E9-22293. Dimethyldithiocarbamate Salts; Amendment to Ziram and Ferbam Reregistration Eligibility Decisions

AGENCY:

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

This notice announces EPA’s decision to amend the 2003 and 2005 Reregistration Eligibility Decisions (RED) documents for the antimicrobial pesticides Ziram and Ferbam (Reregistration Case 2180). EPA conducted a reassessment of the Ziram and Ferbam REDs upon learning that the salts Potassium Dimethyldithiocarbamate and Sodium Dimethyldithiocarbamate were not evaluated at the same time as the rest of case 2180. The Agency has conducted a risk assessment and issued a RED addendum for the Dimethyldithiocarbamate Salts, which were inadvertently not included in the 2003 and 2005 Reregistration Eligibility Decision documents for Ziram and Ferbam. This notice opens an additional 60-day public comment period for Dimethyldithiocarbamate Salts because a previous comment period for the Risk Assessment portion of this addendum was restricted to registrants only.

DATES:

Comments must be received on or before November 16, 2009.

ADDRESSES:

Submit your comments, identified by docket identification (ID) number EPA-HQ-OPP-2009-0321, 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-2009-0321. 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:

Eliza Blair, Antimicrobials Division (7510P), 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?

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

A. What Action is the Agency Taking?

Section 4 of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) directs EPA to reevaluate existing pesticides to ensure that they meet current scientific and regulatory standards. In 2003 and 2005, EPA issued REDs for Ziram and Ferbam, respectively, under section 4(g)(2)(A) of FIFRA. The associated Dimethyldithiocarbamate Salts RED reflects the evaluation of the final two active ingredients in case 2180, which were inadvertently not included in the 2003 and 2005 Ziram and Ferbam Reregistration Eligibility Decision documents, as well as efforts by the Agency to appropriately mitigate overall risk. The RED amendment for Ziram and Ferbam concludes EPA’s reregistration eligibility decision-making process for these pesticides.

The Agency evaluated Sodium Dimethyldithiocarbamate and Potassium Dimethyldithiocarbamate and determined that products containing Dimethyldithiocarbamate Salts are eligible for reregistration, provided that the risk mitigation measures identified within the Dimethyldithiocrabmante Salts RED addendum are adopted and labels are amended accordingly. The label table incorporated into the Dimethyldithiocarbamate Salts RED addendum includes modifications which specify label language for protecting occupational handlers from inhalation exposure to powdered end-use products, as well as amending the environmental hazards statement for clarity.

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.”

List of Subjects

• Environmental protection
• Pesticides and pests
• Dimethyldithiocarbamate salts
• Potassium dimethyldithiocarbamate
• Sodium dimethyldithiocarbamate
• Ferbam
• Ziram

Dated: August 26, 2009.

Joan Harrigan Farrelly,

Director, Antimicrobials Division, Office of Pesticide Programs.