UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY 

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20460 

June 30, 2015 

OFFICE OF CHEMICAL SAFETY 

AND POLLUTION PREVENTION 

MEMORANDUM 

Subject: 

To: 

From: 

Ecological Risk Assessment for the New Use of Spirotetramat on Citrus in 

Residential Facilities to Control the Asian Citrus Psyllid, in the New End-Use 

Product I 4ACP703 Insecticide/Miticide 

(PC Code 392201; DP Barcode D424089) 

Rita Kumar, Risk Manager Reviewer 

Mark Suarez, Risk Manager #07 

Meredith Laws, Branch Chief 

Invertebrate-Vertebrate Branch 3 

Registration Division (7505P) 

Jose L. Melendez, Chemist 

Justin Housenger, Biologist 

Environmental Risk Branch 5 

Environmental Fate and Effects Division (7507P) 

Through: 

6 I 30; 1}:, - Mah T. Shamim, Ph.D., Branch Chief 

Environmental Risk Branch 5 

Environmental Fate and Effects Division (7507 ) 

The Environmental Fate and Effects Division (EFED) has reviewed the proposed new use for 

spirotetramat on citrus trees specifically located on residential plots. The registrant, Bayer 

CropScience (BCS), applied for this new residential use with label information that is summarized 

in Table 1 below. Spirotetramat is already registered on citrus, but in agricultural settings, at the 

same single and seasonal application rate, and interval between applications, as the proposed label. 

fn a previous ecological risk assessment (ERA), EFED evaluated the ground, airblast, and aerial 

applications of spirotetramat on citrus as part of a national-level Section 3 New Use Assessment 

that also concerned a variety of other crops (D398764, 2012). More recently, a Special Local 

Needs, Section 24(c) assessment was conducted for the control of the Asian citrus psyllid in 

California (D420542, June 2014). For that action, BCS proposed the removal of label language 

previously proposed for the Section 3 New Use action that included citrus which stated that 

spirotetramat could be applied at bloom and the bee hazard label language also be removed. 
Currently, as part of the previous Section 3 label on citrus, spirotetramat cannot be applied 

within 10 days prior to bloom, during bloom, or until petal fall is complete. BCS is proposing for 

this action on residential facility citrus, to maintain the label restrictions of application prior to and 

during bloom as well as keeping bee hazard language intact from the Section 3 label on citrus. As 

there have been no new environmental fate or ecological effects data reviewed by the Agency for 

spirotetramat since the time of the Section 24(c) assessment, and given the fact that assessment as 

well as the Section 3 new use assessment which included citrus would be protective of the risks 

identified for this proposed use on citrus trees in residential facilities, a new ecological risk 

assessment is not being conducted to support this action. Instead, please refer to the previously 

mentioned assessments. 

Summary of Use of Spirotetramat on Citrus in Residential Facilities 

A summary of the use information can be found below in Table 1 for this proposed use on 

residentially located citrus trees. The new product l 4ACP703 Insecticide/Miticide, containing 

22.4% A.I. or 2 lb A.I./gallon, is a suspension concentrate formulation with the following 

application restriction: "Do not apply this product within 10 days prior to bloom, during bloom, or 

until petal fall is complete." The new product is intended for use by commercial licensed 

applicators in outdoor residential areas only. The maximum single application rate is 0.1 6 lb a.i./A 

and a maximum of two applications are allowed at the maximum rate, using a minimum interval 

between applications of 2 1 days. Only ground applications are allowed. There are specific 

directions for spray drift reduction and runoff management. Among other target pests, there is the 

Asian citrus psyllid. According to the registrant's submission, the Asian citrus psyllid "is a serious 

pest of all citrus and closely related plant species in the Rutaceae family such as orange jasmine 

and Indian curry leaf because it can transmit the disease huanglongbing (HLB) when the pest feeds 

on the plant's leaves and stems. HLB is the most devastating disease of citrus in the world. There 

is no cure for the disease and infected trees are removed and destroyed to prevent further spread." 

Table 1. Summary of new use information for spirotetramat based on the proposed label 

for 14ACP703 Insecticide/Miticide.1 

MAX. MAX. MIN1M1JM 

SINGLE NUMBER OF YEARLY INTERVAL 

APP. RATE APPS.AT APP.RATE BETWEEN APP. PHI 

USE (lb. a.iJA) MAX RATE (lb. a.iJA) APPS. (days) METHOD (days) 

Citrus Trees. including. calamondin. 0.16 2 0.32 21 Ground I 

citron. tangelo. tangerine, tangor. 

grapefruit. kumquat. lemon. lime. 

tangelo, sweet and sour orange. 

pummelo. Australian lime (desen. finger. 

and round), Brown River finger lime. 

Japanese summer grapcfrnit. 

Mediterranean mandarin. Mount White 

lime. New Guinea wild lime. Russell 

River lime. Satsuma mandarin. swc:ct 

lime. Tachibana orange. Tahiti lime. 

Tri foliate orange. uniq fruit. including 

cultivars. varieties and/or hybrids of 

these commodities) 

1 Do not apply this product within 10 days pnor to bloom, dunng bloom, or unti l petal fall is complete. 

2 
ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARDS 

"For Terrestrial Use: This pesticide is toxic to aquatic invertebrates and oysters. Do not 

apply directly to water, to areas where surface water is present, or to intertidal areas below 

the mean high water mark. This product may contaminate water through drift of spray in 

wind. Do not apply when weather conditions favor drift from treated areas. Drift and runoff 

from treated areas may be hazardous to aquatic organisms in neighboring areas. Do not 

contaminate water when disposing of equipment washwaters or rinsate. 

This chemical has properties and characteristics associated with chemicals detected in 

ground water. The use of this chemical in areas where soils are permeable, particularly 

where the water table is shallow, may result in ground-water contamination. 

This product is potentially toxic to honey bee larvae through residues in pollen and nectar, 

but not to adult honey bees. Exposure of adult bees to direct treatment or residues on 

blooming crops can lead to effects on honey bee larvae. See the "Directions for Use" section 

of this label for specific crop application instructions that minimize risk to honey bee 

larvae."