2010-23722. Methyl Parathion; Notice of Receipt of Request to Voluntarily Cancel Certain 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 a request by the registrant to voluntarily cancel their section 24(c) Special Local Needs (SLN) registrations of certain products containing the pesticide methyl parathion. The request would delete methyl parathion use in or on sweet potatoes, walnuts, and yams. The request would terminate the last methyl parathion products registered for use in the United States. EPA intends to grant this request 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 request, or unless the registrant withdraws its request. If this request is granted, any sale, distribution, or use of products listed in this notice will be permitted after the registration has been canceled only if the sale, distribution, or use is consistent with the terms as described in the final order.

DATES:

Comments must be received on or before October 22, 2010.

ADDRESSES:

Submit your comments, identified by docket identification (ID) number EPA-HQ-OPP-2009-0332, 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's telephone number is [phone].

Instructions: Direct your comments to docket ID number EPA-HQ-OPP-2009-0332. 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 http://www.regulations.gov Web site 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 in the electronic docket, 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's telephone number is [phone].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Kelly Ballard, 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 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 informationand/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 a request from the registrant, United Phosphorus, Inc., to cancel certain methyl parathion product registrations. Methyl parathion is a restricted use organophosphate insecticide and acaricide. In a letter dated August 6, 2010, United Phosphorus, Inc., requested EPA to cancel certain pesticide product registrations identified in Table 1 of Unit III. Specifically, the registrant requested voluntary cancellation of all section 24(c) SLN registrations for methyl parathion. This cancellation request is directly related to the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) signed on March 29, 2010, between Cheminova A/S, Cheminova, Inc., United Phosphorus, Inc., and the Agency. In this MOA, the registrants agreed to voluntarily cancel all methyl parathion product registrations including the parent product for these SLNs. The Agency previously issued a cancellation order for the parent products containing methyl parathion on July 27, 2010(75 FR 43981). This action on the registrant's request will terminate the last methyl parathion products registered in the United States.

III. What action is the agency taking?

This notice announces receipt by EPA of a request from a registrant to cancel certain methyl parathion product registrations. The affected products and the registrant making the request are identified in Tables 1 and 2 of this unit.

Unless a request is withdrawn by the registrant or if the Agency determines that there are substantive comments that warrant further review of this request, EPA intends to issue an order canceling the affected registrations.

Table 1—Methyl Parathion Product Registrations With Pending Requests for Cancellation

Registration No.	Product name	Company
AL-000001	Penncap-M Microencapsulated Insecticide	United Phosphorus, Inc.
AR-000006	Penncap-M Microencapsulated Insecticide	United Phosphorus, Inc.
CA-000001	Penncap-M Microencapsulated Insecticide	United Phosphorus, Inc.
LA-090005	Penncap-M Microencapsulated Insecticide	United Phosphorus, Inc.
MS-000009	Penncap-M Microencapsulated Insecticide	United Phosphorus, Inc.
TX-990012	Penncap-M Microencapsulated Insecticide	United Phosphorus, Inc.

Table 2 of this unit includes the name and address of record for the registrant of the products listed in Table 1 of this unit.

Table 2—Registrants Requesting Voluntary Cancellation and/or Amendments

EPA company No.	Company name and address
70506	United Phosphorus, Inc. 630 Freedom Business Center, Suite 402 King of Prussia, PA 19406.

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.

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, FIFRA section 6(f)(1)(C) 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 EPA Administrator determines that continued use of the pesticide would pose an unreasonable adverse effect on the environment.

The methyl parathion registrant has requested that EPA waive the 180-day comment period. Accordingly, EPA will provide a 30-day comment period on the proposed requests.

V. Procedures for Withdrawal of Requests

Registrants who choose to withdraw a request for product cancellation or use deletion should submit the withdrawal in writing to the person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.

VI. Provisions for Disposition of Existing Stocks

Existing stocks are those stocks of registered pesticide products that are currently in the United States and that were packaged, labeled, and released for shipment prior to the effective date of the action. If the request for voluntary cancellation is granted, the Agency intends to publish the cancellation order in the Federal Register.

As specified in the MOA, registrants are prohibited from selling and distributing end-use products as of December 31, 2012. Persons other than the registrants are permitted to sell or distribute end-use products prior to August 31, 2013. All sales and distributions of end-use products shall be prohibited as of August 31, 2013, except for exports consistent with section 17 of FIFRA or for proper disposal. Additionally, all use of existing stocks of the end-use products shall be prohibited as of December 31, 2013.

List of Subjects

• Environmental protection
• Pesticides and pests

Dated: September 15, 2010.

Richard P. Keigwin, Jr.,

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