Environmental Protection Agency December 28, 2005 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Under the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), 5 U.S. App.2 (Pub. L. 92-463), EPA gives notice of a 2-day meeting of the National Pollution Prevention and Toxics Advisory Committee (NPPTAC). The purpose of the meeting is to provide advice and recommendations to EPA regarding the overall policy and operations of the programs of the Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics (OPPT).

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is holding an initial workshop on the development of regulations for aircraft public water systems. This workshop will examine and discuss the various aspects of aircraft public water systems, including an overview of aircraft water systems and watering points, existing drinking water regulations for aircraft water systems, the scope of issues for proposing regulations tailored to aircraft water systems, as well as preliminary options for a proposed rulemaking. This is the first workshop in a series designed to gain perspectives from representatives from industry, government, public interest groups, and the general public. The EPA has been working with the Food and Drug Administration and the Federal Aviation Administration to plan this event.

This regulation establishes an exemption from the requirement of a tolerance for residues of the bacteriophages that specifically target the bacterial pathogens Xanthomonas campestris pv. Vesicatoria and Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato present on tomatoes and peppers when applied/used as bacteriocides on tomatoes and peppers. Omnylytics submitted a petition to EPA under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA), as amended by the Food Quality Protection Act of 1996 (FQPA), requesting an exemption from the requirement of a tolerance. This regulation eliminates the need to establish a maximum permissible level for residues of Xanthomonas campestris pv. vesicatoria and Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato specific bacteriophages when applied/ used as bacteriocides on tomatoes and peppers.

The EPA is proposing to approve State Implementation Plan (SIP) revisions submitted by the State of Alabama on February 23, 2005. The revision responds to the EPA's regulation entitled, ``Interstate Ozone Transport: Response to Court Decisions on the Nitrogen Oxides (NOX) SIP Call, NOX SIP Call Technical Amendments, and Section 126 Rules,'' otherwise known as the ``NOX SIP Call Phase II.'' This revision satisfies EPA's rule that requires Alabama to submit NOX SIP Call Phase II revisions needed to achieve the necessary incremental reductions of NOX. The intended effect of this SIP revision is to reduce emissions of NOX in order to help attain the national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS) for ozone. The revision also corrects a typographical error and deletes an expired provision from 2003, pertaining to open burning in Morgan County, Alabama. In the Final Rules section of this Federal Register, the EPA is approving the State's SIP revision as a direct final rule without prior proposal because the Agency views this as a non-controversial submittal and anticipates no adverse comments. A detailed rationale for the approval is set forth in the direct final rule. If no significant, material, and adverse comments are received in response to this rule, no further activity is contemplated. If EPA receives adverse comments, the direct final rule will be withdrawn and all public comments received will be addressed in a subsequent final rule based on this rule. The EPA will not institute a second comment period on this document. Any parties interested in commenting on this document should do so at this time.

This notice announces the order to amend registrations to terminate certain uses, voluntarily requested by the registrant(s) and accepted by the Agency, of products containing the pesticide azinphos- methyl, pursuant to section 6(f)(1) of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), as amended. This cancellation order follows a September 30, 2002 Federal Register Notice of Receipt of Requests (67 FR 61337) (FRL-7199-6) from the azinphos-methyl registrants to amend their product registrations to terminate certain uses of azinphos-methyl from their product registrations. In the September 30, 2002 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 did not receive any comments on the Notice. Accordingly, EPA approved new labels without the uses in August 2003. Any distribution, sale, or use of the azinphos-methyl products subject to this cancellation order is permitted only in accordance with the terms of this order, including any existing stocks provisions.

This notice announces Agency approval ofapplications to register the pesticide products, Dutch Trig[reg] and Heads Up Plant Protectant, containing active ingredients not included in any previously registered product pursuant to the provisions of section 3(c)(5) of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA),as amended.

This notice announces the availability of EPA's Reregistration Eligibility Decision (RED) for the pesticide mancozeb. The Agency's risk assessments and other related documents are also available in the mancozeb Docket. Mancozeb is a member of the ethylene bisdithiocarbamate (EBDC) group of fungicides, which also includes the related fungicides maneb and metiram. Mancozeb is used as a broad spectrum fungicide on a variety of agricultural crops, ornamentals, and turf. As a part of this process, the Agency announced the availability of the EBDCs preliminary risk assessments and supporting documents for a 90-day comment period and requested risk reduction options under docket identification (ID) number EPA-HQ-OPP;2004-0078. Through these programs, EPA is ensuring that all pesticides meet current health and safety standards.

This notice announces the availability of EPA's risk assessments and related documents for the pesticide dicamba, 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 dicamba through a modified, 4-Phase 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.

This notice announces the availability of EPA's risk assessments and related documents for the pyrethroid pesticide cypermethrin, and opens a 60 day 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 RED for cypermethrin through a modified, 4-Phase 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.