### Supplemental Information To

Nalco, Inc.’s Request that EPA Reconsider Its Registration for Ammonia Products as Precursors to Chloramine Used in Water Treatment and Provide Assurance that there is No Risk of Enforcement During the Reconsideration

an d Any N ecessary Transition Period July 7, 2008 Introduction The fo llo wing informat io n is supplemental to Nalco’s December 4, 2007 request that EPA reconsider its registration for ammo nia products and is in response to the Agency’s July 3, 2008 request for addi

tional explanation. Specifically, the Agency requested:

· a definit io n of “act ivator”

· an explanat io n of why Nalco believes that each compound ident ified in Appendix 3 of its December 4, 2007 request compares to the role it believes ammo nia has when used in conjunct io n with chlorine to treat water and to Nalco’s request Explanation of the Term “Activator” There is no regulatory definit io n fo r the term “act ivator” when associated with pest ic ides. The term is used loosely by the Agency and the industry to re fer to a non

- pesticidally act ive com pound used in conjunct io n with a non

- pest ic idally act ive precursor chemical that is required to resul t in the format io n of a pest ic idally active ingredient. An example of the Agency’s use of the term “act ivator” is prov ided in Nalco’s December 4, 2007 request on page 10 as follows: For example sodium bro mide is a registered precursor which calls for the use of an activator. See Reregistration Eligibilit y Decisio n for Inorganic Halides, Case 4051 (Sep. 1993) (“The sodi

um bro mide so lut io n usually is mixed with act ivators such as chlorine gas, calcium hypochlorite [ ], sodium hypochlorite [ ], potassium mo nopersulfate [ ], and oz one.”). “Sodium bromide per se is a stable salt wit h no pesticidal act ivit y. ” Id . at 10. When mixed with an act ivator, “the active disinfectant, [ ] hypobro mo us acid,” is produced. Id. “[H]ypobro mo us acid is an effect ive microbio lo gical control treatment,” “o xidiz[ing] organic and inorganic material present in effluent water.” A similar situation exists for generation of chlorine dioxide fro m t he precursor sodium chlorite or sodi um chlorate. In the case of both sodium bromide and sodium chlorite or sodium chlorate, there is no pesticidally act ive ingredient prior to activat io n. The activator is needed to generate the active ingredient. EPA regi sters pesticide precursors only in circumstances where registering the precursor is the only means by which the Agency could regulate the production and use of pest ic ides generated- 2

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at the point of applicat ion. Therefore, EPA registers precursors when they are the “only logical chemical[s] through which the use of a pesticide can be regulated.” In the Matter of South Coast Chemical, Inc. , 2 E.A.D. 139 (March 11, 1986). The Agency has not required the regis tration of activators themselves used with the precursor compounds, as explained by Nalco in its December 4, 2007 request. Ammonia Used with Chlorine Is Not an Activator When used with chlorine co mpounds for water treatment, ammo nia is not an “act ivator” (as that term is used by the Agency). The chlorine compounds themselves are pest ic idally act ive, and there is no need for ammo nia to produce a pesticidally act ive compound. As explained by Nalco (see at Section III of Nalco’s December 4, 2007 request), the use of ammo nia with chlorine com pounds actually reduces the pest ic idal act ivit y o f t he chlorine compounds. Ammo nia is not a precursor to any pest ic idally active com pound, nor is it needed for the pesticidal act ivit y of the EPA

- regi stered chlorine co mp ounds. As explained by Nalco, ammo nia extends the time that chlorine compounds remain act ive in the system by slowing the rate of chlorine react io n and deactivation in the water treatment systems. As a direct result, the need for chlorine

- containing inputs i s reduced. Thus, as Nalco explained, ammo nia acts more in the manner of a sequestrant, i.e., “prevent ing or inhibit ing normal io n behavior by co mbinat io n wit h added materials” (The American Heritage Dict io nary of the English Language, Fourth Edition, published by Houghton Mifflin Co mpany). There is no regulatory definit io n of “sequestrant” associated with pest ic ides. The Agency Has a Long
- Standing Practice of Not Requiring Registration of Compounds that Are Not Pesticidally Active and Are Not Precu rsors to Pesticidally Active Compounds But Which Modify the Activity of Pesticidally Active Compounds Because there are no regulatory definit io ns associated with pesticides for terms such as “sequestrant,” “act ivator,” “intensifier,” “neutralizer,” “stabi lizer,” “deact ivator,” and similar terms, these terms are used imprecisely by the Agency and registrants. However, the Agency clearly has a long

- standing pract ice of not requiring registration for compounds modify the activit y o f o r interact with the pest icidally act ive ingredient, as long as such co mpounds are not essent ia l as precursors to a pesticidally act ive compound. The compounds ident ified by Nalco in Appendix 3 of its December 4, 2007 request are simply publicly available examples of co mpounds that the Agency has determined to be inert com ponents of pest ic ide products when the description of the purpose of the inert component indicates that it will modify the act ivit y o f o r interact with the pesticidally act ive ingredient in the fo rm ulat io n. In a ll c ases, the description of the purpose of the inert formulant indicates a mo dification of activit y, either to improve the act ivit y ( synergist, intensifier, catalyst) or modify (slow or increase) the rate of degradation or availabilit y ( buffer, sequestran t, chelat io n, ant io xidant, release rate regulator, neutralizer, ant ioxidant, pH control, reducer, safener, stabilizer). In all cases, the descript io n suggest a chemical react io n, but not one that is needed to produce a pesticidally active ingredient.- 3

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The Ag ency has confirmed that compounds wit h such act io ns, if not a component of a pesticide fo rm ulat io n but sold separately fro m t he pest ic ide product, are not subject to FIFRA even when int ended to be used with a pesticide product ( 70 FR 31401, June 1, 2005 ). As components of pesticide products, compounds with the types of actions ident ified above are considered as inert ingredients, generally referred to as adjuvants. Ammo nia used in water treatment systems alo ng wit h EPA

- registered chlorine

- based product s is an adjuvant (sequestrant), acting solely to reduce the rate of bioavailabilit y and reduce the rate of degradation of the active ingredient chlorine. Ammo nia is not pesticidal and does not act as a precursor to a pesticidally active compound. In summ ary, ammo nia does not have independent ant imicrobial act ivit y, nor i s it necessary to generate a pesticidally act ive ingredient; instead, it is used with chlorine compounds, that are pesticidally act ive wit hout any “act ivat io n” by ammo nia or any other com p onent.. In fact, ammo nia prolongs the availabilit y o f chlorine, either as free chlorine or as chloramines. EPA has consistent ly held that products that provide this type of stabilizat io n fu nct io n fo r pesticides are not required to be registered under FIF RA.