Aldicarb Risk Assessment; Notice of Availability and Risk Reduction Options, 28693-28695 [E6-7496]

Agencies

• ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 95 (Wednesday, May 17, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28693-28695]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-7496]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OPP-2005-0163; FRL-8064-8]


Aldicarb Risk Assessment; Notice of Availability and Risk 
Reduction Options

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: This notice announces the availability of EPA's Health Effects 
risk assessment, and related documents for the carbamate pesticide 
aldicarb, and opens a public comment period on these documents. EPA's 
Environmental Risk assessment has previously been released for public 
comment. The public is encouraged to suggest risk management ideas or 
proposals to address the risks identified. EPA is developing a 
Reregistration Eligibility Decision (RED) for aldicarb through a 
modified, public participation process that the Agency uses to involve 
the public in developing pesticide reregistration and tolerance 
reassessment decisions. Through these programs, EPA is ensuring that 
all pesticides meet current health and safety standards.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before July 17, 2006.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by docket identification 
(ID) number EPA-HQ-OPP-2005-0163[insert number], by one of the 
following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://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-
2005-0163[insert number]. EPA's policy is that all comments received 
will be included in the docket without change and may be made available 
on-line at https://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 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.
    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

[[Page 28694]]

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 
https://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 
for 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: Sherrie Kinard, Special Review and 
Reregistration Division (7508P), Office of Pesticide Programs, 
Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., 
Washington, DC 20460-0001; telephone number: (703) 305-0563; fax 
number: (703) 308-8005; e-mail address: sherrie.kinard@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 
www.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

A. What Action is the Agency Taking?

    EPA is releasing for public comment its human health risk 
assessment and related documents for aldicarb, a carbamate pesticide, 
and soliciting public comment on risk management ideas or proposals. 
Aldicarb is registered for use as a systemic insecticide, acaricide and 
nematicide on agricultural crops including citrus, cotton, dry beans, 
peanuts, pecans, potatoes, sorghum, soybeans, sugar beets, sugarcane, 
sweet potatoes, and seed alfalfa (CA). In addition, aldicarb may be 
applied to field grown ornamentals (CA) and tobacco, and on coffee 
grown in Puerto Rico. The types of plant pests controlled by aldicarb 
include leaf phylloxera, bud moth, citrus nematode, aphids, mites 
(citrus red, citrus rust, Texas citrus), white flies, thrips, 
fleahoppers, leafminers, leafhoppers, overwintering boll weevil (adults 
feeding on foliage), lygus, nematodes, cotton leaf perforator, seedcorn 
maggot, Mexican bean beetle, flea beetles, Colorado potato beetle, 
greenbug, chinch bug, three cornered alfalfa hopper (suppression), and 
sugar beet root maggot.
    The largest uses of aldicarb are peanuts, sweet potatoes, cotton, 
potatoes, and citrus. Aldicarb is a restricted use pesticide (RUP), and 
may be applied only in occupational settings by certified applicators. 
There are no products containing the active ingredient aldicarb which 
are intended for sale to homeowners or for occupational use in non-
occupational settings (e.g., turf or golf course). EPA developed the 
risk assessment and risk characterization for aldicarb through a 
modified version of its public process for making pesticide 
reregistration eligibility and tolerance reassessment decisions. 
Through these programs, EPA is ensuring that pesticides meet current 
standards under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act 
(FIFRA) and the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA), as 
amended by the Food Quality Protection Act of 1996 (FQPA).
    Aldicarb is formulated and marketed solely as a granular pesticide. 
Aldicarb in a vinyl binder coating is adhered to either a corn cob grit 
or gypsum substrate; these two substrates produce less dust than 
typical clay substrates used for granular pesticides. Only the gypsum 
granular is available in closed loading systems. The formulations 
consist of 5, 10 and 15% granular, which are applied early in the 
growing season, either pre-plant, at-planting, or early post-emergent, 
using ground application equipment. Labels specify use of positive 
displacement application equipment and immediate soil incorporation.
    For most crops, only one aldicarb application per season is 
allowed, but 2 or 3 split applications are permitted on sugar beets. 
The pre-harvest intervals (PHIs) are generally long due to the early 
application timing, ranging from 80 to 150 days when specified.
    EPA is providing an opportunity, through this notice, for 
interested parties to provide comments and input on the Agency's risk 
assessments for aldicarb. Such comments and input could address, for 
example, the availability of additional data to further refine the risk 
assessments, such as, additional toxicological data, worker exposure 
data, and usage information, or could address the Agency's risk 
assessment methodologies and assumptions as applied to this specific 
pesticide.
    Through this notice, EPA also is providing an opportunity for 
interested parties to provide risk management proposals for aldicarb. 
Risks of concern associated with the use of aldicarb are: acute dietary 
risk estimates for the general U.S. population and all population 
subgroups at the 99.9th percentile of exposure; acute 
aggregate food and water risk estimates for adults and children; and 
worker risk estimates for most mixers, loaders and

