Sodium Fluoride Risk Assessment; Notice of Availability and Risk Reduction Options, 57569-57571 [E7-19940]
Download as PDF
Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 195 / Wednesday, October 10, 2007 / Notices
rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with NOTICES
Advisory Board (SAB) Staff Office
announces a public teleconference of
the Clean Air Scientific Advisory
Committee (CASAC) Oxides of Nitrogen
(NOX) and Sulfur Oxides (SOX)
Secondary National Ambient Air
Quality Standards (NAAQS) Review
Panel (CASAC Panel) to conduct a
consultation on EPA’s Draft Plan for
Review of the Secondary National
Ambient Air Quality Standards for
Nitrogen Dioxide and Sulfur Dioxide
(September 2007).
DATES: The teleconference meeting will
be held on Tuesday, October 30, 2007,
from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. (Eastern Time).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Any
member of the public who wishes to
obtain general information concerning
this public teleconference may contact
Ms. Kyndall Barry, Designated Federal
Officer (DFO), EPA Science Advisory
Board (1400F), U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania
Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20460;
via telephone/voice mail: (202) 343–
9868; fax: (202) 233–0643; or e-mail at:
barry.kyndall@epa.gov. General
information concerning the CASAC or
the EPA SAB can be found on the EPA
Web site at https://www.epa.gov/sab.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The Clean Air Scientific Advisory
Committee (CASAC) was established
under section 109(d)(2) of the Clean Air
Act (CAA or Act) (42 U.S.C. 7409) as an
independent scientific advisory
committee. CASAC provides advice,
information and recommendations on
the scientific and technical aspects of
air quality criteria and national ambient
air quality standards (NAAQS) under
sections 108 and 109 of the Act. The
CASAC is a Federal advisory committee
chartered under the Federal Advisory
Committee Act (FACA), as amended, 5
U.S.C., App. The Panel will comply
with the provisions of FACA and all
appropriate SAB Staff Office procedural
policies.
Section 109(d)(1) of the CAA requires
that the Agency periodically review and
revise, as appropriate, the air quality
criteria and the NAAQS for the six
‘‘criteria’’ air pollutants, including NOX
and SOX. EPA is currently reviewing the
secondary (welfare-based) NAAQS for
NOX and SOX. The purpose of this
public teleconference meeting is to
provide consultative advice on the
Agency’s Draft Plan for Review of the
Secondary National Ambient Air
Quality Standards for Nitrogen Dioxide
and Sulfur Dioxide (September 2007).
Availability of Meeting Materials: The
Draft Plan for Review of the Secondary
VerDate Aug<31>2005
17:08 Oct 09, 2007
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National Ambient Air Quality
Standards for Nitrogen Dioxide and
Sulfur Dioxide (September 2007) is
available on the EPA’s Web site at
https://www.epa.gov/ttn/naaqs/
standards/no2so2sec/cr_pd.html. For
questions and information regarding the
Agency’s draft document, please contact
Dr. Anne Rea at (919) 541–0053 or
rea.anne@epa.gov. The agenda and
other materials for this CASAC
teleconference will be posted on the
SAB Web site at https://www.epa.gov/
sab/panels/
casac_nox_and_sox_secondary
panel.htm prior to the meeting.
Procedures for Providing Public Input:
Interested members of the public may
submit relevant written or oral
information for the CASAC NOX and
SOX Secondary NAAQS Review Panel
to consider during the advisory process.
Oral Statements: In general, individuals
or groups requesting an oral
presentation at a public teleconference
will be limited to three minutes per
speaker, with no more than a total of 30
minutes for all speakers. Interested
parties should contact Ms. Barry, DFO,
in writing (preferably via e-mail), by
October 23, 2007, at the contact
information noted above, to be placed
on the list of public speakers for this
meeting. Written Statements: Written
statements should be received in the
SAB Staff Office by the same date, so
that the information may be made
available to the CASAC Panel for its
consideration prior to this
teleconference. Written statements
should be supplied to the DFO in the
following formats: One hard copy with
original signature and one electronic
copy via e-mail (acceptable file format:
Adobe Acrobat PDF, MS Word,
WordPerfect, MS PowerPoint, or Rich
Text files in IBM–PC/Windows 98/
2000/XP format).
Accessibility: For information on
access or services for individuals with
disabilities, please contact Ms. Barry at
the phone number or e-mail address
noted above, preferably at least ten days
prior to the meeting, to give EPA as
much time as possible to process your
request.
Dated: October 2, 2007.
Anthony F. Maciorowski,
Deputy Director, EPA Science Advisory Board
Staff Office.
