Document ID: FDA-2022-N-0571-23948
Agency: fda
Document Type: Notice
Title: Ortho-phthalates for Food Contact Use; Reopening of Comment Period; Request for Information
Posted Date: 2022-09-27T04:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 186 (Tuesday, September 27, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58502-58503]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-20832]

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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Food and Drug Administration

[Docket No. FDA-2022-N-0571]

Ortho-phthalates for Food Contact Use; Reopening of Comment 
Period; Request for Information

AGENCY: Food and Drug Administration, HHS.

ACTION: Notice; reopening of comment period; request for information.

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SUMMARY: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA or we) is reopening the 
comment period for the notice titled ``Ortho-phthalates for Food 
Contact Use; Request for Information,'' which published in the Federal 
Register of May 20, 2022. We are taking this action in response to a 
request from stakeholders to extend the comment period to allow 
additional time for interested parties to develop and submit data, 
other information, and comments for this request for information.

DATES: FDA is reopening the comment period on the notice ``Ortho-
phthalates for Food Contact Use; Request for Information,'' which 
published in the Federal Register on May 20, 2022 (87 FR 31090). Submit 
either electronic or written comments by December 27, 2022.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments as follows. Please note that late, 
untimely filed comments will not be considered. The https://www.regulations.gov electronic filing system will accept comments until 
11:59 p.m. Eastern Time at the end of December 27, 2022. Comments 
received by mail/hand delivery/courier (for written/paper submissions) 
will be considered timely if they are received on or before that date.

Electronic Submissions

    Submit electronic comments in the following way:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the instructions for submitting comments. Comments submitted 
electronically, including attachments, to https://www.regulations.gov 
will be posted to the docket unchanged. Because your comment will be 
made public, you are solely responsible for ensuring that your comment 
does not include any confidential information that you or a third party 
may not wish to be posted, such as medical information, your or anyone 
else's Social Security number, or confidential business information, 
such as a manufacturing process. Please note

[[Page 58503]]

that if you include your name, contact information, or other 
information that identifies you in the body of your comments, that 
information will be posted on https://www.regulations.gov.
     If you want to submit a comment with confidential 
information that you do not wish to be made available to the public, 
submit the comment as a written/paper submission and in the manner 
detailed (see ``Written/Paper Submissions'' and ``Instructions'').

Written/Paper Submissions

    Submit written/paper submissions as follows:
     Mail/Hand Delivery/Courier (for written/paper 
submissions): Dockets Management Staff (HFA-305), Food and Drug 
Administration, 5630 Fishers Lane, Rm. 1061, Rockville, MD 20852.
     For written/paper comments submitted to the Dockets 
Management Staff, FDA will post your comment, as well as any 
attachments, except for information submitted, marked and identified, 
as confidential, if submitted as detailed in ``Instructions.''
    Instructions: All submissions received must include the Docket No. 
FDA-2022-N-0571 for ``Ortho-phthalates for Food Contact Use; Reopening 
of the Comment Period; Request for Information.'' Received comments, 
those filed in a timely manner (see ADDRESSES), will be placed in the 
docket and, except for those submitted as ``Confidential Submissions,'' 
publicly viewable at https://www.regulations.gov or at the Dockets 
Management Staff between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, 240-
402-7500.
     Confidential Submissions--To submit a comment with 
confidential information that you do not wish to be made publicly 
available, submit your comments only as a written/paper submission. You 
should submit two copies total. One copy will include the information 
you claim to be confidential with a heading or cover note that states 
``THIS DOCUMENT CONTAINS CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION.'' We will review 
this copy, including the claimed confidential information, in our 
consideration of comments. The second copy, which will have the claimed 
confidential information redacted/blacked out, will be available for 
public viewing and posted on https://www.regulations.gov. Submit both 
copies to the Dockets Management Staff. If you do not wish your name 
and contact information to be made publicly available, you can provide 
this information on the cover sheet and not in the body of your 
comments and you must identify this information as ``confidential.'' 
Any information marked as ``confidential'' will not be disclosed except 
in accordance with 21 CFR 10.20 and other applicable disclosure law. 
For more information about FDA's posting of comments to public dockets, 
see 80 FR 56469, September 18, 2015, or access the information at: 
https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2015-09-18/pdf/2015-23389.pdf.
    Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or 
the electronic and written/paper comments received, go to https://www.regulations.gov and insert the docket number, found in brackets in 
the heading of this document, into the ``Search'' box and follow the 
prompts and/or go to the Dockets Management Staff, 5630 Fishers Lane, 
Rm. 1061, Rockville, MD 20852, 240-402-7500.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jessica Urbelis, Center for Food 
Safety and Applied Nutrition (HFS-275), Food and Drug Administration, 
5001 Campus Dr., College Park, MD 20740, 240-402-5187; or Meadow Platt, 
Office of Regulations and Policy (HFS-024), Center for Food Safety and 
Applied Nutrition, Food and Drug Administration, 5001 Campus Dr., 
College Park, MD 20740, 240-402-2378.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In the Federal Register of May 20, 2022 (87 
FR 31090), FDA published a notice with a 60-day comment period to 
request data and information on the current food contact uses, use 
levels, dietary exposure, and safety data on any ortho-phthalates 
currently used in food contact applications. We originally gave 
interested persons until July 19, 2022, to provide data and 
information.
    Following publication of the notice, FDA received a request to 
allow interested parties additional time to comment. The request 
asserted that 60 days was insufficient to respond fully to FDA's 
specific requests for comments and to allow potential respondents to 
thoroughly evaluate and address pertinent issues and requested that FDA 
extend the comment period by an additional 6 months. We have considered 
this request and, because the request came too late for us to extend 
the comment period before it expired, we are reopening the comment 
period for 90 days. FDA believes that this additional 90 days will 
allow time for interested parties to submit data and other information 
to support our review of the current use levels and safe use of certain 
ortho-phthalates in food contact applications.

    Dated: September 20, 2022.
Lauren K. Roth,
Associate Commissioner for Policy.
[FR Doc. 2022-20832 Filed 9-26-22; 8:45 am]
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