Notice of Filing of Pesticide Petitions for Residues of Pesticide Chemicals in or on Various Commodities

AGENCY:

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

This notice announces the initial filing of pesticide petitions proposing the establishment or modification of regulations for residues of pesticide chemicals in or on various commodities.

DATES:

Comments must be received on or before August 24, 2007.

ADDRESSES:

Submit your comments, identified by docket identification (ID) number EPA-HQ-OPP-2006-0936 and the pesticide petition number (PP) of interest, 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 Bldg.), 2777 S. Crystal Dr., 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 Facility telephone number is (703) 305-5805.

Instructions: Direct your comments to the assigned docket ID number and the pesticide petition number of interest. 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 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 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 available in regulations.gov. To access the electronic docket, go to http://www.regulations.gov , select “Advanced Search,” then “Docket Search.” Insert the docket ID number where indicated and select the “Submit” button. Follow the instructions on the regulations.gov Web site to view the docket index or access available documents. 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. Publicly available docket materials are available electronically 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:

The person listed at the end of the pesticide petition summary of interest.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. General Information

A. Does this Action Apply to Me?

You may be potentially affected by this action if you are an agricultural producer, food manufacturer, or pesticide manufacturer. Potentially affected entities may include, but are not limited to:

• Crop production (NAICS code 111).
• Animal production (NAICS code 112).
• Food manufacturing (NAICS code 311).
• Pesticide manufacturing (NAICS code 32532).

This listing is not intended to be exhaustive, but rather provides a guide for readers regarding entities likely to be affected by this action. Other types of entities not listed in this unit could also be affected. The North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) codes have been provided to assist you and others in determining whether this action might apply to certain entities. If you have any questions regarding the applicability of this action to a particular entity, consult the person listed at the end of the pesticide petition summary of interest.

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. Docket ID Numbers

When submitting comments, please use the docket ID number and the pesticide petition number of interest, as shown in the table.

III. What Action is the Agency Taking?

EPA is printing notice of the filing of pesticide petitions received under section 408 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA), 21 U.S.C. 346a, proposing the establishment or modification of regulations in 40 CFR part 180 for residues of pesticide chemicals in or on various food commodities. EPA has determined that the pesticide petitions described in this notice contain data or information regarding the elements set forth in FFDCA section 408(d)(2); however, EPA has not fully evaluated the sufficiency of the submitted data at this time or whether the data support granting of the pesticide petitions. Additional data may be needed before EPA rules on these pesticide petitions.

Pursuant to 40 CFR 180.7(f), a summary of each of the petitions included in this notice, prepared by the petitioner, is included in a docket EPA has created for each rulemaking. The docket for each of the petitions is available on-line at http://www.regulations.gov .

New Tolerances

1. PP 6E7103 . (Docket ID number EPA-HQ-OPP-2007-0460). BASF Corporation, 26 Davis Drive, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709, proposes to establish a tolerance for residues of the fungicide dithianon in or on food commodity grapes at 8 parts per million (ppm). An analytical method using high performance liquid chromatography with ultraviolet (UV) detection was used to determine the residues of dithianon on grapes. This method has been confirmed through independent laboratory validations. Contact: Rosemary Kearns; telephone number: (703) 305-5611; e-mail address: kearns.rosemary@epa.gov.

2. PP 7E7199 . (Docket ID number EPA-HQ-OPP-2007-0438). Interregional Research Project Number 4 (IR-4), 500 College Road East, Suite 201 W., Princeton, NJ 08540-6635, proposes to establish a tolerance for residues of the insecticide novaluron (1-[3-chloro-4-(1,1,2-trifluoro-2-trifluoromethoxyethoxy)phenyl]-3-[2,6-difluorobenzoyl]urea) in or on food commodities: Tomato at 0.40 ppm; tomato, paste at 0.80 ppm; and sugarcane, cane at 0.50 ppm. Makhteshim-Agan of North America, Inc., 4515 Falls of Neuse Road, Raleigh, NC 27609, is the manufacturer and basic registrant of novaluron. Makhteshim-Agan of North America Inc., prepared and summarized the following information in support of the pesticide petition for novaluron. An adequate analytical method, gas chromatography/electron capture detector (GC/ECD), is available for enforcing tolerances of novaluron residues in or on tomatoes, sugarcane and its processed commodities, as published in the Federal Register of April 5, 2006 (71 FR 17009) (FRL-7756-8). Based on the sample size and dilution factors, the limit of quantitation (LOQ) in matrix was equal to the lowest concentration level for the validation analyses. The method verification trial supports a LOQ of 0.05 ppm in the different tomato and sugarcane matrices. The LOQ = 0.05 ppm was taken as the lowest level validated by this method. Contact: Susan Stanton; telephone number: (703) 305-5218; e-mail address: stanton.susan@epa.gov.

