5400 Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 21 / Wednesday, February 2, 2005 / Proposed Rules 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Amy Algoe-Eakin at (913) 551–7942, or 

by e-mail at algoe-eakin.amy@epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In the 

final rules section of the Federal 

Register, EPA is approving the state’s 

SIP revision as a direct final rule 

without prior proposal because the 

Agency views this as a noncontroversial 

revision amendment and anticipates no 

relevant adverse comments to this 

action. A detailed rationale for the 

approval is set forth in the direct final 

rule. If no relevant adverse comments 

are received in response to this action, 

no further activity is contemplated in 

relation to this action. If EPA receives 

relevant adverse comments, the direct 

final rule will be withdrawn and all 

public comments received will be 

addressed in a subsequent final rule 

based on this proposed action. EPA will 

not institute a second comment period 

on this action. Any parties interested in 

commenting on this action should do so 

at this time. Please note that if EPA 

receives adverse comment on part of 

this rule and if that part can be severed 

from the remainder of the rule, EPA may 

adopt as final those parts of the rule that 

are not the subject of an adverse 

comment. For additional information, 

see the direct final rule which is located 

in the rules section of this Federal 

Register.

Dated: January 18, 2005. 

James B. Gulliford, 

Regional Administrator, Region 7.

[FR Doc. 05–1992 Filed 2–1–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY

40 CFR Part 155

[OPP–2005–0014; FRL–7696–7]

RIN–2070–AD29

Pesticides; Procedural Regulations for 

Registration Review; Notification to the 

Secretary of Agriculture

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notification to the Secretary of 

Agriculture.

SUMMARY: This document notifies the 

public that theAdministrator of EPA has 

forwarded to the Secretary of 

Agriculture a draft proposed rule as 

required by section 25(a) of the Federal 

Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide 

Act (FIFRA). The draft proposed rule 

would establish procedures for 

conducting a periodic review of 

pesticide registrations. FIFRA section 

3(g) directs the Agency to establish by 

regulation procedures for reviewing 

pesticide registrations, with a goal of 

reviewing each pesticide’s registration 

every 15 years. The purpose of this 

review is to assure that a pesticide 

continues to meet the FIFRA standard 

for registration. The legislative history 

for FIFRA 3(g) noted that because safety 

standards change over time, it is 

necessary to assure that pesticides 

continue to meet these standards as new 

knowledge and information are 

developed.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Vivian Prunier, Field and External 

Affairs Division (7506C), Office of 

Pesticide Programs, Environmental 

Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania 

Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460–

0001; telephone number: (703) 308–

9341; fax number: (703) 305–5884; email address: prunier.vivian@epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. General Information

A. Does this Action Apply to Me? 

This action is directed to the public 

in general. It simply announces the 

submission of a draft proposed rule to 

USDA and does not otherwise affect any 

specific entities. This action may, 

however, be of particular interest to you 

if you hold pesticide registrations, use 

pesticides, or are interested in the 

regulation of the sale, distribution or 

uses of pesticides. Since other entities 

may also be interested, the Agency has 

not attempted to describe all the specific 

entities that may be interested in this 

action. If you have any questions 

regarding this action, consult the person 

listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

CONTACT.

B. How Can I Get Copies of this 

Document and Other Related 

Information?

1. Docket. EPA has established an 

official public docket for this action 

under docket identification number 

OPP–2005–0014. The official public 

docket consists of the documents 

specifically referenced in this action, 

any public comments received, and 

other information related to this action. 

Although a part of the official docket, 

the public docket does not include 

Confidential Business Information (CBI) 

or other information whose disclosure is 

restricted by statute. The official public 

docket is the collection of materials that 

is available for public viewing at the 

Public Information and Records 

Integrity Branch (PIRIB), Rm. 119, 

Crystal Mall #2, 1801 S. Bell St., 

Arlington, VA. This docket facility is 

open from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday 

through Friday, excluding legal 

holidays. The docket telephone number 

is (703) 305–5805.

2. Electronic access. You may access 

this Federal Register document 

electronically through the EPA Internet 

under the ‘‘Federal Register’’ listings at 

http://www.epa.gov/fedrgstr/.

