[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 5 (Friday, January 8, 1999)] [Notices] [Pages 1199-1200] From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] [FR Doc No: 99-428] ----------------------------------------------------------------------- ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY [OPP-34163; FRL-6055-9] Increasing Transparency For the Tolerance Reassessment Process; Availability of Preliminary Risk Assessments for Five Organophosphates
Agency
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Action
Notice.
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Summary
This notice announces the availability of documents that were developed as part of the Environmental Protection Agency's process for making reregistration eligibility decisions for the organophosphate pesticides and for tolerance reassessments consistent with the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA) as amended by the Food Quality Protection Act of 1996 (FQPA). These documents are the preliminary human health and ecological risk assessments and related documents for acephate, disulfoton, methamidophos, oxydemethon methyl, and pirimiphos methyl. This notice also starts a 60-day public comment period for the preliminary risk assessments. Comments are to be limited to issues directly associated with the five organophosphates that have risk assessments placed in the docket and should be limited to issues raised in those documents. By allowing access and opportunity for comment on the preliminary risk assessments, EPA is seeking to strengthen stakeholder involvement and help ensure our decisions under FQPA are transparent and based on the best available information. The tolerance reassessment process will ensure that the United States continues to have the safest and most abundant food supply. The Agency cautions that these risk assessments are preliminary assessments only and that further refinements of the risk assessments will be appropriate for some, if not all, of these five pesticides. These documents reflect only the work and analysis conducted as of the time they were produced and it is appropriate that, as new information becomes available and/or additional analyses are performed, the conclusions they contain may change.
Dates
Written comments on these assessments must be submitted on or before March 9, 1999.
Addresses
By mail, submit written comments in triplicate to: Public Information and Records Integrity Branch, Information Resources and Services Division (7502C), Office of Pesticide Programs, Environmental Protection Agency, 401 M St., SW., Washington, DC 20460. In person, deliver comments to: Rm. 119, Crystal Mall #2, 1921 Jefferson Davis Hwy., Arlington, VA. Information submitted as a comment concerning this notice may be claimed confidential by marking any part or all of that information as Confidential Business Information (CBI). Information so marked will not be disclosed except in accordance with procedures set forth in 40 CFR part 2. A copy of the comment that does not contain CBI must be submitted for inclusion in the public record. Information not marked confidential will be included in the public docket without prior notice. To request a copy of any of the preliminary risk assessments and related documents listed in this notice, contact or visit the OPP Pesticide Docket at the addresses given in this unit, or call (703) 305-5805. The Docket staff will inform callers as to which of the documents can be sent directly from the docket and which need to be requested from the Freedom of Information Act Office due to their bulk. The public docket is available for public inspection in Rm. 119 at the Virginia address given in this unit from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal holidays. Comments and data may also be submitted electronically to: opp- docket@epa.gov. Follow the instructions under Unit II. of this document. No CBI
should be submitted through e-mail. Copies of the preliminary risk assessments for the five organophosphate pesticides may also be accessed at: http: www.epa.gov/oppsrrd1/op.
For Further Information Contact
Karen Angulo, Special Review and Reregistration Division (7508C), Office of Pesticide Programs, Environmental Protection Agency, 401 M St., SW., Washington, DC 20460; telephone: (703) 308-8004; e-mail address: angulo.karen@epa.gov.
Supplementary Information
I. Background
EPA is making available preliminary risk assessments that have been developed as part of EPA's process for making reregistration eligibility decisions for the organophosphate pesticides and for tolerance reassessments consistent with the FFDCA as amended by the FQPA. The Agency's preliminary human health and ecological effects risk assessments for the following five organophosphate pesticides are available in the individual pesticide dockets: acephate, disulfoton, methamidophos, oxydemethon methyl, and pirimiphos methyl. Included in the individual pesticide dockets are the Agency's preliminary risk assessments. As additional comments, reviews, and risk assessment modifications become available, these will also be docketed for the five organophosphate pesticides listed in this notice. The Agency cautions that these risk assessments are preliminary assessments only and that further refinements of the risk assessments will be appropriate for some, if not all, of these five pesticides. These documents reflect only the work and analysis conducted as of the time they were produced and it is appropriate that, as new information becomes available and/or additional analyses are performed, the conclusions they contain may change. As the preliminary risk assessments for the remaining organophosphate pesticides are completed and registrants are given a 30-day review period to identify possible computational or other clear errors in the risk assessment, these risk assessments and registrant responses will be placed in the individual pesticide dockets. A notice of availability for subsequent assessments will appear in the Federal Register. To provide users with the most recent information on the five organophosphates, EPA has also included in each docket the Agency's July 7, 1998, ``Hazard Assessment of the Organophosphates'' and the Agency's July 9, 1998, ``FQPA Safety Factor Recommendations for the Organophosphates.'' In general, these two documents were completed at a different time than the five individual pesticide preliminary risk assessments discussed in this notice. The Agency notes that where the preliminary risk assessments are inconsistent with the Hazard Assessment and FQPA Assessment, these Assessments will supersede the relevant portions of the preliminary risk assessments and will be incorporated into the revised individual pesticide risk assessments. The Agency also notes that these documents reflect only the work and analysis conducted as of the time they were produced, and as new information becomes available and/or additional analyses are performed, the conclusions they contain may change. The Agency is providing an opportunity, through this notice, for interested parties to provide written comments and input to the Agency on the preliminary risk assessments for the chemicals specified in this notice. Such comments and input could address, for example, the availability of additional data to further refine the risk assessments, such as percent crop treated information or submission of residue data from food processing studies, or could address the Agency's risk assessment methodologies and assumptions as applied to these specific chemicals. Comments should be limited to issues raised within the preliminary risk assessments and associated documents. EPA will provide other opportunities for public comment on other science issues associated with the organophosphate tolerance reassessment program. Failure to comment on any such issues as part of this opportunity will in no way prejudice or limit a commenter's opportunity to participate fully in later notice and comment processes. All comments should be submitted by March 9, 1999 at the address given under ``ADDRESSES.'' Comments will become part of the Agency record for each individual pesticide to which they pertain.
II. Public Record and Electronic Submissions
The official record for this notice, as well as the public version, has been established for this notice under the following docket control numbers. When submitting written or electronic comments regarding the five organophosphates, use the following docket control numbers:
------------------------------------------------------------------------ Chemical OPP Docket no. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Acephate OPP-34164 Disulfoton OPP-34165 Methamidophos OPP-34166 Oxydemethon methyl OPP-34167 Pirimiphos methyl OPP-34168 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
A public version of this record, including printed, paper versions of electronic comments, which does not include any information claimed as CBI, is available for inspection from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal holidays. The official record is located at the Virginia address in ``ADDRESSES'' at the beginning of this document. Electronic comments can be sent directly to EPA at:
Electronic comments must be submitted as an ASCII file avoiding the use of special characters and any form of encryption. Comment and data will also be accepted on disks in WordPerfect 5.1/6.1 file format or ASCII file format. All comments and data in electronic form must be identified by the appropriate docket control number OPP-34163. Electronic comments on this notice may be filed online at many Federal Depository Libraries.
List of Subjects
Environmental protection, Chemicals, Pesticides and pests.
Dated: January 4, 1999.
Jack E. Housenger,
Director, Special Review and Reregistration Division, Office of Pesticide Programs.
[FR Doc. 99-428 Filed 1-7-99; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6560-50-F