

[Federal Register: August 23, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 163)]
[Notices]               
[Page 49445-49447]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr23au06-61]                         

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OPP-2002-0202; FRL-8089-1]

 
Lindane; Notice of Receipt of Requests to Voluntarily Cancel 
Lindane Pesticide Registrations

AGENCY:  Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION:  Notice.

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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 requests by registrants to voluntarily 
cancel products containing the pesticide lindane. The requests would 
terminate the last lindane products registered for use in the U.S. EPA 
intends to grant these requests 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 
requests, or unless the registrants withdraw their requests within this 
period. Upon acceptance of these requests, any sale, distribution, or 
use of products listed in this notice will be permitted only if such 
sale, distribution, or use is consistent with the terms as described in 
the final order.

DATES:  Comments must be received on or before September 22, 2006.

ADDRESSES:  Submit your comments, identified by docket identification 
(ID) number EPA-HQ-OPP-2002-0202, 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-
2002-0202. 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 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

[[Page 49446]]

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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:  Mark T. Howard, Special Review and 
Reregistration Division (7508P), Office of Pesticide Programs, 
Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., 
Washington, DC 20460-0001; telephone number: (703) 308-8172; fax 
number: (703) 308-7070; e-mail address: howard.markt@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 
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 on the Receipt of Requests to Cancel and/or Amend 
Registrations to Delete Uses

    This notice announces receipt by EPA of requests from registrants 
AGSCO Inc., Chemtura USA Corporation, Drexel Chemical Company, and JLM 
International Inc. to cancel 12 lindane product registrations. Lindane, 
a broad spectrum, organochlorine insecticide, is used as a pre-plant 
seed treatment on six crops. In letters dated July 20, 2006 (Chemtura); 
July 25, 2006 (AGSCO); July 26, 2006 (Drexel); and July 27, 2006 (JLM), 
the registrants requested EPA to cancel the product registrations 
identified in this notice (Table 1). This action will terminate the 
last lindane products registered under FIFRA in the United States.

III. What Action is the Agency Taking?

    This notice announces receipt by EPA of requests from registrants 
to cancel lindane product registrations. The specific products and the 
registrants making the requests are identified in Tables 1 and 2 of 
this unit.
    Under section 6(f)(1)(A) of FIFRA, registrants may request, at any 
time, that their pesticide registrations be canceled or amended to 
terminate one or more pesticide uses. 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, section 
6(f)(1)(C) of FIFRA 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 Administrator determines that continued use of the pesticide 
would pose an unreasonable adverse effect on the environment.
    The lindane registrants have requested that EPA waive the 180-day 
comment period. EPA will provide a 30-day comment period on the 
proposed requests.
    Unless a request is withdrawn by the registrant within 30 days of 
publication of this notice, or if the Agency determines that there are 
substantive comments that warrant further review of this request, an 
order will be issued canceling the affected registrations.

    Table 1.--Lindane Product Registrations with Pending Requests for
                              Cancellation
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        Registration No.             Product name           Company
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400-490                           Gustafson Flowable  Chemtura USA
                                   Lindane 40%         Corporation
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400-532                           Sorghum Guard       Chemtura USA
                                                       Corporation
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400-538                           Gustafson Lindane   Chemtura USA
                                   30C Flowable        Corporation
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400-539                           Gustafson Captan    Chemtura USA
                                   Lindane 12.5-25     Corporation
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400-540                           Gustafson Vitavax-  Chemtura USA
                                   Thiram-Lindane      Corporation
                                   Flowable
                                   Fungicide
                                   Insecticide
------------------------------------------------------------------------
554-140                           DB-Green L          AGSCO Inc
------------------------------------------------------------------------

[[Page 49447]]


554-144                           Lindane ST-40       AGSCO Inc
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19713-61                          Lindane Technical   Drexel Chemical Co
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19713-191                         Lindane Technical   Drexel Chemical Co
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19713-387                         Lindane Flowable    Drexel Chemical Co
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19713-401                          Lindane 30%        Drexel Chemical Co
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82378-1                           Lindane Technical   JLM International
                                                       Inc.
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    Table 2 of this unit includes the names and addresses of record for 
the registrants of the products listed in Table 1 of this unit.

         Table 2.--Registrants Requesting Voluntary Cancellation
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              EPA Company No.                 Company name and address
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400                                         Chemtura USA Corporation
                                            199 Benson Road
                                            Middlebury, Connecticut
                                             06749
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554                                         AGSCO Inc.
                                            PO Box 13458
                                            Grand Forks North Dakota
                                             58208-3458
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19713                                       Drexel Chemical Co.
                                            1700 Channel Avenue, PO Box
                                             13327
                                            Memphis, Tennessee 38113-
                                             0327
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82378                                       JLM International Inc.
                                            8675 Hidden River Parkway
                                            Tampa, Florida 33637
------------------------------------------------------------------------

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. Thereafter, 
following the public comment period, the Administrator may approve such 
a request.

V. Procedures for Withdrawal of Request and Considerations for 
Reregistration of Lindane

    Registrants who choose to withdraw a request for cancellation must 
submit such withdrawal in writing to the person listed under FOR 
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT, postmarked before September 22, 2006. This 
written withdrawal of the request for cancellation will apply only to 
the applicable FIFRA section 6(f)(1) request listed in this notice. If 
the products have been subject to a previous cancellation action, the 
effective date of cancellation and all other provisions of any earlier 
cancellation action are controlling.

VI. Provisions for Disposition of Existing Stocks

    If the request for voluntary cancellation is granted as discussed 
above, the effective date of cancellation will be the date of the 
cancellation order. EPA intends to issue a cancellation order that will 
allow continued sale and/or use of existing stocks until such stocks 
are exhausted, provided that such further sale and use is consistent 
with the terms of the previously approved labeling on, or that 
accompany, the applicable product. It is EPA's intent that the order 
will specifically prohibit any use of existing stocks that is not 
consistent with such previously approved labeling.

List of Subjects

    Environmental protection, Pesticides and pests.


    Dated: August 14, 2006.

Debra Edwards,

Director, Special Review and Reregistration Division, Office of 
Pesticide Programs.
[FR Doc. E6-13955 Filed 8-22-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-507-S


