Environmental Protection Agency June 21, 2006 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to extend the expiration date of the New England University Laboratories XL Project (Labs XL Project) rule that EPA previously promulgated under the eXcellence and Leadership program (Project XL), allowing laboratories at certain universities in Massachusetts and Vermont to follow certain alternative RCRA generator requirements. In this action, EPA proposes to extend the expiration date from September 30, 2006 to April 15, 2009.

EPA's Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP), in coordination with the EPA regional offices, is soliciting pesticide and special project proposals from eligible tribes, Alaska native villages, and intertribal consortia for fiscal year (FY) 2006 funding. Under this program, cooperative agreement awards will provide financial assistance to eligible tribal governments, Alaska native village governments, or intertribal consortia to carry out projects that assess or reduce risks to human health and the environment from pesticide exposure. The total amount of funding available for award in FY 2006 is expected to be approximately $400,000, with a maximum funding level of $50,000 per project.

The EPA Science Advisory Board (SAB) Staff Office is inviting the public to register and attend a public session to provide feedback on the SAB Web site development.

This notice announces the availability of EPA'sTolerance Reassessment Progress and Risk Management Decision (TRED) for the chlorinated triazine pesticide propazine, and opens a public comment period on this document, related risk assessments, and other support documents. EPA has reviewed the low risk pesticide propazine through a modified, streamlined version of the public participation process that the Agency uses to involve the public in developing pesticide tolerance reassessment and reregistration decisions. Through the tolerance reassessment program, EPA is ensuring that all pesticides meet current health and food safety standards. The Agency is concurrently issuing for public comment the Triazine Cumulative Risk Assessment; see EPA-HQ- OPP-2005-0481 in the Notices section of this issue of the Federal Register.

This notice announces the initial filing of a pesticide petition proposing the establishment of regulations for residues of mefenoxam in or on beans (succulent shelled) and turnip greens.

This notice announces the availability of EPA's cumulative risk assessment for the chlorinated triazine group of pesticides and opens a public comment period on this document and other support documents. As required by the Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA), a cumulative risk assessment, which evaluates exposures based on a common mechanism of toxicity, was conducted to evaluate the risk from food, drinking water, and non-occupational exposure resulting from all registered uses of chlorinated triazine pesticides. The chlorinated triazine group includes the pesticides atrazine, simazine, and propazine, in addition to their three chlorinated degradates. Propazine, however, was not incorporated into the cumulative risk assessment because no dietary, drinking water, or residential human exposure to propazine is anticipated from any of the currently registered uses. The Agency is concurrently issuing for public comment the Reregistration Eligibility Decision (RED) for simazine and the Tolerance Reassessment Progress and Risk Management Decision (TRED) for propazine. See EPA-HQ-OPP-2005-0151 and EPA-HQ-OPP-2005-0496 in the Notices section of this issue of the Federal Register. A memo finalizing the Interim Reregistration Eligibility Decision for atrazine is being added to docket EPA-HQ-OPP-2003-0367.