AGENCY:
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION:
Final rule; technical amendment.
SUMMARY:
This document makes minor revisions to the terminology of certain commodity terms listed under 40 CFR part 180, subpart C. EPA is taking this action to establish a uniform listing of commodity terms.
DATES:
This Direct Final Rule is effective on November 2, 2007 without notice, unless EPA receives adverse comment by October 18, 2007. If EPA receives adverse comments, EPA will publish a Federal Register document to withdraw the direct final rule before the effective date.
If this Direct Final Rule becomes effective on November 2, 2007, any person may file objections and request for hearings on those objections. Objections and requests for hearings must be received on or before November 19, 2007. For direct final rules, the date of issuance is considered to be the effective date. Objections and hearings must be filed in accordance with the instructions provided in 40 CFR part 178 (see also Unit I.C. of the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION).
ADDRESSES:
EPA has established a docket for this action under docket identification (ID) number EPA-HQ-OPP-2002-0043. All documents in the docket are listed in the index for the docket. Although listed in the index, some information is not publicly available, e.g., Confidential Business Information (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 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 Docket Facility is open 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:
Stephen Schaible, Registration Division (7505P), Office of Pesticide Programs, Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460-0001; telephone number: (703) 308-9362; fax number: (703) 305-6920; e-mail address: schaible.stephen@epa.gov.
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), e.g., agricultural workers; greenhouse, nursery, and floriculture workers; farmers.
- Animal production (NAICS code 112), e.g., cattle ranchers and farmers, dairy cattle farmers, livestock farmers.
- Food manufacturer (NAICS code 311), e.g., agricultural workers; farmers; greenhouse, nursery, and floriculture workers; ranchers; pesticide applicators.
- Pesticide manufacturer (NAICS code 32532), e.g., agricultural workers; commercial applicators; farmers; greenhouse, nursery, and floriculture workers; residential users.
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 under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
B. How Can I Access Electronic Copies of this Document?
In addition to accessing an electronic copy of this Federal Register document through the electronic docket at http://www.regulations.gov , you may access this “Federal Register” document electronically through the EPA Internet under the “Federal Register” listings at http://www.epa.gov/fedrgstr . You may also access a frequently updated electronic version of 40 CFR part 180 through the Government Printing Office's pilot e-CFR site at http://www.gpoaccess.gov/ecfr. To access the OPPTS Harmonized Guidelines referenced in this document, go directly to the guidelines at http://www.epa.gpo/opptsfrs/home/guidelin.htm.
C. Can I File an Objection or Hearing Request?
Under section 408(g) of the FFDCA, as amended by the FQPA, any person may file an objection to any aspect of this regulation and may also request a hearing on those objections. The EPA procedural regulations which govern the submission of objections and requests for hearings appear in 40 CFR part 178. You must file your objection or request a hearing on this regulation in accordance with the instructions provided in 40 CFR part 178. To ensure proper receipt by EPA, you must identify docket ID number EPA-HQ-OPP-2002-0043 in the subject line on the first page of your submission. All requests must be in writing, and must be mailed or delivered to the Hearing Clerk on or before November 19, 2007.
In addition to filing an objection or hearing request with the Hearing Clerk as described in 40 CFR part 178, please submit a copy of the filing that does not contain any CBI for inclusion in the public docket that is described in ADDRESSES. Information not marked confidential pursuant to 40 CFR part 2 may be disclosed publicly by EPA without prior notice. Submit your copies, identified by docket ID number EPA-HQ-OPP-2002-0043, 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.
II. Background
EPA's Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP) has developed a commodity vocabulary data base entitled “Food and Feed Commodity Vocabulary.” The data base was developed to consolidate all the major OPP commodity vocabularies into one standardized vocabulary. As a result, all future pesticide tolerances issued under 40 CFR part 180 will use the “preferred commodity term” as listed in the aforementioned data base. This is the sixth in a series of documents revising the terminology of commodity terms currently in tolerances in 40 CFR part 180. Final rules, revising pesticide tolerance nomenclature, were published in the Federal Register on June 19, 2002 (67 FR 41802) (FRL-6835-2); June 21, 2002 (67 FR 42392) (FRL-7180-1); on July 1, 2003 (68 FR 39428) (FRL-7308-9); (68 FR 39435) (FRL-7316-9); and December 13, 2006 (71 FR 74802) (FRL-8064-3).
A.What action is the Agency Taking?
In this rule, EPA is amending tolerance commodity terms as follows:
1. The first letter of the commodity term is capitalized. All other letters, including the first letter of proper names, are changed to lower case.
2. Commodity terms are listed in the singular, although there are the following exceptions: “leaves”, “roots”, “tops”, “greens”, “hulls”, “vines”, “fractions”, “shoots”, and “byproducts”.
3. Commodity terms are amended so that generic terms precede modifying terms. Example - “Aspirated grain fractions” is replaced with “Grain, aspirated fractions”.
