[Federal Register: November 29, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 229)]
[Notices]
[Page 69112-69114]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr29no06-44]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[EPA-HQ-OPP-2006-0661; FRL-8087-4]
Chloropicrin Risk Assessments (Phase 3 of 6-Phase Process);
Notice of Availability
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: This notice announces the availability of EPA's human health
and environmental fate and effects risk assessment(s) and related
documents for the fumigant chloropicrin, and opens a public comment
period on these documents. EPA is developing a Reregistration
Eligibility Decision (RED) for chloropicrin through the full, 6-Phase
public participation process that the Agency uses to involve the public
in developing pesticide reregistration and tolerance reassessment
decisions. EPA is also concurrently assessing the risks of five other
soil fumigant pesticides to ensure that its assessment approaches are
consistent and to ensure that risk trade offs and economic outcomes can
be adequately predicted in reaching risk management decisions. Through
these programs, EPA is ensuring that all pesticides meet current health
and safety standards.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before January 29, 2007.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by docket identification
(ID) number EPA-HQ-OPP-2006-0661, 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
Building), 2777 S. Crystal Drive, Arlington, VA. Deliveries are only
accepted during the Docket'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 telephone number is (703) 305-5805.
Instructions: Direct your comments to docket ID number EPA-HQ-OPP-
2006-0661. 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 Federal 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.
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
Building), 2777 S. Crystal Drive, 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 telephone number is (703)
305-5805.
Additional support documents for the soil fumigants in general can
be viewed at EPA's electronic public docket http://www.regulations.gov under
Docket ID EPA-HQ-OPP-2005-0168. The Agency has also established a soil
fumigant web page at http://www.epa.gov/oppsrrd1/reregistration/soil_fumigants/.
The public may also want to view the individual chemical
specific dockets for other soil fumigant pesticides. These chemical
specific dockets include: Telone (1,3-dichloropropene) at EPA-HQ-OPP-
2005-0124, dazomet at EPA-HQ-OPP-2005-0128, metam sodium at EPA-HQ-OPP-
2005-0125, metam potassium at EPA-HQ-OPP-2005-0125, and methyl bromide
at EPA-HQ-OPP-2005-0123. These sites are provided for reference and
review. However, the Agency is requesting that comments pertaining to
chloropicrin be submitted only to the chloropicrin docket at EPA-HQ-
OPP-2006-0061.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nathan Mottl, Special Review and
Reregistration Division (7508P), Office of Pesticide Programs,
Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW.,
Washington, DC 20460-0001; telephone number: (703) 305-0208; fax
number: (703) 308-7070; e-mail address: mottl.nathan@epa.gov.
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.
[[Page 69113]]
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?
EPA is making available the human health and environmental fate and
effects risk assessments for chloropicrin. Chloropicrin is a non-
selective pre-plant soil fumigant with fungicidal, herbicidal,
insecticidal, and nematicidal properties. Chloropicrin is also used in
combination with other soil fumigants and as a warning agent for other
soil fumigants such as methyl bromide and telone (1,3-dichloropropene)
and structural fumigations using sulfuryl flouride. Chloropicrin is
primarily used for pre-plant soil uses for agricultural crops and
greenhouses. However, chloropicrin is also used for fumigations of
empty grain and storage bins, tree replant sites, and wood telephone
poles and timber. The Agency developed these risk assessments as part
of its public process for making pesticide reregistration eligibility
and tolerance reassessment decisions. Through these programs, EPA is
ensuring that pesticides meet current standards under the Federal
Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) and the Federal
Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA), as amended by the Food Quality
Protection Act of 1996 (FQPA).
An estimated 5-9 million pounds of chloropicrin is applied
annually. Crops on which over a million pounds are used annually
include tobacco (3.6 million pounds), tomatoes (1.7 million pounds),
and strawberries (1.4 million pounds). Strawberries (20 percent),
tobacco (15 percent), and tomatoes (10 percent) are also the crops with
the highest percentage of their overall acreage treated. Almost all of
the pre-plant soil fumigation uses of chloropicrin occur in combination
with either methyl bromide or telone.