An electronic version of the public 

docket is available through EPA’s 

electronic public docket and comment 

system, EPA Dockets. You may use EPA 

Dockets at http://www.epa.gov/edocket/

to view public comments, access the 

index listing of the contents of the 

official public docket, and to access 

those documents in the public docket 

that are available electronically. 

Although not all docket materials may 

be available electronically, you may still 

access any of the publicly available 

docket materials through the docket 

facility identified in Unit I.B.1. Once in 

the system, select ‘‘search,’’ then key in 

the appropriate docket ID number.

II. What Action is EPA Taking?

Section 25(a)(2) of FIFRA requires the 

Administrator to provide the Secretary 

of Agriculture with a copy of any 

proposed regulation at least 60 days 

before signing it for publication in the 

Federal Register. The draft proposed 

rule is not available to the public until 

after it has been signed by EPA. If the 

Secretary comments in writing 

regarding the draft proposed rule within 

30 days after receiving it, the 

Administrator shall include the 

comments of the Secretary and the 

Administrator’s response to those 

comments in the proposed rule when 

published in the Federal Register. If the 

Secretary does not comment in writing 

within 30 days after receiving the draft 

proposed rule, the Administrator may 

sign the proposed regulation for 

publication in the Federal Register

anytime after the 30-day period.

III. Do Any Statutory and Executive 

Order Reviews Apply to this 

Notification?

No. This document is not a proposed 

rule, it is merely a notification of 

submission to the Secretary of 

Agriculture. As such, none of the 

regulatory assessment requirements 

apply to this document.

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 155

Environmental protection, 

Administrative practice and procedure, 

Pesticides and pests.

Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 21 / Wednesday, February 2, 2005 / Proposed Rules 5401

Dated: January 18, 2005.

James Jones,

Director, Office of Pesticide Programs.

[FR Doc. 05–1990 Filed 2–1–05; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560–50–S

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service 

50 CFR Part 17 

Endangered and Threatened Wildlife 

and Plants; 90-Day Finding on a 

Petition To List the Gentry Indigo Bush 

as Endangered

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, 

Interior.

ACTION: Notice of 90-day petition 

finding and initiation of status review. 

SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and 

Wildlife Service (FWS), announce a 90-

day administrative finding on a petition 

to list the Gentry indigo bush (Dalea 

tentaculoides) under the Endangered 

Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). 

We find that the petition presents 

substantial information indicating that 

listing the Gentry indigo bush may be 

warranted. Therefore, we are initiating a 

status review to determine if listing the 

species is warranted. To ensure that the 

review is comprehensive, we are 

soliciting information and data 

regarding this species.

DATES: The administrative finding 

announced in this document was made 

on January 25, 2005. To be considered 

in the 12-month finding for this 

petition, comments and information 

should be submitted to us by April 4, 

2005.

ADDRESSES: Data, information, 

comments, or questions concerning this 

petition and our finding should be 

submitted to the Field Supervisor, 

Arizona Ecological Services Office, 2321 

West Royal Palm Road, Suite 103, 

Phoenix, Arizona 85021–4951. The 

petition, administrative finding, 

supporting data, and comments will be 

available for public inspection, by 

appointment, during normal business 

hours at the above address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Mima Falk, Plant Ecologist, at the 

Tucson Sub-Office, 201 North Bonita 

Ave, Suite 141, Tucson, Arizona, 85745, 

or at 520–670–6150 x 225.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

Section 4(b)(3)(A) of the Endangered 

Species Act of 1973, as amended (16 

U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) (Act), requires that 

we make a finding on whether a petition 

to list, delist, or reclassify a species 

presents substantial scientific or 

commercial information indicating that 

the petitioned action may be warranted. 

We are to base this finding on all 

information available to us at the time 

we make the finding. To the maximum 

extent practicable, we are to make this 

finding within 90 days of our receipt of 

the petition, and publish our notice of 

this finding promptly in the Federal 

Register. 