4. Parentheses are replaced with commas. Examples: “Almond (hulls)” is replaced with “Almond, hulls”. “Peppermint (tops)” is replaced with “Peppermint, tops”. “Sugarcane (cane)” is replaced with “Sugarcane, cane”.
5. Abbreviated terms are replaced with the appropriate commodity terms. Examples - “Cattle, mbyp”; “Goat, mbyb”; “Hog, mbyp”; “Horse, mbyp” and “Sheep, mbyp” are replaced with “Cattle, meat byproducts”; “Goat, meat byproducts”; “Hog, meat byproducts”; “Horse, meat byproducts” and “Sheep, meat byproducts”.
6. Crop group terms are revised to standardize with the Food and Feed Vocabulary. Examples of these types of changes are:
“Leafy vegetables except Brassica” is replaced with “Vegetable, leafy, except brassica, group 4”.
“Brassica, head and stem, subgroup” is replaced with “Brassica, head and stem, subgroup 5A”.
“Cucurbit, vegetables (Group 9)” is replaced with “Vegetable, cucurbit, group 9”.
“Dried, shelled pea and bean, except soybean (Crop Subgroup 6C)” is replaced with “Pea and bean, dried shelled, except soybean, subgroup 6C”.
“Forage, fodder and straw of Grain, cereal” is replaced with “Grain, cereal, forage, fodder and straw, group 16”.
“Nongrass animal feed” is replaced with “Animal feed, nongrass, group 18”.
B. Additional Changes
In addition to format changes to the commodity terms, this document also includes many revisions to the commodity terms. These revisions replace certain commodity terms that are no longer used by EPA with the appropriate matching term in the “Food and Feed Vocabulary”. For example:
“Dry bulb onion” and “Onion, dry bulb” are replaced with “Onion, bulb”. “Filbert” is replaced with “Hazelnut”. “Peppermint” and “Spearmint” are replaced with “Peppermint, tops” and “Spearmint, tops”. “Cotton seed” and “Cottonseed” are replaced with “Cotton, undelinted seed”. “Beet, sugar” is replaced with “Beet, sugar, roots”. “Sorghum, grain” is replaced with “Sorghum, grain, grain”. “Sugarcane, fodder” is replaced with “Sugarcane, stover”.
“Corn, fresh (inc sweet corn), kernel plus cob with husks removed”; “Corn, fresh (inc sweet, kernel plus cob with husks removed)”; “Corn, fresh (inc. sweet, kernel plus cob with husks removed)”; “Corn, fresh (including sweet K and corn with husks removed (CWHR)”; “Corn, fresh (including sweet kernels plus cobs with husks removed)”; “Corn, fresh (including sweet, kernel plus cob with husks removed)”; “Corn, fresh, sweet, kernel plus cob with husks removed”; “Corn, sweet grain, kernel plus cob with husks removed”; and “Corn, sweet kernel plus cob with husks removed” are replaced with “Corn, sweet, kernel plus cob with husks removed”.
“Potato processing waste”; “Potato, waste”; “Potato, waste, dried, processed”; “Potato waste, processed (wet and dry)”; and “Processed, dried potato waste”; are replaced with “Potato, processed potato waste”.
This document also deletes certain terms that are not needed to identify the tolerance commodities.
Examples:
1. The terms “nutmeat” and “nutmeats” when used in association with the tree nut crops or peanut are not needed. For tree nut crops, nutmeat and almond hulls are the only edible portions of the crop consumed. Therefore, OPP's Food and Feed Commodity Vocabulary uses the commodity terms “Almond”, “Pecan”, “Walnut”, etc. for the tree nuts and the commodity term “Peanut” is used in place of “Peanut, nutmeat”.
2. The term “Endive (escarole)” is changed to “Endive” since the term “Endive” includes escarole.
3. The term “Banana (includes plantains)” is changed to “Banana” since the Food and Feed Vocabulary uses the term “Banana” includes plantains.
4. The terms “Ginger, roots” and “Ginseng, roots” are changed to “Ginger” and “Ginseng” since the roots are the only edible portion of the crop generally consumed.
C. Why is this Technical Amendment Issued as a Final Rule?
Section 553 of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), 5 U.S.C.553(b)(B), provides that, when an agency for good cause finds that notice and public procedure are impracticable, unnecessary or contrary to the public interest, the agency may issue a rule without providing notice and an opportunity for public comment. EPA has determined that there is good cause for making today's technical amendment final without prior proposal and opportunity for comment, because today's action revises commodity terms listed under 40 CFR part 180, subpart C, in a manner that clearly will have no impact on the meaning of the tolerance regulations. For example, today's action revises commodity terms so that most are in singular (e.g., “Orange”) instead of the plural (e.g., “Oranges”). A complete description of the types of changes that are being made has been provided above. EPA has determined that there is no need for public comment on such ministerial changes and thus that there is good cause under 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B) for dispensing with public comment. While EPA believes that it has correctly identified all instances where these above-listed revisions need to be made, the Agency would appreciate readers notifying EPA of discrepancies, omissions, or technical problems by submitting them to the address or e-mail under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. These will be corrected in a future rule.
IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
This final rule makes technical amendments to the Code of Federal Regulations which have no substantive impact on the underlying regulations, and it does not otherwise impose or amend any requirements. As such, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has determined that a technical amendment is not a “significant regulatory action” subject to review by OMB under Executive Order 12866, entitled Regulatory Planning and Review (58 FR 51735, October 4, 1993). Because this final rule has been exempted from review under Executive Order 12866 due to its lack of significance, this final rule is not subject to Executive Order 13211, Actions Concerning Regulations That Significantly Affect Energy Supply, Distribution, or Use (66 FR 28355, May 22, 2001). This final rule does not contain any information collections subject to OMB approval under the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA), 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq., or impose any enforceable duty or contain any unfunded mandate as described under Title II of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (UMRA) (Public Law 104-4). Nor does it require any special considerations under Executive Order 12898, entitled Federal Actions to Address Environmental Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income Populations (59 FR 7629, February 16, 1994); or OMB review or any Agency action under Executive Order 13045, entitled Protection of Children from Environmental Health Risks and Safety Risks (62 FR 19885, April 23, 1997). This action does not involve any technical standards that would require Agency consideration of voluntary consensus standards pursuant to section 12(d) of the National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995 (NTTAA), Public Law 104-113, section 12(d) (15 U.S.C. 272 note). The Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) (5 U.S.C. 601et seq.) generally requires an agency to prepare a regulatory flexibility analysis of any rule subject to notice and comment rulemaking requirements under the Administrative Procedure Act or any other statute unless the agency certifies that the rule will not have a significant impact on a substantial number of small entities. Small entities include small businesses, small organizations, and small governmental organizations. After considering the economic impacts of today's final rule on small entities, I certify that this action will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. This action proposes technical amendments to the Code of Federal Regulations which have no substantive impact on the underlying regulations. This technical amendment will not have any negative economic impact on any entities, including small entities. In addition, the Agency has determined that this action will not have a substantial direct effect on States, on the relationship between the national government and the States, or on the distribution of power and responsibilities among the various levels of government, as specified in Executive Order 13132, entitled Federalism (64 FR 43255, August 10, 1999).Executive Order 13132 requires EPA to develop an accountable process to ensure “meaningful and timely input by State and local officials in the development of regulatory policies that have federalism implications.” “Policies that have federalism implications” is defined in the Executive Order to include regulations that have “substantial direct effects on the States, on the relationship between the national government and the States, or on the distribution of power and responsibilities among the various levels of government.” This final rule directly regulates growers, food processors, food handlers and food retailers, not States. This action does not alter the relationships or distribution of power and responsibilities established by Congress in the preemption provisions of section 408(n)(4) of the FFDCA. For these same reasons, the Agency has determined that this final rule does not have any “tribal implications” as described in Executive Order 13175, entitled Consultation and Coordination with Indian Tribal Governments (65 FR 67249, November 6, 2000). Executive Order 13175, requires EPA to develop an accountable process to ensure “meaningful and timely input by tribal officials in the development of regulatory policies that have tribal implications.” “Policies that have tribal implications” is defined in the Executive Order to include regulations that have “substantial direct effects on one or more Indian tribes, on the relationship between the Federal Government and the Indian tribes, or on the distribution of power and responsibilities between the Federal Government and Indian tribes.” This final rule will not have substantial direct effects on tribal governments, on the relationship between the Federal Government and Indian tribes, or on the distribution of power and responsibilities between the Federal Government and Indian tribes, as specified in Executive Order 13175. Thus, Executive Order 13175 does not apply to this final rule.
V. Congressional Review Act
The Congressional Review Act, 5 U.S.C. 801 et seq., as added by the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996, generally provides that before a rule may take effect, the agency promulgating the rule must submit a rule report, which includes a copy of the rule, to each House of the Congress and to the Comptroller General of the United States. EPA will submit a report containing this rule and other required information to the U.S. Senate, the U.S. House of Representatives, and the Comptroller General of the United States prior to publication of this final rule in the Federal Register. This final rule is not a “major rule” as defined by 5 U.S.C. 804(2).
Lists of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 180
- Environmental protection
- Administrative practice and procedure
- Agricultural commodities
- Pesticides and pest
- Reporting and recordkeeping requirements
Dated: September 4, 2007.
Debra Edwards,
Director, Office of Pesticide Programs.
Therefore, 40 CFR chapter I, part 180 is amended as follows:
PART 180—[AMENDED]
1. The authority citation for part 180 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 21 U.S.C. 321(q), 346a, and 371.
PART 180—[AMENDED]
2. Part 180 is amended as follows:
[FR Doc. E7-18159 Filed 9-17-07; 8:45 a.m.]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-S