[FR Doc. E7–19938 Filed 10–9–07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560–50–P
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
AGENCY
[EPA–HQ–OPP–2007–0833; FRL–8150–7]
Sodium Fluoride Risk Assessment;
Notice of Availability and Risk
Reduction Options
Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice.
AGENCY:
SUMMARY: This notice announces the
availability of EPA’s risk assessment,
and related documents for the pesticide
Sodium Fluoride and opens a public
comment period on these documents.
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 Sodium Fluoride
through a modified, 4–Phase public
participation process that the Agency
uses to involve the public in developing
pesticide reregistration decisions.
Through this program, EPA is ensuring
that all pesticides meet current health
and safety standards.
DATES: Comments must be received on
or before December 10, 2007.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments,
identified by docket identification (ID)
number EPA–HQ–OPP–2007–0833, 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 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
docket ID number EPA–HQ–OPP–2007–
0833 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.
E:\FR\FM\10OCN1.SGM
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rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with NOTICES
57570
Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 195 / Wednesday, October 10, 2007 / Notices
Do not submit information that you
consider to be CBI or otherwise
protected through regulations.gov or email. 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.
Docket: All documents in the docket
are listed in the docket index available
in regulations.gov. To access the
electronic docket, go to https://
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
website 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
form. Publicly available docket
materials are available either 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 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:
SanYvette Williams, Antimicrobials
Division (7510P), Office of Pesticide
Programs, Environmental Protection
Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW.,
Washington, DC 20460-0001; telephone
number: (703) 305–7702; fax number:
(703) 308–6467; e-mail address:
williams.sanyvette@epa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
VerDate Aug<31>2005
17:08 Oct 09, 2007
Jkt 214001
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.
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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 and environmental
fate and effects risk assessments and
related documents for Sodium Fluoride
and soliciting public comment on risk
management ideas or proposals. Sodium
Fluoride is currently registered for
commercial use only as a wood
preservative for utility poles and
railroad ties. Sodium Fluoride products
are used as supplemental wood
treatments and are not intended for
primary wood preservative or pressure
treated wood preservation. EPA
developed the risk assessments and risk
characterization for Sodium Fluoride
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).
EPA is providing an opportunity,
through this notice, for interested
parties to provide comments and input
on the Agency’s risk assessments for
Sodium Fluoride. Such comments and
input could address, for example, the
availability of additional data to further
refine the risk assessments, such as a
dermal absorption study or a repeated
dose dermal toxicity study (90–day) to
determine the route-specific NOAEL.
This information could refine 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 or otherwise comment on risk
management for Sodium Fluoride.
There are risks of concern associated
with brush on applications of sodium
fluoride to distribution and
transmission utility poles. 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
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Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 195 / Wednesday, October 10, 2007 / Notices
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
Sodium fluoride 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 Sodium Fluoride a modified, 4–
Phase process with 1 comment period
and ample opportunity for public
consultation seems appropriate in view
of its refined risk assessments and/or
other factors. 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.
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 Sodium
Fluoride. 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?
rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with NOTICES
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 enduse products and either reregistering
products or taking other ‘‘appropriate
regulatory action.’’
List of Subjects
Environmental protection, Pesticides
and pests, antimicrobials, sodium
fluoride.
VerDate Aug<31>2005
17:08 Oct 09, 2007
Jkt 214001
Dated: September 26, 2007.
Betty Shackleford,
Acting Director, Antimicrobials Division,
Office of Pesticide Programs.
[FR Doc. E7–19940 Filed 10–9–07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560–50–S
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
AGENCY
[EPA–HQ–OPP–2004-0340; FRL–8151–8]
Disulfoton; Order to Amend
Registrations to Terminate Uses
Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice.
AGENCY:
SUMMARY: This notice announces EPA’s
order for the cancellation, voluntarily
requested by the registrant and accepted
by the Agency, of certain products
containing the pesticide disulfoton,
pursuant to section 6(f)(1) of the Federal
Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide
Act (FIFRA), as amended. This
termination order follows a December
15, 2004 Federal Register Notice of
Receipt of Request (69 FR 75061) (FRL–
7689–8) from the disulfoton registrant to
voluntarily terminate the following uses
of their 15% granular formulation of
disulfoton (Di-Syston 15G): beans,
Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower,
cotton, peanuts, peppers, radish grown
for seed, and clover grown for seed. DiSyston 15G is not the last disulfoton
product registered for use in the United
States. The registrant will retain use of
Di-Syston 15G on Fraser fir Christmas
trees in North Carolina and coffee trees
in Puerto Rico, provided it is used with
a closed system applicator. The
registrant will retain the registration of
Di-Syston 8E, the liquid emulsifiable
concentrate, which must also be used
with closed system applicators. In the
December 15, 2004 notice, EPA
indicated that it would issue an order
implementing the amendments to
terminate the subject uses, unless the
Agency received substantive comments
within the 180 day comment period that
would merit its further review of these
requests, or unless the registrant
withdrew their request within this
period. The Agency received comments
on the notice but none merited its
further review of the requests. The
registrant did not withdraw their
request. Accordingly, EPA hereby issues
in this notice a cancellation order
granting the requested Voluntary
Termination of Certain Uses. Any
distribution, sale, or use of the DiSyston 15G products subject to this
cancellation order is permitted only in
accordance with the terms of this order,
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57571
including any existing stocks
provisions.
