Environmental Protection Agency August 17, 2005 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This notice announces the initial filing of pesticide petitions proposing the establishment of regulations for residues of a certain pesticide chemical in or on various food commodities.

EPA is announcing availability of a draft schedule for the registration review of pesticides mandated in section 3(g) of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). EPA is making the draft schedule available to assist the public in its review of the proposed procedural regulations for registration review that EPA published on July 13, 2005. To develop the draft schedule, EPA used procedures described in the July 13, 2005 proposal. The draft schedule is, in effect, a model schedule which shows how the Agency could sequence pesticide reviews to meet the goal of reviewing each pesticide's registration every 15 years. Although the Agency is not seeking comment on the draft schedule, you may include comments on the draft schedule in your comments on the proposed procedural regulations for the registration review of pesticides.

This notice announces the order to amend registrations to terminate certain uses, voluntarily requested by the registrants and accepted by the Agency, of manufacturing-use products containing the pesticide azinphos-methyl, pursuant to section 6(f)(1) of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), as amended. This order follows a February 28, 2005 Federal Register Notice of Receipt of Requests (70 FR 9644) (FRL-7702-5) from the azinphos-methyl registrants Bayer CropScience, Gowan Company, and Makhteshim Chemical Works to amend manufacturing-use product labels to terminate caneberries, cotton, cranberries, peaches/nectarines, potatoes, and Southern pine seed orchard uses. These are not the last azinphos-methyl products registered for use in the United States. In the February 28, 2005 notice, EPA indicated that it would issue an order implementing the amendments to terminate uses, unless the Agency received substantive comments within the 30-day comment period that would merit its further review of these requests. The Agency received several substantive comments on the notice. These comments have been reviewed and taken into consideration in the Agency's decision to proceed with this termination order, but modify the previously proposed existing stocks provision. EPA's decision is discussed in Unit III. of this notice. Accordingly, EPA hereby issues in this notice an order to amend the subject registrations to terminate uses. Any distribution, sale, or use of the azinphos-methyl manufacturing-use products subject to this order is permitted only in accordance with the terms of this order, including any existing stocks provisions in Unit VI. A companion notice, announcing the receipt of requests to voluntarily terminate these same uses of azinphos-methyl end-use products, is being published elsewhere in today's Federal Register. The proposed existing stocks provision for the end-use products reflects and is compatible with the modified existing stocks provision for the manufacturing-use products.

EPA is taking final action to approve a revision to the Commonwealth of Virginia State Implementation Plan (SIP). This revision consists of an Early Action Compact (EAC) Plan that will enable the Roanoke Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) Ozone EAC Area to demonstrate attainment and maintenance of the 8-hour ozone national ambient air quality (NAAQS) standard. This action is being taken under the Clean Air Act (CAA or Act).

EPA is taking final action to approve a revision to the West Virginia State Implementation Plan (SIP). This revision consists of an Early Action Compact (EAC) Plan that will enable the Eastern Panhandle Region Ozone EAC Area to demonstrate attainment and maintenance of the 8-hour ozone national ambient air quality (NAAQS) standard. This action is being taken under the Clean Air Act (CAA or Act).

The EPA is approving revisions to the State Implementation Plan (SIP) submitted by the Governor of New Mexico on December 16, 2004. The revisions will incorporate the Early Action Compact (EAC) Clean Air Action Plan (CAAP) into the New Mexico SIP. EPA is approving the photochemical modeling in support of the attainment demonstration for the 8-hour ozone standard within the San Juan County EAC area. These actions strengthen the SIP in accordance with the requirements of sections 110 and 116 of the Federal Clean Air Act (the Act), and will result in emission reductions needed to help ensure continued attainment and maintenance of the 8-hour National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for ozone.

Notice of availability for public review for a 90 day comment period is hereby given for the Draft Environmental Sampling, Analysis and Results (ESAR) Data Standards. The Draft Environmental Sampling, Analysis, and Results Data Standards are a collection of 14 standards that are based on the business processes used to collect and analyze environmental data. The collection is comprised of an Overview, four primary standards and nine supporting components. The fourteen ESAR data standards are designed to provide implementation flexibility and improve the exchange of environmental data across the nation. States and U.S. EPA completed a technical review of these data standards in the Spring of 2004. That review lead to the formation of Air, Waste, and Water teams, which reviewed the comments and produced this final collection of draft data standard documents. Reviewers will see that the standards may not use the specific terminology for a given environmental program. In order to make the standards work for the broadest audience, terms were specifically chosen for relevance to the broadest audience. Similarly, the standards do not address all details of each environmental program. These standards, when final, are intended to serve as a foundation for information exchange across environmental media (water, air, waste). Media or program specific data elements may need to be added in an exchange. Reviewers please note that the draft data standards are based on and incorporate related efforts such as other data standards, electronic data deliverables, and systems data dictionaries in media specific areas including: the EDSC data standard ``Reporting Water Quality Results for Chemical and Microbiological Analytes;'' exchange specifications such as the ``Staged Electronic Data Deliverable'' (SEDD); data dictionaries such as the Air Quality Monitoring System (AQS); as well as specifications from the National Environmental Laboratory Accrediting Council (NELAC) and the Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS).