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News Archive: October 2002

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This information is provided for reference. Over time, links to news items may become unavailable, in these cases the item will remain listed, but no link will be provided. Also, please be aware that the information in any particular article may be outdated or superseded by additional information.

October 31
EPA National Compliance Assistance Providers Forum 2002
EPA is hosting the National Compliance Assistance Providers Forum on Dec. 3-6. The theme for this year’s forum is “Optimizing Resources for Environmental Results.” The forum will provide an opportunity for governmental compliance assistance providers, industry, trade associations, consultants, academia and non-profits to share expertise, build skills and network. Forum highlights include panels, workshops and training on a variety of topics, including: partnering; pollution prevention; environmental management systems; Internet-based tools; homeland security; marketing and performance measurement. Field trips, exhibits and vendor displays also are planned. The deadline for registration for the forum is Dec. 2. There is no fee for the forum or field trips.

October 30
Oxyfluorfen: Reregistration Eligibility Decision Document Available for Comment
EPA announces availability and starts a 60-day public comment period on the Reregistration Eligibility Decision (RED) document for the pesticide active ingredient oxyfluorfen. The RED represents EPA's formal regulatory assessment of the health and environmental data base of the subject chemical and presents the Agency's determination regarding which pesticidal uses are eligible for reregistration. Comments, identified by docket ID number OPP-2002-0255, must be received on or before December 30, 2002.

October 29
EPA Orders Buckeye Egg Farm to Test Emissions
EPA's Region 5 has ordered Buckeye Egg Farm L.P. to test for dust emissions from three of its Ohio egg production facilities. EPA issued the order because of Buckeye's alleged failure to comply with a January 2001 EPA request for the company to do emission testing at the three facilities. Buckeye has 60 days from the effective date of the order to do the testing and 30 days after completing the testing to submit a final report to EPA. The order was issued Oct. 10 and is effective 14 days after its receipt by Buckeye Egg.

Protection of Stratospheric Ozone: Phaseout of Chlorobromomethane Production and Consumption
EPA is proposing to add chlorobromomethane (CBM) to the list of controlled substances subject to production and consumption controls in accordance with both the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (Protocol) and EPA's regulations under the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 (CAAA). CBM is currently used in some pesticides and other agricultural chemicals. Comments must be received in writing by November 29, 2002, unless a public hearing is requested. If a public hearing takes place, it will be scheduled for November 13, 2002, after which comments must be received on or before December 13, 2002.

Draft Chesapeake Bay Comprehensive Oyster Management Plan Available for Comment
EPA announces the availability of the Draft Chesapeake Bay Comprehensive Oyster Management Plan for a 30-day period of public review and comment. The Draft Plan addresses both habitat restoration and oyster fishery management. It emphasizes biologically based, strategic decision making, enables an adaptive management approach, and provides for better coordination among key agencies, organizations, and institutions involved in oyster restoration in Maryland and Virginia waters of Chesapeake Bay and its tidal tributaries. Comments should be postmarked no later than December 4, 2002.

Pesticide Registration Requests, Actions, and Tolerance Updates

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October 23
New Clean Water Act Web-Based Training Module
The Office of Water’s Watershed Academy has completed a Web-based training module, Introduction to the Clean Water Act. Users may go through the entire 65 slide course on the CWA in sequence, or they can jump to the particular Clean Water Act program of interest by going to the CWA Big Picture shown at the top of each slide.

Hexazinone Tolerance Reassessment Decision Available for Comment
EPA announces the availability of the tolerance reassessment decision and related documents for hexazinone. EPA has reassessed the 25 tolerances for residues of hexazinone in or on raw agricultural commodities. Comments, identified by docket ID number OPP-2002-0188, must be received by EPA on or before November 22, 2002.

Metolachlor Tolerance Reassessment Decision Available for Comment
EPA announces the availability of the report on the tolerance reassessment progress and risk management decision (TRED) for metolachlor. EPA has reassessed the 81 tolerances established for residues of metolachlor in or on raw agricultural commodities. Comments, identified by docket ID number OPP-2002-0223, must be received on or before November 22, 2002.

October 21
Fenamiphos: Voluntary Cancellation of all Product Registrations
EPA announced the request for voluntary cancellation of all product registrations for fenamiphos, effective May 31, 2007. EPA intends to grant the request if no adverse comments were received during the public comment period, which ended October 28, 2002.

