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[Federal Register: January 13, 2010 (Volume 75, Number 8)]
[Notices]               
[Page 1772-1773]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr13ja10-53]                         

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OPP-2009-0615; FRL-8433-2]

 
Pesticide Experimental Use Permits; Receipt of Applications; 
Comment Requests

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces EPA's receipt of applications 29964-EUP-
I and 29964-EUP-O from Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc. requesting 
experimental use permits (EUPs) for seed blends of the plant-
incorporated protectants (PIPs) [DAS-59122-7] Bacillus thuringiensis 
Cry34Ab1 and Cry35Ab1 proteins and the genetic material (vector PHP 
17662) necessary for their production in Event DAS-59122-7 corn and 
[TC1507] Bacillus thuringiensis Cry1F protein and the genetic material 
(vector PHP8999) necessary for its production in Event TC1507 corn and 
[MON810] Bacillus thuringiensis Cry1Ab delta-endotoxin and the genetic 
material necessary for its production (Vector PV-ZMCT01) in Event 
MON810 corn (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development 
(OECD) Unique Identifier MON[Oslash][Oslash]81[Oslash]-6). The Agency 
has determined that the permits may be of regional and national 
significance. Therefore, in accordance with 40 CFR 172.11(a), the 
Agency is soliciting comments on these applications.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before February 12, 2010.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by docket identification 
(ID) number EPA-HQ-OPP-2009-0615, by one of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the on-line instructions for submitting comments.
     Mail: Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP) Regulatory Public 
Docket (7502P), Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania 
Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460-0001.
     Delivery: OPP Regulatory Public Docket (7502P), 
Environmental Protection Agency, Rm. S-4400, One Potomac Yard (South 
Bldg.), 2777 S. Crystal Dr., Arlington,VA. Deliveries are only accepted 
during the Docket Facility's normal hours of operation (8:30 a.m. to 4 
p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal holidays). Special 
arrangements should be made for deliveries of boxed information. The 
Docket Facility telephone number is (703) 305-5805.
    Instructions: Direct your comments to docket ID number EPA-HQ-OPP-
2009-0615. EPA's policy is that all comments received will be included 
in the docket without change and may be made available on-line at 
http://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information 
provided, unless the comment includes information claimed to be 
Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other information whose 
disclosure is restricted by statute. Do not submit information that you 
consider to be CBI or otherwise protected through regulations.gov or e-
mail. The regulations.gov website is an ``anonymous access'' system, 
which means EPA will not know your identity or contact information 
unless you provide it in the body of your comment. If you send an e-
mail comment directly to EPA without going through regulations.gov, 
your e-mail address will be automatically captured and included as part 
of the comment that is placed in the docket and made available on the 
Internet. If you submit an electronic comment, EPA recommends that you 
include your name and other contact information in the body of your 
comment and with any disk or CD-ROM you submit. If EPA cannot read your 
comment due to technical difficulties and cannot contact you for 
clarification, EPA may not be able to consider your comment. Electronic 
files should avoid the use of special characters, any form of 
encryption, and be free of any defects or viruses.
    Docket: All documents in the docket are listed in the docket index 
available at http://www.regulations.gov. Although listed in the index, 
some information is not publicly available, e.g., CBI or other 
information whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Certain other 
material, such as copyrighted material, is not placed on the Internet 
and will be publicly available only in hard copy form. Publicly 
available docket materials are available either in the electronic 
docket at http://www.regulations.gov, or, if only available in hard 
copy, at the OPP Regulatory Public Docket in Rm. S-4400, One Potomac 
Yard (South Bldg.), 2777 S. Crystal Dr., Arlington, VA. The hours of 
operation of this Docket Facility are from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday 
through Friday, excluding legal holidays. The Docket Facility telephone 
number is (703) 305-5805.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mike Mendelsohn, Biopesticides and 
Pollution Prevention Division (7511P), Office of Pesticide Programs, 
Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., 
Washington, DC 20460-0001; telephone number: (703) 308-8715; e-mail 
address: mendelsohn.mike@epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. General Information

A. Does this Action Apply to Me?

    This action is directed to the public in general. This action may, 
however, be of interest to those persons interested in agricultural 
biotechnology or those who are or may be required to conduct testing of 
chemical substances under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act 
(FFDCA) or the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act 
(FIFRA). Since other entities may also be interested, the Agency has 
not attempted to describe all the specific entities that may be 
affected by this action. If you have any questions regarding the 
applicability of this action to a particular entity, consult the person 
listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.

B. What Should I Consider as I Prepare My Comments for EPA?

    1. Submitting CBI. Do not submit this information to EPA through 
regulations.gov or e-mail. Clearly mark the part or all of the 
information that you claim to be CBI. For CBI information in a disk or 
CD-ROM that you mail to EPA, mark the outside of the disk or CD-ROM as 
CBI and then identify electronically within the disk or CD-ROM the 
specific information that is claimed as CBI. In addition to one 
complete version of the comment that includes information claimed as 
CBI, a copy of the comment that does not contain the information 
claimed as CBI must be submitted for inclusion in the public docket. 
Information so marked will not be disclosed except in accordance with 
procedures set forth in 40 CFR part 2.
    2. Tips for preparing your comments. When submitting comments, 
remember to:
    i. Identify the document by docket ID number and other identifying 
information (subject heading, Federal Register date and page number).
    ii. Follow directions. The Agency may ask you to respond to 
specific questions or organize comments by referencing a

[[Page 1773]]

Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) part or section number.
    iii. Explain why you agree or disagree; suggest alternatives and 
substitute language for your requested changes.
    iv. Describe any assumptions and provide any technical information 
and/or data that you used.
    v. If you estimate potential costs or burdens, explain how you 
arrived at your estimate in sufficient detail to allow for it to be 
reproduced.
    vi. Provide specific examples to illustrate your concerns and 
suggest alternatives.
    vii. Explain your views as clearly as possible, avoiding the use of 
profanity or personal threats.
    viii. Make sure to submit your comments by the comment period 
deadline identified.
    3. Environmental justice. EPA seeks to achieve environmental 
justice, the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of any group, 
including minority and/or low income populations, in the development, 
implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and 
policies. To help address potential environmental justice issues, the 
Agency seeks information on any groups or segments of the population 
who, as a result of their location, cultural practices, or other 
factors, may have atypical or disproportionately high and adverse human 
health impacts or environmental effects from exposure to the 
pesticide(s) discussed in this document, compared to the general 
population.

