UNITED
STATES
ENVIRONMENTAL
PROTECTION
AGENCY
Washington,
D.
C.
20460
Office
of
Prevention,
Pesticides
and
Toxic
Substances
September
12,
2005
Susan
A.
Lewis,
Ph.
D.
Methyl
Bromide
Industry
Panel
1300
Wilson
Boulevard
Arlington,
VA
22209
Re:
Methyl
Bromide:
July
13,
2005
Notice
of
Availability
and
Opening
of
Comment
Period
for
Preliminary
Risk
Assessments
­
70
Fed.
Reg.
40336
Dear
Dr.
Lewis:

I
am
responding
to
your
August
31
letter
written
on
behalf
of
the
Methyl
Bromide
Industry
Panel
(
MBIP).
In
your
letter,
you
request
an
extension
of
the
current
comment
period;
ask
that
additional
information
be
made
publicly
available
in
a
legible
format;
and,
seek
clarification
on
how
calculations
were
done
in
the
assessment.
Let
me
respond
to
each
of
your
requests.

First,
a
Federal
Register
Notice
was
published
today
announcing
the
extension
of
the
comment
period
for
an
additional
30
days.
We
request
that
you
provide
your
comments
no
later
than
October
12,
2005.

Second,
all
illegible
appendices
in
the
e­
docket
have
been
replaced
in
the
e­
docket
with
legible
copies
for
public
comment.
In
addition,
we
are
placing
in
the
paper
docket
hard
copies
of
the
data
cited
in
your
letter
that
underlie
the
occupational
risk
assessment
that
were
used
to
derive
the
material
already
summarized
in
Appendix
T.
These
are
the
studies
largely
conducted
by
California
that
you
reference
in
your
letter.
However,
please
note
that
public
access
to
some
of
these
data
developed
by
industry
may
be
statutorily
limited
by
FIFRA
section
10.
Since
the
key
results
were
already
in
Appendix
T,
we
did
not
make
this
underlying
information
publicly
available
earlier,
but
are
doing
so
now
to
increase
the
transparency
of
our
calculations.
Unfortunately,
the
Agency
does
not
have
the
information
in
a
format
that
would
enable
it
to
be
posted
in
a
legible
format
on
the
web.
Third,
we
are
correcting
a
small
error
in
the
spread
sheets
that
involve
the
MOE
calculations
in
Tables
6
and
20.
We
are
going
to
post
the
revised
information
and
will
send
you
a
copy
shortly.
I
can
ensure
you
that
the
MOE
calculations
were
done
consistent
with
EPA
policy.

I
hope
the
additional
information
we
are
providing
is
helpful,
and
we
look
forward
to
receiving
your
comments
next
month.
I
also
wanted
to
let
you
know
that
we
have
a
new
Chemical
Review
Manager
on
Methyl
Bromide,
Steve
Weiss.
Steve
has
substantial
experience
in
the
occupational
and
residential
risk
assessment
field.
He
can
be
reached
on
(
703)
308­
8293.
Sue
Bartow
will
continue
to
be
involved
in
the
project
over
the
next
month
as
Steve
assumes
his
new
duties.

Sincerely,

Debra
Edwards,
Ph.
D.
Director
Special
Review
and
Reregistration
Division
Office
of
Pesticide
Programs/
USEPA
cc:
Sue
Bartow
Steve
Weiss
John
Leahy
Jeff
Dawson
