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[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 145 (Friday, July 27, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44233-44234]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-18321]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OPP-2012-0344; FRL-9355-1]

Clothianidin; Emergency Petition To Suspend; Notice of 
Availability

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: PANNA and others submitted a request for the EPA to 
immediately suspend Clothianidin and take other actions affecting the 
registration. The EPA is announcing the decision to deny the suspension 
request and is inviting the public to comment on the decision and the 
remainder of the petition.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before September 25, 2012.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by docket identification 
(ID) number EPA-HQ-OPP-2012-0344; FRL-9355-1, by one of the following 
methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the online instructions for submitting comments. Do not submit 
electronically any information you consider to be Confidential Business 
Information (CBI) or other information whose disclosure is restricted 
by statute.
     Mail: OPP Docket, Environmental Protection Agency Docket 
Center (EPA/DC), Mail Code: 28221T, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW., 
Washington, DC 20460-0001.
     Hand Delivery: To make special arrangements for hand 
delivery or delivery of boxed information, please follow the 
instructions at http://www.epa.gov/dockets/contacts.htm.
    Additional instructions on commenting or visiting the docket, along 
with more information about dockets generally, is available at http://www.epa.gov/dockets.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Marianne Lewis, Registration Division 
(7505P), Office of Pesticide Programs, Environmental Protection Agency, 
1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW., Washington, DC 20460-0001; telephone 
number: (703) 308-8043; fax number: (703) 308-0029; email address: 
marianne.lewis@epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. General Information

A. Does this action apply to me?

    This action is directed to the public in general, and may be of 
interest to a wide range of stakeholders including: Environmental 
groups, farmers, beekeepers, State regulatory partners, other 
interested Federal agencies; members of the public interested in the 
sale, distribution, or use of pesticides; and other pesticide 
registrants and pesticide users.

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 email. 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 44234]]

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.

II. Background

    On March 20, 2012, The Center for Food Safety and International 
Center for Technology Assessment submitted to the EPA an ``Emergency 
Citizen Petition'' on behalf of 27 individuals and non-governmental 
organizations requesting that the EPA suspend registrations for the 
insecticide clothianidin for the four following reasons: (1) To cure 
clothianidin's unlawful conditional registration; (2) to prevent an 
imminent hazard to pollinating insects and the agricultural interests 
they support by suspending the registrations and initiating special 
review and cancellation proceedings; (3) to stop the sale of misbranded 
clothianidin products; and (4) to address Endangered Species Act 
consultation obligations for clothianidin. Given the emergency nature 
of the request and the harm asserted, the EPA has addressed on an 
expedited basis the request to suspend clothianidin registrations to 
prevent an imminent hazard. This notice announces the availability of 
the EPA's petition response on that issue. The EPA will address the 
remaining three issues in the petition after receiving and considering 
public comments on the petition. After reviewing the petition and the 
supporting documentation, the EPA is denying the request to suspend 
clothianidin registrations based on the assertion that an imminent 
hazard exists because the petition and supporting documentation 
reviewed by the EPA do not demonstrate a substantial likelihood of 
imminent, serious harm that would justify the suspension of this 
pesticide under the FIFRA standard. The EPA is posting both the 
petition (including exhibits and supplemental filings) and its response 
to the imminent hazard claim for 60 days for public comment on its Web 
site and in the public docket at regulations.gov. After reviewing the 
public comments on the petition the EPA will respond to the remaining 
issues in the petition. In addition, the EPA will determine in 
connection with that review whether the comments received support the 
reconsideration of this partial response.

List of Subjects

    Environmental protection, Agricultural commodities, Pesticides and 
pest.

    Dated: July 17, 2012.
Steven P. Bradbury,
Director, Office of Pesticide Programs.
[FR Doc. 2012-18321 Filed 7-26-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
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