Environmental Protection Agency May 31, 2006 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

EPA is announcing that 12 specific inorganic bromide tolerances have been reassessed and is proposing to revoke them because they are no longer needed. These twelve tolerances are for residues of inorganic bromide from pre-plant (non-food) use in or on raw agricultural commodities grown in soil fumigated with combinations of chloropicrin, methyl bromide, and propargyl bromide. Although methyl bromide is used as an agricultural pesticide, the Agency considers its application as a soil fumigant to be a non-food use because it is quickly degraded or metabolized in the soil, and subsequently incorporated into natural plant constituents.Methyl bromide is also emitted to the atmosphere. Residues of the parent compound are not likely to be found in foods as a result of prior treatment of fields. While residues of inorganic bromide may be present, these residues are indistinguishable from background because of inorganic bromide's ubiquity in the environment. In addition, the Agency has concluded that inorganic bromide residue from such use is not of risk concern and has determined those twelve tolerances to be safe. Consequently, EPA is proposing to revoke them because no tolerances are needed for those non-food uses and the Agency considers these tolerances to be reassessed. Furthermore, since methyl bromide, when applied as a pre- plant soil fumigant is a non-food use, it should be added as an entry to 40 CFR 180.2020 noting the non-food use determination. The regulatory actions proposed in this document contribute toward the Agency's tolerance reassessment requirements under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA) section 408(q), as amended by the Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA) of 1996. By law, EPA is required by August 2006 to reassess the tolerances that were in existence on August 2, 1996. The regulatory actions proposed in this document pertain to the proposed revocation of 12 tolerances that count as tolerance reassessments toward the August 2006 review deadline.

This rule reorganizes the existing tolerance exemptions for 12 chemical substances that are now classified as ``minimal risk.'' The Agency is shifting 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.

This notice announces the initial filing of a pesticide petition proposing the establishment of an exemption from the requirement of tolerances for residues of poly(2-ethylhexyl acrylate/2- hydroxyethyl acrylate/N-(hydroxymethyl)-2-methylacrylamide/methacrylic acid/methyl methacrylate/styrene, ammonium salt in or on various commodities when used as an inert in pesticide products.

The EPA is approving two separate State Implementation Plan (SIP) revisions submitted by the Governor of New Mexico. The first submittal, dated September 7, 2004, adopts local Ambient Air Quality Standards (AAQS) and incorporates by reference the Federal National Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for the Albuquerque/Bernalillo County, New Mexico area. The second submittal, dated July 28, 2005, revises the Variance Procedure for the Albuquerque/Bernalillo County, New Mexico area. We are approving these two separate revisions in accordance with the requirements of the Clean Air Act (the Act), section 110.