II. What Action is the Agency Taking?

    Under section 5 of FIFRA, 7 U.S.C. 136c, EPA can allow 
manufacturers to field test pesticides under development. Manufacturers 
are required to obtain EUPs before testing new pesticides or new uses 
of pesticides if they conduct experimental field tests on 10 acres or 
more of land or one acre or more of water.
    Pursuant to 40 CFR 172.11(a), the Agency has determined that the 
following EUP applications may be of regional and national 
significance, and therefore is seeking public comment on the EUP 
applications:
    Submitter: Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc., (29964-EUP-I).
    Pesticide Chemical: [DAS-59122-7] Bacillus thuringiensis Cry34Ab1 
and Cry35Ab1 proteins and the genetic material (vector PHP 17662) 
necessary for their production in Event DAS-59122-7 corn (a maximum of 
40.8 lbs Cry34Ab1 and 2.2 lbs Cry35Ab1) and [TC1507] Bacillus 
thuringiensis Cry1F protein and the genetic material (vector PHP8999) 
necessary for its production in Event TC1507 corn (a maximum of 2.6 lbs 
Cry1F).
    Summary of Request: The 29964-EUP-I application is for a total of 
36,670 acres in 11 states from March 1, 2010 to May 31, 2011 in order 
to continue research, testing, and evaluation of blended refuge 
concepts. 35,200 acres are proposed for testing under a grower 
evaluation protocol and will include seed blends of: 1) 5% Cry1F corn 
with 95% Cry34Ab1/35Ab1 x Cy1F corn, 2) 10% Cry1F corn with 95% 
Cry34Ab1/35Ab1 x Cy1F corn, 3) 95% Cry34Ab1/35Ab1 x Cy1F corn with 5% 
non-Bt corn, and 4) 90% Cry34Ab1/35Ab1 x Cy1F corn with 10% non-Bt 
corn. 1,470 acres are proposed for testing under a research trial 
protocol and will include the seed blends mentioned in this paragraph 
along with Cry34Ab1/35Ab1 x Cy1F corn and Cry34Ab1/35Ab1 corn as 
comparators and non-PIP corn as a control. States involved include: 
Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, 
Nebraska, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.
    Submitter: Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc. (29964-EUP-O).
    Pesticide Chemical: [DAS-59122-7] Bacillus thuringiensis Cry34Ab1 
and Cry35Ab1 proteins and the genetic material (vector PHP 17662) 
necessary for their production in Event DAS-59122-7 corn (a maximum of 
0.630 lbs Cry34Ab1 and 0.040 lbs Cry35Ab1), [TC1507] Bacillus 
thuringiensis Cry1F protein and the genetic material (vector PHP8999) 
necessary for its production in Event TC1507 corn (a maximum of 0.110 
lbs Cry1F), and [MON810] Bacillus thuringiensis Cry1Ab delta-endotoxin 
and the genetic material necessary for its production (Vector PV-
ZMCT01) in Event MON810 corn (OECD Unique Identifier 
MON[Oslash][Oslash]81[Oslash]-6) (a maximum of 0.011 lbs Cry1Ab).
    Summary of Request: The 29964-EUP-O application is for 3,495.4 
acres in 34 states from February 1, 2010 to June 30, 2011 in order to 
continue research, testing, and evaluation of blended refuge concepts. 
The following are proposed for testing: 1) 300.4 acres of a 95% blend 
of Cry1F x Cry1Ab corn and 5% non-Bt corn, 2) 295 acres of a blend of 
90% Cry34Ab1/35Ab1 x Cy1F and 10% non-Bt corn, 3) 333.4 acres of a 95% 
blend of Cry1F x Cry1Ab x Cry34Ab1/35Ab1 corn and 5% non-Bt corn, 4) 
328 acres of a 90% blend of Cry1F x Cry1Ab x Cry34Ab1/35Ab1 corn and 
10% non-Bt corn, 5) 734.4 acres of other registered PIPs, 6) 300.4 
acres of Cry1F x Cry1Ab corn, 7) 333.4 acres of Cry1F x Cry1Ab x 
Cry34Ab1/35Ab1 corn, and 8) 870.4 acres of non-PIP corn.
    Four trial protocols will be conducted, including:
     Trait advancement trial (TAT).
     Agronomic observations.
     IRM/efficacy.
     University.
    States involved include: Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, 
Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, 
Lousianna, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, 
Montana, Nebraska, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, 
Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, 
Washington, and Wisconsin.
    A copy of the applications and any information submitted is 
available for public review in the docket established for these EUP 
applications as described under ADDRESSES.
    Following the review of the applications and any comments and data 
received in response to this solicitation, EPA will decide whether to 
issue or deny the EUP requests, and if issued, the conditions under 
which it is to be conducted. Any issuance of EUPs will be announced in 
the Federal Register.

List of Subjects

    Environmental protection, Experimental use permits.


    Dated: December 29, 2009.
W. Michael McDavit,
Acting Director, Biopesticides and Pollution Prevention Division, 
Office of Pesticide Programs.

[FR Doc. 2010-334 Filed 1-12-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-S
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