Plant metabolism and environmental fate studies demonstrate that
chloropicrin is degraded in both anaerobic and aerobic soil to carbon
dioxide which is subsequently taken up by the plant. Therefore, the use
of chloropicrin as a pre-plant soil fumigant is considered to be a non-
food use and food tolerances are not required.
EPA is providing an opportunity, through this notice, for
interested parties to provide comments and input on the Agency's risk
assessments for chloropicrin. Such comments and input could address,
for example, the availability of additional data to further refine the
risk assessments, or information about specific use practices for crops
that are produced using chloropicrin. For example, the following
information would be helpful to EPA in characterizing regional and crop
differences in use practices and possible effects on potential risk.
When providing this information to the Agency, consider providing
pictures or video footage to help clarify your comments.
1. Crop.
2. Fumigant use.
3. Average acres grown per enterprise.
4. Maximum acres fumigated per day.
5. Percent of the acres grown that are fumigated.
6. Typical application rate (lb a.i./acre).
7. Minimum application rate used (lb a.i./acre)(for high pest
pressure situations).
8. Time of year that soil is fumigated.
9. Fumigation cycle (every crop cycle, 1 time/year, 1 time/2
years).
10. Target pests (by category or specific pests).
11. Method of application (e.g., chemigation, soil injection,
specific equipment used, etc.).
12. Methods or actions taken to reduce emissions (polyethylene
tarps or soil cap).
13. Could high-density polyethylene (HDPE) or high barrier tarps be
used on this crop?
14. Time between treatment and next production activity (e.g., time
until planting).
15. Typical crops following the fumigated crop (only if they
benefit from the fumigation).
16. Regulatory restrictions in your area on this fumigant or an
alternative fumigant (such as weather restrictions).
17. Soil restrictions on this fumigant or an alternative fumigant.
18. Any restrictions or concerns about minimum soil temperature,
hilly terrain, etc.
19. Best available alternative (another fumigant or strategy such
as leaving land fallow, etc.).
20. Could the use of different soil fumigants be alternated (e.g.,
metam sodium followed by (1,3-D)? Specify how.
21. Yield or quality impacts that are likely to result from moving
to the best available alternative (i.e., change in commodity price or
grade).
22. Would moving to the next best alternative impact key market
windows? How?
23. Cost per acre of active ingredient.
24. Cost per acre of other fumigation inputs (e.g., tarps and
equipment).
25. Is there a crop budget available for your area and crop?
26. Do you know of any other contacts or other sources of
information for this crop who could provide information on acreage,
prices, pests, etc.?
27. Are there non-chemical alternatives that can be used in place
of fumigants? Describe use.
EPA seeks to achieve environmental justice, the fair treatment and
meaningful involvement of all people, regardless of race, color,
national origin, or income, in the development, implementation, and
enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies. To help
address potential environmental justice issues, the Agency seeks
information on any groups or segments of the population who, as a
result of their location, cultural
[[Page 69114]]
practices, or other factors, may have atypical, unusually high exposure
to chloropicrin, compared to the general population.
EPA is applying the principles of public participation to all
pesticides undergoing reregistration and tolerance reassessment. The
Agency's Pesticide Tolerance Reassessment and Reregistration; Public
Participation Process, published in the Federal Register on May 14,
2004, (69 FR 26819)(FRL-7357-9) explains that in conducting these
programs, EPA is tailoring its public participation process to be
commensurate with the level of risk, extent of use, complexity of
issues, and degree of public concern associated with each pesticide.
EPA plans to review chloropicrin through the full, 6-Phase public
participation process.
Comments should be limited to issues raised within the risk
assessment(s) and associated documents. Failure to comment on any such
issues as part of this opportunity will not limit a commenter's
opportunity to participate in any later notice and comment processes on
this matter. All comments should be submitted using the methods in
ADDRESSES, and must be received by EPA on or before the closing date.
Comments will become part of the Agency Docket for chloropicrin.
Comments received after the close of the comment period will be marked
``late.'' EPA is not required to consider these late comments.
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.
Dated: October 20, 2006.
Debra Edwards,
Director, Special Review and Reregistration Division, Office of
Pesticide Programs.
[FR Doc. E6-20145 Filed 11-28-06; 8:45 am]
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