Document ID: EPA-HQ-OPP-2023-0069-0011
Agency: epa
Document Type: Proposed Rule
Title: Pesticide Tolerance; Exemptions, Petitions, Revocations, etc.: Residues of Pesticide Chemicals in or on Various Commodities (November 2023)
Posted Date: 2023-12-19T05:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 242 (Tuesday, December 19, 2023)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 87733-87734]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-27780]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 180

[EPA-HQ-OPP-2023-0069; FRL-10579-11-OCSPP]

Receipt of a Pesticide Petition Filed for Residues of Pesticide 
Chemicals in or on Various Commodities (November 2023)

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of filing of petition and request for comment.

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SUMMARY: This document announces the Agency's receipt of an initial 
filing of a pesticide petition requesting the establishment or 
modification of regulations for residues of pesticide chemicals in or 
on various commodities.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before January 18, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by docket identification 
(ID) number EPA-HQ-OPP-2023-0069, through the Federal eRulemaking 
Portal at https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions 
for submitting comments. Do not submit electronically any information 
you consider to be Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other 
information whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Additional 
instructions on commenting and visiting the docket, along with more 
information about dockets generally, is available at https://www.epa.gov/dockets.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Anne Overstreet, Biopesticides and 
Pollution Prevention Division (BPPD) (7511M), main telephone number: 
(202) 566-2425, email address: [email protected]; or Dan 
Rosenblatt, Registration Division (RD) (7505T), main telephone number: 
(202) 566-2875, email address: [email protected]. The mailing address 
for each contact person is Office of Pesticide Programs, Environmental 
Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20460-
0001. As part of the mailing address, include the contact person's 
name, division, and mail code. The division to contact is listed at the 
end of each application summary.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. General Information

A. Does this action apply to me?

    You may be potentially affected by this action if you are an 
agricultural producer, food manufacturer, or pesticide manufacturer. 
The following list of North American Industrial Classification System 
(NAICS) codes is not intended to be exhaustive, but rather provides a 
guide to help readers determine whether this document applies to them. 
Potentially affected entities may include:
     Crop production (NAICS code 111).
     Animal production (NAICS code 112).
     Food manufacturing (NAICS code 311).
     Pesticide manufacturing (NAICS code 32532).

B. What should I consider as I prepare my comments for EPA?

    1. Submitting CBI. Do not submit this information to EPA through 
regulations.gov or email. Clearly mark the part or all of the 
information that you claim to be CBI. For CBI information in a disk or 
CD-ROM that you mail to EPA, mark the outside of the disk or CD-ROM as 
CBI and then identify electronically within the disk or CD-ROM the 
specific information that is claimed as CBI. In addition to one 
complete version of the comment that includes information claimed as 
CBI, a copy of the comment that does not contain the information 
claimed as CBI must be submitted for inclusion in the public docket. 
Information so marked will not be disclosed except in accordance with 
procedures set forth in 40 CFR part 2.
    2. Tips for preparing your comments. When preparing and submitting 
your comments, see the commenting tips at https://www.epa.gov/dockets/comments.html.
    3. Environmental justice. EPA seeks to achieve environmental 
justice, the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of any group, 
including minority and/or low-income populations, in the development, 
implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and 
policies. To help address potential environmental justice issues, the 
Agency seeks information on any groups or segments of the population 
who, as a result of their location, cultural practices, or other 
factors, may have atypical or disproportionately high and adverse human 
health impacts or environmental effects from exposure to the pesticides 
discussed in this document, compared to the general population.

II. What action is the Agency taking?

    EPA is announcing receipt of a pesticide petition filed under 
section 408 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA), 21 
U.S.C. 346a, requesting the establishment or modification of 
regulations in 40 CFR part 180 for residues of pesticide

[[Page 87734]]

chemicals in or on various food commodities. The Agency is taking 
public comment on the request before responding to the petitioner. EPA 
is not proposing any particular action at this time. EPA has determined 
that the pesticide petition described in this document contains data or 
information prescribed in FFDCA section 408(d)(2), 21 U.S.C. 
346a(d)(2); however, EPA has not fully evaluated the sufficiency of the 
submitted data at this time or whether the data supports granting of 
the pesticide petition. After considering the public comments, EPA 
intends to evaluate whether and what action may be warranted. 
Additional data may be needed before EPA can make a final determination 
on this pesticide petition.
    Pursuant to 40 CFR 180.7(f), a summary of the petition that is the 
subject of this document, prepared by the petitioner, is included in a 
docket EPA has created for this rulemaking. The docket for this 
petition is available at https://www.regulations.gov.
    As specified in FFDCA section 408(d)(3), 21 U.S.C. 346a(d)(3), EPA 
is publishing notice of the petition so that the public has an 
opportunity to comment on this request for the establishment or 
modification of regulations for residues of pesticides in or on food 
commodities. Further information on the petition may be obtained 
through the petition summary referenced in this unit.