DATES: The use terminations are
effective October 10, 2007.
Eric
Miederhoff, Special Review and
Reregistration Division (7508P), Office
of Pesticide Programs, Environmental
Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania
Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460–
0001; telephone number: (703) 3478028; fax number: (703) 308–7070; email address: miederhoff.eric@epa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
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. How Can I Get Copies of this
Document and Other Related
Information?
1. Docket. EPA has established a
docket for this action under docket
identification (ID) number EPA–HQ–
OPP–2004-0340. Publicly available
docket materials are available either in
the electronic docket at https://
www.regulations.gov, or, if only
available in hard copy, at the Office of
Pesticide Programs (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.
2. Electronic access. You may access
this Federal Register document
electronically through the EPA Internet
under the Federal Register listings at
https://www.epa.gov/fedrgstr.
II. What Action is the Agency Taking?
This notice announces an amendment
to terminate uses, as requested by
registrants, of certain end-use disulfoton
products registered under section 3 of
FIFRA. These registrations are listed in
sequence by registration number in
Table 1 of this unit.
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Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 195 (Wednesday, October 10, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 57569-57571]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-19940]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[EPA-HQ-OPP-2007-0833; FRL-8150-7]
Sodium Fluoride 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 risk
assessment, and related documents for the pesticide Sodium Fluoride and
opens a public comment period on these documents. 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 Sodium Fluoride through a modified, 4-Phase public
participation process that the Agency uses to involve the public in
developing pesticide reregistration decisions. Through this program,
EPA is ensuring that all pesticides meet current health and safety
standards.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before December 10, 2007.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by docket identification
(ID) number EPA-HQ-OPP-2007-0833, 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
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 docket ID number EPA-HQ-OPP-
2007-0833 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.
[[Page 57570]]
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.
Docket: All documents in the docket are listed in the docket index
available in regulations.gov. To access the electronic docket, go to
https://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
website 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 form. Publicly available docket materials are
available either 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 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: SanYvette Williams, Antimicrobials
Division (7510P), Office of Pesticide Programs, Environmental
Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460-
0001; telephone number: (703) 305-7702; fax number: (703) 308-6467; e-
mail address: williams.sanyvette@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
A. What Action is the Agency Taking?
EPA is releasing for public comment its human health and
environmental fate and effects risk assessments and related documents
for Sodium Fluoride and soliciting public comment on risk management
ideas or proposals. Sodium Fluoride is currently registered for
commercial use only as a wood preservative for utility poles and
railroad ties. Sodium Fluoride products are used as supplemental wood
treatments and are not intended for primary wood preservative or
pressure treated wood preservation. EPA developed the risk assessments
and risk characterization for Sodium Fluoride 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).
EPA is providing an opportunity, through this notice, for
interested parties to provide comments and input on the Agency's risk
assessments for Sodium Fluoride. Such comments and input could address,
for example, the availability of additional data to further refine the
risk assessments, such as a dermal absorption study or a repeated dose
dermal toxicity study (90-day) to determine the route-specific NOAEL.
This information could refine 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 or otherwise
comment on risk management for Sodium Fluoride. There are risks of
concern associated with brush on applications of sodium fluoride to
distribution and transmission utility poles. 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
[[Page 57571]]
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 Sodium fluoride 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 Sodium Fluoride a modified, 4-Phase process with 1
comment period and ample opportunity for public consultation seems
appropriate in view of its refined risk assessments and/or other
factors. 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.
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 Sodium Fluoride. 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.''
List of Subjects
Environmental protection, Pesticides and pests, antimicrobials,
sodium fluoride.
Dated: September 26, 2007.
Betty Shackleford,
Acting Director, Antimicrobials Division, Office of Pesticide Programs.
[FR Doc. E7-19940 Filed 10-9-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-S