Carbofuran Revised Risk Assessments; Notice of Availability and
Solicitation of Risk Reduction Options
[Federal Register: March 22, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 55)]
[Notices]
[Page 14513-14514]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr22mr06-64]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[EPA-HQ-OPP-2005-0162; FRL-7763-9]
Carbofuran Revised Risk Assessments; Notice of Availability and
Solicitation of Risk Reduction Options
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: This notice announces the availability of EPA's revised risk
assessments for the N-methyl carbamate pesticide carbofuran. In
addition, this notice solicits public comment on risk reduction options
for carbofuran and an initial alternatives analysis. The public is
encouraged to suggest risk management ideas or proposals to address the
risks identified. EPA is developing an Interim Reregistration
Eligibility Decision (IRED) for carbofuran through the full, 6-Phase
public participation process that the Agency uses to involve the public
in developing pesticide reregistration and tolerance reassessment
decisions. Through these programs, EPA is ensuring that all pesticides
meet current health and safety standards.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before May 22, 2006.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by docket identification
(ID) number EPA-HQ-OPP-2005-0162, by one of the following methods:
? http://www.regulations.gov/.
Follow the on-line
instructions for submitting comments.
? Mail: Public Information and Records Integrity Branch
(PIRIB) (7502C), Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP), Environmental
Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460-0001.
Hand Delivery: Public Information and Records Integrity Branch
(PIRIB) (7502C), Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP), Environmental
Protection Agency, Rm. 119, Crystal Mall #2, 1801 S. Bell St.,
Arlington, VA.
Attention: Docket ID number EPA-HQ-OPP-2005-0162. The docket
facility is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday,
excluding legal holidays. The telephone number for the docket facility
is (703) 305-5805. Such deliveries are only accepted during the
Docket's normal hours of operation, and special arrangements should be
made for deliveries of boxed information.
Instructions: Direct your comments to docket ID number EPA-HQ-OPP-
2005-0162. EPA's policy is that all comments received will be included
in the public 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 captured automatically and included as part
of the comment that is placed in the public 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. For additional
information about EPA's public docket, visit the EPA Docket Center
homepage at http://www.epa.gov/epahome/docket.htm.
Docket: All documents in the docket are listed in the
regulation.gov index. Although listed in the index, some information is
not publicly available, i.e., CBI or other information whose disclosure
is restricted by statute. Certain other material, such as copyrighted
material, will be publicly available only in hard copy. Publicly
available docket materials are available either electronically at
http://www.regulations.gov/
or in hard copy at the Public
Information and Records Integrity Branch (PIRIB) (7502C), Office of
Pesticide Programs (OPP), Environmental Protection Agency, Rm. 119,
Crystal Mall #2, 1801 S. Bell St., Arlington, VA. The docket facility is
open from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal
holidays. The telephone number for the docket facility is (703) 305-5805.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Stephanie Plummer, Special Review and
Reregistration Division (7508C), Office of Pesticide Programs,
Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW.,
Washington, DC 20460-0001; telephone number: (703) 305-0076; fax
number: (703) 308-7042; e-mail address: plummer.stephanie@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.
B. What Should I Consider as I Prepare My Comments for EPA?
1. Submitting CBI. Do not submit this information to EPA through
http://www.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:
[[Page 14514]]
i. Identify the document by docket 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 Agency's revised risk assessments, a
response to comments, and related documents for carbofuran. The
Agency's environmental fate and effects risk assessment was initially
issued for comment through a Federal Register notice published on June
24, 2005 (70 FR 36586) (FRL-7719-2) and the human health risk
assessment was initially issued for comment through a Federal Register
notice published on September 14, 2005 (70 FR 54377) (FRL-7731-4). EPA
also is soliciting public comment on risk reduction options for
carbofuran and an initial alternatives analysis. EPA developed the risk
assessments for carbofuran 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).
Carbofuran works as a cholinesterase inhibitor and is used to treat
pests of food and non-food crops as either a flowable or granular
formulation. It is registered for food uses, which include alfalfa,
artichoke, banana, barley, coffee, corn (field, pop, and sweet), cotton
seed, cucurbits (cucumber, melons, and squash), grapes, oats, pepper,
plantain, potato, sorghum, soybean, spinach, sugar beet, sugarcane,
sunflower, and wheat. Carbofuran is also registered for non-food uses,
which include agricultural fallow land, cotton, ornamental and/or shade
trees, ornamental herbaceous plants, ornamental non-flowering plants,
ornamental woody shrubs and vines, pine, and tobacco. Carbofuran is
applied by aircraft or ground equipment by methods that include
broadcast, banded, in furrow, and drip irrigation.
EPA is providing an opportunity, through this notice, for
interested parties to provide risk management proposals or otherwise
comment on risk management for carbofuran. Risks of concern associated
with the use of carbofuran are: human dietary and occupational risks,
and ecological risks to birds and mammals. In targeting these risks of
concern, the Agency solicits information on effective and practical
risk reduction measures.
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.
Due to its uses, risks, and other factors, carbofuran is being reviewed
through the full 6-Phase public participation process.
All comments should be submitted using the methods in ADDRESSES,
and must be received by EPA on or before the closing date. Comments and
proposals will become part of the Agency Docket for carbofuran.
Comments received after the close of the comment period will be marked
``late.'' EPA is not required to consider these late comments.
After considering comments received, EPA will develop and issue
for comment the carbofuran IRED. The decisions presented in this IRED
may be supplemented by further risk mitigation measures when EPA
considers its cumulative assessment of the N-methyl carbamate pesticides.
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.''
Section 408(q) of the FFDCA, 21 U.S.C. 346a(q), requires EPA to
review tolerances and exemptions for pesticide residues in effect as of
August 2, 1996, to determine whether the tolerance or exemption meets
the requirements of section 408(b)(2) or (c)(2) of FFDCA. This review
is to be completed by August 3, 2006.
List of Subjects
Environmental protection, Pesticides and pests.
Dated: March 9, 2006.
Debra Edwards,
Director, Special Review and Reregistration Division, Office of
Pesticide Programs.s
[FR Doc. 06-2708 Filed 3-21-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-S