A. Notice of Filing--Amended Tolerances for Inerts

    PP IN-11655. EPA-HQ-OPP-2022-0850. Corteva Agriscience, 9330 
Zionsville Road, Indianapolis, IN 46268, requests to amend the 
tolerance descriptor under 40 CFR 180.560 for residues of cloquintocet-
mexyl (acetic acid, [(5-chloro-8-quniolinyl)oxy]-, 1-methylhexyl 
ester)(CAS Reg. No. 99607-70-2) and its acid metabolite (5-chloro-8-
quinlinoxyacetic acid). Corteva is requesting that the active 
ingredients listed in the tolerance expression be removed so that the 
safener can be used in any herbicide formulation applied to the 
commodities listed. There is no proposed change to the numerical 
tolerance or the listed commodities under Sec.  180.560, as such, this 
action will not change the magnitude of the residues already 
established for this safener. Adequate enforcement methodologies have 
already been published in the Federal Register on June 29, 2011 (76 FR 
38035) (FRL-8877-2). The two enforcement methods available are High 
Performance Liquid Chromatography with Ultraviolet Detection (HPLC-UV) 
Method REM 138.01 for the determination of cloquintocet-mexyl (parent) 
and the HPLC-UV Method REM 138.10 which allows for determination of its 
acid metabolite. Contact: RD.

B. Notice of Filing--New Tolerance Exemptions for Non-Inerts (Except 
PIPS)

    PP 3F9054. EPA-HQ-OPP-2023-0561. GreenLight Biosciences, Inc. 200 
Boston Ave., Suite 1000, Medford, MA 02155, requests to establish an 
exemption from the requirement of a tolerance in 40 CFR part 180 for 
residues of the miticide vadescana dsRNA in or on honey and honeycomb. 
The petitioner believes no analytical method is needed based on the low 
toxicity demonstrated in the available toxicological data. Contact: 
BPPD.

C. Notice of Filing--New Tolerance Exemptions for PIPS

    PP 3F9076. EPA-HQ-OPP-2022-0231. Bayer CropScience LP, 700 
Chesterfield Pkwy W. Chesterfield, MO 63017, requests to establish an 
exemption from the requirement of a tolerance in 40 CFR part 174 for 
residues of the plant-incorporated protectants (PIPs) Bacillus 
thuringiensis Vpb4Da2 and Brevibacillus laterosporus Mpp75Aa1.1 in or 
on corn. The petitioner believes no analytical method is needed because 
this petition is for a permanent exemption from the requirement of a 
tolerance without numerical limitation. Contact: BPPD.

D. Notice of Filing--New Tolerances for Non-Inerts

    1. PP3E9057. EPA-HQ-OPP-2023-0319. ISK Biosciences Corporation, 
7470 Auburn Rd., Suite A, Concord, Ohio 44077, requests to establish 
petition for import tolerance under FFDCA section 408(d)(1) for 
residues of fluazinam and its metabolites and degradates in or on asian 
pear. Import tolerances in 40 CFR part 180 for residues of the 
fungicide, Fluazinam (CAS #79622-59-6) is 3-chloro-N-[3-chloro-2, 6-
dinitro-4-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl]-5-(trifluoromethyl)-2-pyridinamine. 
Other identifiers are B1216, IKF 1216, and PP192. Contact: RD.
    2. PP 3E9057. EPA-HQ-OPP-2023-0319. ISK Biosciences Corporation, 
7470 Auburn Rd., Suite A, Concord, Ohio 44077, requests to establish an 
import tolerance in 40 CFR part 180 for residues of the fungicide 
fluazinam (3-chloro-N-[3-chloro-2,6-dinitro-4-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl]-
5-(trifluoromethyl)-2-pyridinamine) in or on pear, Asian at 0.2 parts 
per million (ppm). Liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-
MS/MS) is used to measure and evaluate the chemical fluazinam and its 
metabolite AMGT. Contact: RD.
    3. PP 2F9038. EPA-HQ-OPP-2023-0308. BASF Corporation, 26 Davis 
Drive, Research Triangle Park, NC, 27709, requests to establish a 
tolerance in 40 CFR part 180 for residues of the herbicide 
pendimethalin in or on the raw agricultural commodities fig at 0.1 ppm 
and fig, dried at 3.0 ppm. The method of aqueous organic solvent 
extraction, column clean up, and quantitation by GC is used to measure 
and evaluate the chemical pendimethalin and its 3,5-dinitrobenzyl 
alcohol metabolite (M455H025). Contact: RD.

    Authority: 21 U.S.C. 346a.

    Dated: December 12, 2023.
Delores Barber,
Director, Information Technology and Resources Management Division, 
Office of Program Support.
[FR Doc. 2023-27780 Filed 12-18-23; 8:45 am]
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