Atrazine, Simazine, and Malathion; Cancellation Order for Certain Pesticide Registrations and Amendments to Terminate Uses

AGENCY:

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

This notice announces EPA's order for the cancellations and/or amendments to terminate uses, voluntarily requested by the registrants and accepted by the Agency, of the products listed in Tables 1 and 2 of Unit II, pursuant to the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). This cancellation/use termination order follows a June 23, 2021 Federal Register Notice of Receipt of Requests from the registrants listed in Table 3 of Unit II to voluntarily cancel their registrations of certain products containing the pesticides atrazine and simazine, and/or to amend their atrazine, simazine, or malathion product registrations to terminate one or more uses. In the June 23, 2021 notice, EPA indicated that it would issue an order implementing the cancellations and/or amendments to terminate uses, unless the Agency received substantive comments within the 30-day comment period that would merit its further review of these requests, or unless the registrants withdrew their requests. The Agency did not receive any comments on the notice. Further, the registrants did not withdraw their requests. Accordingly, EPA hereby issues in this notice a cancellation order granting the requested cancellations and/or amendments to terminate uses. Any distribution, sale, or use of the products subject to this cancellation order is permitted only in accordance with the terms of this order, including any existing stocks provisions.

DATES:

The cancellations and certain use terminations are effective November 1, 2021.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Carolyn Smith, Pesticide Re-Evaluation Division (7508P), Office of Pesticide Programs, Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20460-0001; telephone number: (202) 566-2273; email address: smith.carolyn@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 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.

B. How can I get copies of this document and other related information?

The docket for this action, identified by docket identification (ID) number EPA-HQ-OPP-2021-0377, is available at http://www.regulations.gov or at the Office of Pesticide Programs Regulatory Public Docket (OPP Docket) in the Environmental Protection Agency Docket Center (EPA/DC), West William Jefferson Clinton Bldg., Rm. 3334, 1301 Constitution Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20460-0001. The Public Reading Room is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal holidays. The telephone number for the Public Reading Room is (202) 566-1744, and the telephone number for the OPP Docket is (202) 566-1744.

Due to the public health concerns related to COVID-19, the EPA Docket Center (EPA/DC) and Reading Room are closed to visitors with limited exceptions. The staff continues to provide remote customer service via email, phone, and webform. For the latest information on EPA/DC services and docket access, visit https://www.epa.gov/dockets.

II. What action is the agency taking?

This notice announces the cancellation and amendments to terminate uses, as requested by registrants, of products registered under FIFRA section 3 (7 U.S.C. 136a). These registrations are listed in sequence by registration number in Tables 1 and 2 of this unit.

Table 3 of this unit includes the names and addresses of record for all registrants of the products in Tables 1 and 2 of this unit, in sequence by EPA company number. This number corresponds to the first part of the EPA registration numbers of the products listed in Tables 1 and 2 of this unit.

III. Summary of Public Comments Received and Agency Response to Comments

During the public comment period provided, EPA received no comments in response to the June 23, 2021 Federal Register notice (86 FR 32922) announcing the Agency's receipt of the requests for voluntary cancellations and/or amendments to terminate uses of products listed in Tables 1 and 2 of Unit II.

IV. Cancellation Order

Pursuant to FIFRA section 6(f) (7 U.S.C. 136d(f)), EPA hereby approves the requested cancellations and/or amendments to terminate uses of the registrations identified in Tables 1 and 2 of Unit II. Accordingly, the Agency hereby orders that the product registrations identified in Tables 1 and 2 of Unit II are canceled and/or amended to terminate the affected uses. The effective date of the cancellations and amendments listed in Tables 1 and 2 that are the subject of this notice is November 1, 2021. Any distribution, sale, or use of existing stocks of the products identified in Tables 1 and 2 of Unit II in a manner inconsistent with any of the provisions for disposition of existing stocks set forth in Unit VI will be a violation of FIFRA.

V. What is the agency's authority for taking this action?

Section 6(f)(1) of FIFRA (7 U.S.C. 136d(f)(1)) provides that a registrant of a pesticide product may at any time request that any of its pesticide registrations be canceled or amended to terminate one or more uses. FIFRA further provides that, before acting on the request, EPA must publish a notice of receipt of any such request in the Federal Register . Thereafter, following the public comment period, the EPA Administrator may approve such a request. The notice of receipt for this action was published for comment in the Federal Register of June 23, 2021 (86 FR 32922) (FRL-10025-04). The comment period closed on July 23, 2021.

VI. Provisions for Disposition of Existing Stocks

Existing stocks are those stocks of registered pesticide products which are currently in the United States and which were packaged, labeled, and released for shipment prior to the effective date of the cancellation and/or use termination action. The existing stocks provisions for the products subject to this order are as follows.

The registrants may continue to sell and distribute existing stocks of products listed in Table 1 of Unit II until November 1, 2022, which is 1 year after the publication of the cancellation/use termination order in the Federal Register . Thereafter, the registrants are prohibited from selling or distributing products listed in Table 1, except for export in accordance with FIFRA section 17 (7 U.S.C. 136o), or proper disposal.

EPA has recently approved or will shortly approve product labels reflecting the requested amendments to terminate uses listed in Table 2 of Unit II and is allowing registrants to continue to sell or distribute products under the previously approved labeling for a period of 18 months from the label approval date. Thereafter, registrants will be prohibited from selling or distributing the products whose labels include the terminated uses identified in Table 2 of Unit II, except for export consistent with FIFRA section 17 or for proper disposal. Amended product labels can be viewed on EPA's Pesticide Product Label System (see https://www.epa.gov/pesticide-labels/pesticide-product-label-system-ppls-more-information ).

Persons other than the registrants may sell, distribute, or use existing stocks of the canceled products and products whose labels include the terminated uses listed in Tables 1 and 2, respectively, of Unit II until existing supplies are exhausted, provided that such sale, distribution, or use is consistent with the terms of the previously approved labeling on, or that accompanied, the canceled products and products whose labels include the terminated uses.

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 136 et seq.