[Federal Register: March 21, 2002 (Volume 67, Number 55)]
[Notices]
[Page 13143-13144]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr21mr02-57]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[OPP-34237B; FRL-6828-2]
Atrazine; Revised Pesticide Risk Assessment; Notice of Public
Meeting
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: EPA will hold a public meeting to present the revised risk
assessment for atrazine to interested stakeholders. This public
meeting, called a ``technical briefing,'' will provide an opportunity
for stakeholders to learn about the data, information, and
methodologies that the Agency used in revising its risk assessment for
atrazine.
DATES: The technical briefing will be held on, April 16, 2002, from 9
a.m. to 5 p.m.
ADDRESSES: The technical briefing will be held at the National Rural
Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA), 4301 Wilson Blvd., Arlington,
VA, telephone number (703) 907-5933. Metro accessibility--Ballston
Metro Stop.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: By mail: Kimberly Nesci Lowe, Special
Review and Registration Division (7508C), Office of Pesticide Programs,
Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW.,
Washington, DC 20460; telephone number: (703) 308-8059; e-mail address:
lowe.kimberly@epa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. General Information
A. Does this Action Apply to Me?
This action applies to the public in general. As such, the Agency
has not attempted to specifically describe all the entities potentially
affected by this action. The Agency believes that a wide range of
stakeholders will be interested in the technical briefing on atrazine
pesticides, including environmental, human health, and agricultural
advocates, the chemical industry, pesticide users, and members of the
public interested in the use of pesticides on food. 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. How Can I Get Additional Information, Including Copies of this
Document and Other Related Documents?
1. Electronically. You may obtain electronic copies of this
document, and certain other related documents that might be available
electronically, from the EPA Internet Home Page at http://www.epa.gov/.
To access this document, on the Home Page select ``Laws and
Regulations,'' ``Regulations and Proposed Rules,'' and then look up the
entry for this document under the ``Federal Register--Environmental
Documents.'' You can also go directly to the Federal Register listings
at http://www.epa.gov/fedrgstr/.
[[Page 13144]]
To access information about organophosphate pesticides, you can
also go directly to the Home Page for the Office of Pesticide Programs
(OPP) at http://www.epa.gov/pesticides. In addition, a brief summary of
the atrazine revised risk assessment is now available at http://
www.epa.gov/pesticides, as well as in paper as part of the public
version of the official record as described in Unit I.B.2.
2. In person. The Agency has established an official record under
docket control number OPP-34237B. The official record consists of the
documents specifically referenced in this action, and other information
related to this action, including any information claimed as
Confidential Business Information (CBI). This official record includes
the documents that are physically located in the docket, as well as the
documents that are referenced in those documents. The public version of
the official record does not include any information claimed as CBI.
The public version of the official record, which includes printed,
paper versions of any electronic comments submitted during an
applicable comment period is available for inspection in the Public
Information and Records Integrity Branch (PIRIB), Rm. 119, Crystal Mall
#2, 1921 Jefferson Davis Hwy., Arlington, VA, from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.,
Monday through Friday, excluding legal holidays. The PIRIB telephone
number is (703) 305-5805.
II. What Action is the Agency Taking?
This document announces the Agency's intention to hold a technical
briefing for atrazine. The Agency is presenting the revised risk
assessment for atrazine to interested stakeholders. This technical
briefing is designed to provide stakeholders with an opportunity to
become even more informed about the risk assessment. EPA will describe
in detail the revised risk assessment: Including the major points
(e.g., contributors to risk estimates); how public comment on the
preliminary risk assessment affected the revised risk assessment; and
the pesticide use information/data that was used in developing the
revised risk assessment. Stakeholders will have an opportunity to ask
clarifying questions.
The technical briefing is part of the pilot public participation
process that EPA and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)
are now using for involving the public in the reassessment of pesticide
tolerances under the Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA), and the
reregistration of individual pesticides under the Federal Insecticide,
Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). The pilot public participation
process was developed as part of the EPA-USDA Tolerance Reassessment
Advisory Committee (TRAC), which was established in April 1998, as a
subcommittee under the auspices of EPA's National Advisory Council for
Environmental Policy and Technology. A goal of the pilot public
participation process is to find a more effective way for the public to
participate at critical junctures in the Agency's development of
pesticide risk assessment and risk management decisions. EPA and USDA
began implementing this pilot process in August 1998, in response to
Vice President Gore's directive to increase transparency and
opportunities for stakeholder consultation.
On the day of the technical briefing, in addition to making copies
available at the meeting site, the Agency will also release for public
viewing the atrazine revised risk assessment and related documents to
the Public Information and Records Integrity Branch and the OPP
Internet web site that are described in Unit I.B.1. In addition, the
Agency will issue a Federal Register notice to provide an opportunity
for a 60-day public participation period during which the public may
submit risk management and mitigation ideas and recommendations and
proposals for transition.
List of Subjects
Environmental protection, Chemicals, Pesticides and pests.
Dated: March 13, 2002.
Betty Shackleford,
Acting Director, Special Review and Reregistration Division, Office of
Pesticide Programs.
[FR Doc. 02-6853 Filed 3-20-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-S