3. PP 7E7207 . (Docket ID number EPA-HQ-OPP-2007-0426). Interregional Research Project Number 4 (IR-4), 500 College Road East, Suite 201 W., Princeton, NJ 08540-6635, proposes to establish a tolerance for residues of the insecticide buprofezin, in or on food commodities: Vegetable, leafy, except Brassica, group 4 at 25 ppm; olive at 3.0 ppm; olive, oil at 9.0 ppm; strawberry, bearberry, bilberry, lowbush blueberry, cloudberry, cranberry, lingonberry, muntries and partridge berry at 2.5 ppm. This summary has been prepared by Nichino America, Inc., Wilmington, DE 19808, the registrant. The proposed analytical method involves extraction, partition, clean-up and detection of residues by gas chromatography using nitrogen phosphorous detection. Contact: Susan Stanton; telephone number: (703) 305-5218; e-mail address: stanton.susan@epa.gov.

4. PP 7F7184 . (Docket ID number EPA-HQ-OPP-2007-00461). Syngenta Crop Protection, Inc., P.O. Box 18300, Greensboro, NC 27419, proposes to establish a tolerance for residues of the fungicide mandipropamid, (benzeneacetamide, 4-chloro-N-[2-[3-methoxy-4-(2-propynyloxy) phenyl]ethyl]-alpha-(2-propynyloxy)) in or on food commodity vegetables, leafy at 15 ppm. Analytical method RAM 415-01 was developed for determination of mandipropamid residues in crops. This method involves extraction of mandipropamid residues from crop samples by homogenization with acetonitrile: Water (80:20 v/v). Extracts are centrifuged and aliquots diluted with water prior to being cleaned-up using polymeric solid-phase extraction cartridges. Residues of mandipropamid are quantified using high performance liquid chromatography with triple quadruple mass spectrometric detection (LC-MS/MS). This method has been successfully validated at an independent facility and therefore is suitable for use as the enforcement method for the determination of residues of mandipropamid in crops. The multi-residue method was not successful at determining residues of mandipropamid. Contact: Rosemary Kearns; telephone number: (703) 305-5611; e-mail address: kearns.rosemary@epa.gov.

5. PP 6F7119 . (Docket ID number EPA-HQ-OPP-2007-00475). Bayer CropScience LLC, 2 T. W. Alexander Dr., Research Triangle Park, NC 27709, proposes to establish a tolerance for residues of the insecticide spirotetramat, cis-3-(2,5-dimethylphenyl)-8-methoxy-2-oxo-1-azaspiro[4.5]dec-3-en-4-yl ethyl carbonate and its metabolite cis-3-(2,5-dimethylphenyl)-4-hydroxy-8-methoxy- 1-azaspiro[4.5]dec-3-en-2-one], calculated as spirotetramat equivalents in or on food commodities: Vegetable, tuberous and corm, subgroup 1C at 1.0 ppm; potato, granules/flakes at 2.5 ppm; onions, dry bulb, subgroup 3A at 0.3 ppm; vegetables, leafy, except Brassica, group 4 at 5.0 ppm; Brassica, head and stem, subgroup 5A at 3.0 ppm; Brassica, leafy greens, subgroup 5B at 16.0 ppm; vegetables, fruiting, group 8 at 1.0 ppm; tomato, dried pomace at 2.5 ppm; vegetable, cucurbit, group 9 at 0.2 ppm; fruit, citrus, group 10 at 0.5 ppm; citrus, oil at 4.0 ppm; fruit, pome, group 11 at 0.5 ppm; fruit, stone, group 12 at 2.0 ppm; nut, tree, group 14 at 0.5 ppm; almond, hulls at 9.0 ppm; grape at 1.0 ppm; grape, raisin at 2.5 ppm; hop at 10.0 ppm; strawberry at 0.5 ppm; cattle, goat, hog, sheep and horse, meat at 0.01 ppm; cattle, goat, hog, sheep and horse, fat at 0.01 ppm; cattle, goat, hog, sheep and horse, liver at 0.01 ppm; cattle, goat, hog, sheep and horse, meat byproducts, except liver at 0.02 ppm. The residues of spirotetramat and its metabolites were quantified by high pressure liquid chromatography/triple stage quadrupole mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) using the stable isotopically labeled analytes as internal standards. The individual analyte residues were converted to spirotetramat molar equivalents and summed to give total spirotetramat residues. The LOQ for each analyte was 0.01 ppm for all commodities except citrus (0.05 ppm) and hops (0.1 ppm). Contact: Rita Kumar, telephone number: (703) 308-8291; e-mail address: kumar.rita@epa.gov.

List of Subjects

• Environmental protection
• Agricultural commodities
• Feed additives
• Food additives
• Pesticides and pests
• Reporting and recordkeeping requirements