Our standard for substantial 

information within the Code of Federal 

Regulations (CFR) with regard to a 90-

day petition finding is ‘‘that amount of 

information that would lead a 

reasonable person to believe that the 

measure proposed in the petition may 

be warranted’’ (50 CFR 424.14(b)). If we 

find that substantial information was 

presented, we are required to promptly 

commence a review of the status of the 

species, if one has not already been 

initiated, under our internal candidate 

assessment process. 

In making this finding, we relied on 

information provided by the petitioners 

and evaluated that information in 

accordance with 50 CFR 424.14(b). This 

finding summarizes information 

included in the petition and information 

available to us at the time of the petition 

review. Our process of coming to a 90-

day finding under section 4(b)(3)(A) of 

the Act and section 424.14(b) of our 

regulations is limited to a determination 

of whether the information in the 

petition meets the ‘‘substantial 

information’’ threshold.

We do not conduct additional 

research at this point, nor do we subject 

the petition to rigorous critical review. 

Rather, as the Act and regulations 

contemplate, in coming to a 90-day 

finding, we accept the petitioner’s 

sources and characterizations of the 

information unless we have specific 

information to the contrary. 

Our finding considers whether the 

petition states a reasonable case for 

listing on its face. Thus, our finding 

expresses no view as to the ultimate 

issue of whether the species should be 

listed. We reach a conclusion on that 

issue only after a more thorough review 

of the species’ status. In that review, 

which will take approximately 9 more 

months, we will perform a rigorous, 

critical analysis of the best available 

scientific and commercial information, 

not just the information in the petition. 

We will ensure that the data used to 

make our determination as to the status 

of the species is consistent with the Act 

and Information Quality Act. 

On January 7, 2002, we received a 

petition dated January 2, 2002, 

requesting that we list the Gentry indigo 

bush (Dalea tentaculoides) as an 

endangered species, and that critical 

habitat be designated concurrently with 

the listing. The petition, submitted by 

the Center for Biological Diversity 

(Center), was clearly identified as a 

petition for a listing rule, and contained 

the names, signatures, and addresses of 

the requesting parties. Included in the 

petition was supporting information 

regarding the species’ taxonomy and 

ecology, historical and current 

distribution, present status, and 

potential causes of decline. We 

acknowledged the receipt of the petition 

in a letter to Mr. Noah Greenwald, dated 

April 25, 2002. In that letter, we also 

advised the petitioners that due to 

funding constraints in fiscal year (FY) 

2002, we would not be able to begin 

processing the petition in a timely 

manner. 

On January 21, 2003, the Center sent 

a Notice of Intent to sue for violating the 

Act by failing to make a timely 90-day 

finding on the petition to list the Gentry 

indigo bush. On September 17, 2003, 

the Center filed a complaint against the 

Secretary of the Interior and FWS for 

failure to make a 90-day petition finding 

under section 4 of the Act for the Gentry 

indigo bush. In a Stipulated Settlement 

Agreement, signed June 14, 2004, we 

agreed to submit a 90-day finding to the 

Federal Register by January 31, 2005 

[Center for Biological Diversity v. 

Norton, CV 03–473–TUC–FRZ (D. Az)]. 

This notice constitutes our 90-day 

finding for the petition to list the Gentry 

indigo bush. 

Biology and Distribution 

Gentry indigo bush is an erect 

perennial shrub that grows from a 

woody root crown and can be up to 1 

meter (m) (3.2 feet (ft)) tall. It is a 

member of the Leguminosae (Pea) 

Family. The leaves are compound, 3–6 

centimeters (cm) (1.2–2.4 inches (in)) 

long with 9–17 pairs of leaflets. The 

leaflets are hairless, notched at the tip, 

and dotted with punctuate (translucent 

pitted glands or colored dots) glands on 

the lower surface. The flowers are 

sessile (lacking a stalk), 6 millimeters 

(mm) (0.24 in) in length, and are 

presented in oblong clusters. The flower 

petals are rose-purple. Plants flower in 

the spring, from late March to mid-May. 

They may produce a second set of 

flowers in late summer and fall in 

response to monsoon precipitation. 

Howard S. Gentry originally described 

the species in 1950. It is a distinctive 

member of the genus Dalea with no 

closely related species (Gentry 1950, 

Barneby 1977). The main distinguishing 

character that serves to separate this