Document ID: EPA-HQ-OPP-2023-0323-0001
Agency: epa
Document Type: Notice
Title: Pesticide Tolerance; Exemptions, Petitions, Revocations, etc.: Remaining Tolerances for Dicofol Use
Posted Date: 2023-10-17T04:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 199 (Tuesday, October 17, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 71549-71550]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-22906]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OPP-2023-0323; FRL-11455-01-OCSPP]

Petition To Revoke Remaining Tolerances for Dicofol Use; Notice 
of Filing

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: EPA is seeking public comment on a January 8, 2023, petition 
requesting that the Agency revoke all remaining tolerances of the 
pesticide dicofol. The petitioner submitted this petition pursuant to 
the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA).

DATES: Comments must be received on or before November 16, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by docket identification 
(ID) number EPA-HQ-OPP-2023-0323, 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: Susan Bartow, Pesticide Re-evaluation 
Division (7508M), Office of Pesticide Programs, Environmental 
Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20460-
0001; telephone number: (202) 566-2280; email address: 
[email protected].

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 wide range of stakeholders, including environmental, 
human health, and agricultural advocates, the chemical industry, 
pesticide users, agricultural producers, food manufacturers, pesticide 
manufacturers, and members of the public interested in the sale, 
distribution, or use of pesticides. 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).
     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

[[Page 71550]]

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.

II. What action is the Agency taking?

    EPA requests public comment during the next 30 days on a pesticide 
petition (available in docket number EPA-HQ-OPP-2023-0323 at https://www.regulations.gov). The petitioner requests that EPA revoke all 
remaining tolerances of the pesticide dicofol currently listed under 40 
CFR 180.163. The petition is filed pursuant to section 408 of the 
FFDCA.
    The petitioner indicates that while he is aware that multiple 
pesticides are allowed for use on tea, he wishes to ensure that the tea 
he consumes is free of dicofol residues. The petitioner provides a 
timeline of the registration and use of dicofol as a pesticide in the 
United States. The timeline describes an Agency decision on May 9, 2012 
(77 FR 27164) in which all dicofol tolerances were revoked except for 
tolerances on ``tea, dried' and `tea, plucked leaves.'' The 2012 
decision indicated that the Agency would address the tea tolerances and 
public comments received on them in a future document to be published 
in the Federal Register. The Tea Association of the U.S.A., Inc. 
previously provided public comments that dicofol is used in tea 
production in countries such as India, China, and Argentina, and 
requested that EPA not revoke the dicofol tolerances on tea but 
maintain them for importation purposes. The petitioner comments that 
the Agency did not address the remaining tea tolerances and public 
comments, as previously indicated in the 2012 decision.
    Dicofol is an organochlorine miticide that was registered in the 
United States to control mites on a variety of noncrop areas and on 
food crops from 1957 to October 31, 2013. All use of dicofol in the 
United States has been cancelled, and all dicofol tolerances expired on 
October 31, 2016, except for tolerances on ``tea, dried' and `tea, 
plucked leaves.''
    Background materials related to the Agency's registration of 
dicofol and the phase out of its use are available online in public 
docket EPA-HQ-OPP-2005-0220 at https://www.regulations.gov. Information 
related to the Agency's dicofol tolerance actions are available online 
in public docket EPA-HQ-OPP-2012-0171 at https://www.regulations.gov.

    Dated: October 11, 2023.
Mary Elissa Reaves,
Director, Pesticide Re-Evaluation Division, Office of Pesticide 
Programs.
[FR Doc. 2023-22906 Filed 10-16-23; 8:45 am]
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