohibited from selling or distributing existing stocks of products containing MSMA labeled for use on sod farms, golf courses, and highway rights-of-way.

After December 31, 2013, use of products containing MSMA labeled for use on sod farms, golf courses, and highway rights-of-way, is prohibited.

If the request for voluntary cancellation is granted, the Agency intends to publish the cancellation order in the Federal Register.

List of Subjects

• Environmental protection
• Pesticides and pests

Dated: March 30, 2010.

Peter Caulkins,

Acting Director, Pesticide Re-evaluation Division, Office of Pesticide Programs.