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[Federal Register: March 31, 2010 (Volume 75, Number 61)]
[Notices]               
[Page 16113-16114]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr31mr10-74]                         

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OPP-2007-1026; FRL-8816-2]

 
Bacillus subtilis; Registration Review Final Decision; Notice of 
Availability

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY:  This notice announces the availability of EPA's final 
registration review decision for the pesticide Bacillus subtilis, case 
6012. Registration review is EPA's periodic review of pesticide 
registrations to ensure that each pesticide continues to satisfy the 
statutory standard for registration, that is, that the pesticide can 
perform its intended function without causing unreasonable adverse 
effects on human health or the environment. Through this program, EPA 
is ensuring that each pesticide's registration is based on current 
scientific and other knowledge, including its effects on human health 
and the environment.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For pesticide specific information, 
contact: Susanne Cerrelli, Biopesticides and Pollution Prevention 
Division (7511P), Office of Pesticide Programs, Environmental 
Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460-
0001; telephone number: (703) 308-8077; fax number: (703) 308-7026; e-
mail address: cerrelli.susanne@epa.gov.
     For general information on the registration review program, 
contact: Kevin Costello, Pesticide Re-evaluation Division (7508P), 
Office of Pesticide Programs, Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 
Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460-0001; telephone number: 
(703) 305-5026; fax number: (703) 308-8090; e-mail address: 
costello.kevin @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

[[Page 16114]]

wide range of stakeholders including environmental, human health, farm 
worker, and agricultural advocates; the chemical industry; pesticide 
users; and members of the public interested in the sale, distribution, 
or use of pesticides. Since others also may 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 
pesticide specific contact person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION 
CONTACT.

B. How Can I Get Copies of this Document and Other Related Information?

    EPA has established a docket for this action under docket 
identification (ID) number EPA-HQ-OPP-2007-1026. 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 
Office of Pesticide Programs (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.

II. Background

A. What Action is the Agency Taking?

    In accordance with 40 CFR 155.58(c), this notice announces the 
availability of EPA's final registration review decision for Bacillus 
subtilis, case 6012. The Bacillus subtilis case consists of four 
strains: Strain GB03; Strain MBI 600; Strain QST 713; and var. 
amyloliquefaciens Strain FZB24. All four strains occur ubiquitously in 
the environment: Bacillus subtilis strain GB03 is used to prevent, 
control and suppress plant disease on barley, berries, bulb vegetables, 
cole crops, cotton, cucurbits, fruiting vegetables, herbs, leafy crops, 
legumes, ornamental plants and cuttings, peanuts, root/tuber and corm 
vegetables, soybeans, tomatoes, trees, tropical plants, turf, and 
wheat. Bacillus subtilis strain GB03 is applied as an irrigation 
application, pre-plant soak, overhead spray, soil drench, seed 
dressing, tank mix, or hydroponic system treatment; Bacillus subtilis 
strain MBI 600 is used to suppress disease organisms such as Botrytis, 
Alternaria, Rhizoctonia, and Fusarium and is also used to promote more 
effective nodulation by nitrogen-fixing bacteria to improve yields. It 
is used as a seed and in-furrow treatment on cotton, seed and pod 
vegetables, peanuts, soybeans, alfalfa, forage and turf grasses, wheat, 
barley, corn, and canola. It is also used in greenhouses to treat peat 
moss and soil intended for seeding, potting, or transplanting non-
bearing fruit and vegetable seedlings and as a foliar spray on 
asparagus, cole crops, bulb vegetables, berry crops, cucurbits, 
flowers, bedding plants, ornamentals, tropical plants, fruiting 
vegetables, grape, leafy vegetables, pome fruit, stone fruit, 
strawberry, tuber/root and corm vegetables, turf, sod, lawns, trees, 
and shrubs. Bacillus subtilis strain QST 713 is used to prevent or 
reduce several types of fungal and bacterial pests on artichoke, 
asparagus, avocado, beans, beets, berries, brassica crops, bulb 
vegetables, celery, cereal grains, citrus, coffee, corn, cucurbits, 
beans, eggplant, grapes, herbs/spices, hops, kiwi, kohlrabi, leafy 
vegetables, legumes, melons, oil seed crops, oil palm, okra, peanuts, 
peppers, pome fruit, rice, root/tuber crops, silage crops, stone 
fruits, tomatoes, tree nuts, tropical fruits, field roses, forestry 
seedlings, lawns, ornamental flowering plants, ornamental foliage 
plants, ornamental trees and shrubs, seed production crops, sod, 
tobacco, and turf. Bacillus subtilis var. amyloliquefaciens strain 
FZB24 is used for plant strengthening, enhancing growth, increasing 
yields and suppressing soil-borne fungal diseases such as Rhizoctonia 
and Fusarium as a dip for seedlings, transplants, plugs, tubers, bulbs, 
corms, cuttings and roots of ornamentals, shrubs and trees, and as a 
spray over furrows for ornamentals, shrubs, trees, turf, vegetables, 
herbs and spices, and other crops. It is also incorporated into soils, 
soil-less growing media and mushroom spawn media and as a drench for 
interiorscapes and potted orchids and ferns.
     In accordance with 40 CFR 155.57, a registration review decision 
is the Agency's determination whether a pesticide meets, or does not 
meet, the standard for registration in FIFRA. EPA has considered 
Bacillus subtilis in light of the FIFRA standard for registration. The 
Bacillus subtilis Final Decision document in the docket describes the 
Agency's rationale for issuing a registration review final decision for 
this pesticide.
     In addition to the final registration review decision document, 
the registration review docket for Bacillus subtilis also includes 
other relevant documents related to the registration review of this 
case. The proposed registration review decision was posted to the 
docket and the public was invited to submit any comments or new 
information. During the comment period, the public comments received 
were not substantive and did not affect the Agency's final decision.
     In accordance with 40 CFR 155.58(c), the registration review case 
docket for Bacillus subtilis will remain open until all actions 
required in the final decision have been completed.
    Background on the registration review program is provided at: 
http://www.epa.gov/oppsrrd1/registration_review. Links to earlier 
documents related to the registration review of this pesticide are 
provided at: http:/www.epa.gov/oppsrrd1/registration_review/bacillus_subtilis/index.htm.

B. What is the Agency's Authority for Taking this Action?

    Section 3(g) of FIFRA and 40 CFR part 155, subpart C, provide 
authority for this action.

List of Subjects

    Environmental protection, Bacillus subtilis, Pesticide and pest, 
Registration review.

    Dated: March 24, 2010.
 Keith A. Matthews,
Acting Director, Biopesticides and Pollution Prevention Division, 
Office of Pesticide Programs.
[FR Doc. 2010-7237 Filed 3-30-10; 8:45 a.m.]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-S
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