
[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 81 (Wednesday, April 28, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 22404-22406]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-9460]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OPP-2009-0760;FRL-8822-1]


Clofencet; Notice of Receipt of Request to Voluntarily Cancel 
Certain 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 a request by the registrant to voluntarily cancel 
their registrations of certain products containing the pesticide 
clofencet. The request would delete clofencet use as a plant growth 
regulator registered for use in the production of hybrid wheat seed. 
The request would terminate the last clofencet products registered for 
use in the United States. EPA intends to grant this request 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 request, or unless the registrant 
withdraws its request. If this request is granted, any sale, 
distribution, or use of products listed in this notice will be 
permitted after the registrations have been cancelled 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 May 28, 2010.

ADDRESSES:  Submit your comments, identified by docket identification 
(ID) number EPA-HQ-OPP-2009-0760, by one of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the on-line instructions for submitting comments.

[[Page 22405]]

     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 
Bldg.), 2777 S. Crystal Dr., Arlington, VA. Deliveries are only 
accepted during the Docket Facility'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 Facility telephone number is (703) 305-5805.
    Instructions: Direct your comments to docket ID number EPA-HQ-OPP-
2009-0760. 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 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.
     All documents in the docket are listed in the docket index 
available at http://www.regulations.gov. 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 Bldg.), 2777 S. Crystal Dr., 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 Facility telephone 
number is (703) 305-5805.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:  Wilhelmena Livingston, Pesticide Re-
evaluation Division (7508P), Office of Pesticide Programs, 
Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., 
Washington, DC 20460-0001; telephone number: (703) 308-8025; fax 
number: (703) 308-8005; e-mail address: livingston.wilhelmena@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

    This notice announces receipt by EPA of a request from the 
registrant, Monsanto Company, to cancel certain clofencet product 
registrations. Clofencet is a plant growth regulator for use in the 
production of hybrid wheat seed. Clofencet is applied to female wheat 
plants during specific growth phases in order to suppress pollen 
development, thereby, forcing fertilization to occur from male plants 
located adjacent to the treated plants. In a letter dated February 5, 
2010, Monsanto Company requested EPA to cancel the pesticide product 
registrations identified in Table 1. Specifically, Monsanto Company, 
the sole registrant of this active ingredient, no longer wishes to 
support the registration of this active ingredient or support it in the 
Registration Review process. The action on the registrant's request 
will terminate the last clofencet products registered in the United 
States.

III. What Action is the Agency Taking?

    This notice announces receipt by EPA of a request from a registrant 
to cancel certain uses of clofencet product registrations. The affected 
products and the registrant making the requests are identified in 
Tables 1 and 2 of this unit.
     Unless a request is withdrawn by the registrant or if the Agency 
determines that there are substantive comments that warrant further 
review of this request, EPA intends to issue an order canceling the 
affected registrations.

[[Page 22406]]



   Table 1.--Clofencet Product Registrations with Pending Requests for
                              Cancellation
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       Registration Number           Product Name           Company
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524-479                           Genesis             Monsanto Company
                                   Hybridizing Agent
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524-481                           Mon 21200           Monsanto Company
                                   Technical
                                   Registration
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524-482                           Mon 21233           Monsanto Company
                                   Manufacturing Use
                                   Product
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Table 2 of this unit includes the name and address of record for 
the registrant of the products listed in Table 1 of this unit. This 
number corresponds to the first part of the EPA registration numbers of 
the products listed above.

         Table 2.--Registrants Requesting Voluntary Cancellation
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            EPA Company Number                Company Name and Address
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524                                         Monsanto Company
                                            1300 I Street N.W.
                                            Suite 450 East
                                            East Washington, DC 20005
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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. 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 clofencet registrant has requested that EPA waive the 180-day 
comment period. Accordingly, EPA will provide a 30-day comment period 
on the proposed requests.

V. Procedures for Withdrawal of Requests

    Registrants who choose to withdraw a request for product 
cancellation or use deletion should submit the withdrawal in writing to 
the person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. If the 
products(s) 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

    Existing stocks are those stocks of registered pesticide products 
that are currently in the United States and that were packaged, 
labeled, and released for shipment prior to the effective date of the 
action. If the request for voluntary cancellation is granted, the 
Agency intends to publish the cancellation order in the Federal 
Register.
     In any order issued in response to this request for cancellation 
of product registrations, EPA proposes to include the following 
provisions for the treatment of any existing stocks of the products 
listed in Table 1.
    For voluntary product cancellations, registrants will be permitted 
to sell and distribute existing stocks of voluntarily canceled products 
for 1 year after the effective date of the cancellation, which will be 
the date of publication of the cancellation order in the Federal 
Register. Thereafter, registrants will be prohibited from selling or 
distributing the products identified in Table 1, except for export 
consistent with section 17 of FIFRA or for proper disposal.
     Persons other than the registrant may sell, distribute, or use 
existing stocks of canceled products until supplies are exhausted, 
provided that such sale, distribution, or use is consistent with the 
terms of the previously approved labeling on, or that accompanied, the 
canceled products.

List of Subjects

    Environmental protection, Pesticides and pests.

    Dated: April 16, 2010.
Richard P. Keigwin, Jr.,
Director, Pesticide Re-evaluation Division, Office of Pesticide 
Programs.
[FR Doc. 2010-9460 Filed 4-27-10; 8:45 a.m.]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-S


