Environmental Protection Agency January 25, 2006 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

There will be a 2-day meeting of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act Scientific Advisory Panel (FIFRA SAP) to consider and review human health and environmental issues associated with the Event MIR604 Modified Cry3A Protein Bt CornPlant Incorporated Protectant. This product is intended to provide protection from western, northern, and Mexican corn rootworm larvae.

This document announces the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) responses to Agency Clearance requests, in compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et. seq). An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. The OMB control numbers for EPA's regulations are listed in 40 CFR part 9 and 48 CFR chapter 15.

This notice announces the availability of EPA's risk assessments and related documents for copper-containing pesticides, hereon referred to as coppers, 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 coppers 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.

On November 16, 2005, the State of Alabama, through the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM), submitted a request for parallel processing to redesignate the Birmingham 8-hour ozone nonattainment area (Birmingham area) to attainment for the 8-hour ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS); and for EPA approval of an Alabama draft State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision containing a maintenance plan with a 2017 end year for the Birmingham area. The Birmingham area is composed of two counties, Jefferson and Shelby. EPA is proposing to approve the 8-hour ozone redesignation request for the Birmingham area. Additionally, EPA is parallel processing the redesignation request and draft 8-hour ozone maintenance plan SIP revision for the Birmingham area (a required component of any redesignation to attainment) and is proposing approval of this draft maintenance plan because EPA has determined that the draft plan complies with the requirements of Section 175A of the Clean Air Act (CAA). This proposed approval is based on EPA's determination that Alabama has demonstrated that the Birmingham area has met the criteria for redesignation to attainment specified in the CAA, including the determination that the entire Birmingham area has attained the 8-hour ozone standard. In this action, EPA is also providing information on the status of its transportation conformity adequacy determination for the new motor vehicle emissions budgets (MVEBs) for the year 2017 that is contained in the 8-hour ozone maintenance plan for the Birmingham area. EPA is proposing to approve the 2017 MVEBs.

EPA is approving a May 20, 2005, final request to redesignate the Christian County, Kentucky, portion of the Clarksville-Hopkinsville 8-hour ozone nonattainment area to attainment for the 8-hour ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS), and a Kentucky State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision containing a 12-year maintenance plan for Christian County, Kentucky. EPA is also providing information on the status of the Agency's transportation conformity adequacy determination for the new motor vehicle emissions budgets (MVEBs) for the years 2004 and 2016 that are contained in the 12-year 8-hour ozone maintenance plan for Christian County, Kentucky. EPA is approving such MVEBs in this action. This final rule addresses comments made on EPA's proposed rulemaking previously published for this action.

This notice announces the initial filing of a pesticide petition proposing the establishment of an exemption from the requirement of a regulation for residues of 2-propenoic, 2-methyl-, polymers with ethyl acrylate and polyethylene glycol methylacrylate C18-22 alkyl ethers in or on food commodities when used as an inert ingredient in pesticide products.

This document proposes to reorganize certain existing tolerance exemptions. All of these chemical substances were reviewed as part of the tolerance reassessment process required under the Food Quality Protection Act of 1996 (FQPA). As a result of that review, 13 chemical substances are now classified as ``minimal risk.'' The Agency intends to shift the existing tolerance exemptions for these chemicals to 40 CFR 180.950(e). The Agency is merely moving certain tolerance exemptions from one section of the CFR to another section: No tolerance exemptions are lost or added as a result of this action.