[[Page 28695]]

applicators. In addition, EPA is providing interested parties an 
opportunity to submit risk management proposals for ecological risks of 
concern including those to birds, mammals, fresh water and marine fish 
and invertebrates. In targeting these risks of concern, the Agency 
solicits information on effective and practical risk reduction 
measures.
    EPA seeks to achieve environmental justice, the fair treatment and 
meaningful involvement of all people, regardless of race, color, 
national origin, or income, in the development, implementation, and 
enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies. To help 
address potential environmental justice issues, the Agency seeks 
information on any groups or segments of the population who, as a 
result of their location, cultural practices, or other factors, may 
have atypical, unusually high exposure to aldicarb, compared to the 
general population.
    EPA is applying the principles of public participation to all 
pesticides undergoing reregistration and tolerance reassessment. The 
Agency's Pesticide Tolerance Reassessment and Reregistration; Public 
Participation Process, published in the Federal Register on May 14, 
2004 (69 FR 26819) (FRL-7357-9), explains that in conducting these 
programs, the Agency is tailoring its public participation process to 
be commensurate with the level of risk, extent of use, complexity of 
the issues, and degree of public concern associated with each 
pesticide. For aldicarb, a modified, 4-Phase process with one comment 
period and ample opportunity for public consultation seems appropriate 
in view of its refined risk assessment. However, if as a result of 
comments received during this comment period EPA finds that additional 
issues warranting further discussion are raised, the Agency may 
lengthen the process and include a second comment period, as needed, 
the decisions presented in the RED may be supplemented by further risk 
mitigation measures when EPA considers its cumulative assessment of the 
carbamate pesticides.
    All comments should be submitted using the methods in ADDRESSES, 
and must be received by EPA on or before the closing date. Comments 
will become part of the Agency docket for aldicarb. Comments received 
after the close of the comment period will be marked ``late.'' EPA is 
not required to consider these late comments.

B. What is the Agency's Authority for Taking this Action?

    Section 4(g)(2) of FIFRA, as amended, directs that, after 
submission of all data concerning a pesticide active ingredient, ``the 
Administrator shall determine whether pesticides containing such active 
ingredient are eligible for reregistration,'' before calling in 
product-specific data on individual end-use products and either 
reregistering products or taking other ``appropriate regulatory 
action.''
    Section 408(q) of the FFDCA, 21 U.S.C. 346a(q), requires EPA to 
review tolerances and exemptions for pesticide residues in effect as of 
August 2, 1996, to determine whether the tolerance or exemption meets 
the requirements of section 408(b)(2) or (c)(2) of FFDCA. This review 
is to be completed by August 3, 2006.

List of Subjects

    Environmental protection, Pesticides and pests.

    Dated: May 11, 2006.
Debra Edwards,
Director, Special Review and Reregistration Division, Office of 
Pesticide Programs.
[FR Doc. E6-7496 Filed 5-16-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-S