Pesticide Registration Requests, Actions, and Tolerance Updates

October 18
New Re-Designed Chemical Emergency Preparedness and Prevention Office (CEPPO) Web Site
The newly redesigned CEPPO Web site was launched on October 18, 2002. Materials on the Web site have been organized to make it easier to find information about CEPPO programs and information resources.

Tier2 Submit 2002
Tier2 Submit 2002 is available on EPA's Chemical Emergency Preparedness and Prevention Office Web site. Tier2 Submit is a software program developed by EPA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for use by facilities to enter and submit EPCRA 311/312 chemical information, commonly known as Tier II reports. Tier2 Submit will allow users to enter multiple facilities, chemicals, and contacts. The program also includes many of the states' additional data requirements. Users can download a free copy of the software and the new Facility Submission Guide.

October 17
Research Strategy Completed to Monitor and Assess Waters
EPA has announced a national Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program (EMAP) research strategy to provide a comprehensive picture of the state of major U.S. streams and estuaries. The strategy outlines how EPA intends to use science to better meet the monitoring and assessment needs of states, tribes, and regions. It will result in a statistical monitoring framework that can be used to determine and detect trends in conditions for all the nation's waterways.

Public Meetings on the Effluent Limitations Guidelines and New Source Performance Standards for the Concentrated Aquatic Animal Production (CAAP) Point Source Category
The Office of Science and Technology in EPA's Office of Water is conducting three public meetings during the comment period to discuss proposed effluent limitations guidelines and standards for the concentrated aquatic animal production industry. EPA will report on the status of the regulatory development, and the public can ask questions and provide information and ideas to the Agency on key technical, scientific, economic, and other issues. No registration is required.

The public meeting dates are:

  1. October 30, 2002, 9 a.m. to 12 noon, Washington, DC
  2. November 6, 2002, 9 a.m. to 12 noon, Seattle, WA
  3. November 12, 2002, 9 a.m. to 12 noon, Atlanta, GA

Details about meeting locations are in the Federal Register notice.

Pesticide Registration Requests, Actions, and Tolerance Updates

October 11
Comments Requested for EPA Strategic Plan Revision
EPA is revising its Strategic Plan, which will guide resource and program decisions over the next 5 years. EPA developed its first Strategic Plan in 1997 and revised it in 2000. The next Strategic Plan will cover resource and program directions from FY 2003 through FY 2008. To provide comments online, please visit the Docket and use Docket Number OPP-2002-0282. Comments will be accepted until November 11, 2002.

Methamidophos; Organophosphate Pesticide; Availability of Interim Risk Management Decision Document
EPA announces the availability of the Interim Reregistration Eligibility Decision (IRED) document and technical support documents for the organophosphate (OP) pesticide methamidophos. EPA has determined that methamidophos is eligible for reregistration, pending a full reassessment of the cumulative risk from all OP pesticides, and provided that all the conditions identified in the IRED document are satisfied, including implementation of risk mitigation measures. Mitigation measures for methamidophos include a phase-out of methamidophos use on cotton by 2007.

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October 9
Seminar Planned on Agricultural Worker Risk Assessment
On October 29-30, EPA will hold a public seminar on the decision process used by the Agency in assessing risks to agricultural workers. Topics on the agenda include: overview of the worker risk assessment process, agricultural handler risk assessment for selected crop/handler scenarios, post-application risk assessment for selected crop/post-application worker scenarios, and presentations relating to post-exposure evaluation.

Stakeholders from two of EPA's federal advisory committees -- the Pesticide Program Dialogue Committee and the Committee to Advise on Reassessment and Transition -- have expressed interest in better understanding the process followed by the Office of Pesticide Programs when developing agricultural worker risk assessments. EPA is planning two seminars to address these issues. This first seminar will focus on the inputs, decisions, calculations, and end results of the worker risk assessment process for agricultural handlers and post applicators. Presentations will include information about occupational incident databases and post-exposure evaluations. There will also be presentations by the Task Forces for Agricultural Handlers Exposure and Agricultural Reentry.

Opportunity will be provided for questions and comments by the public. Any person who wishes to file a written statement may do so before or after the meeting. The docket number associated with this meeting is OPP-2002-0292.

The seminar will be held on Tuesday, October 29, 2002, from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., and on Wednesday, October 30, 2002, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Georgetown University Conference Center, 3800 Reservoir Road, Washington, DC, in the Leavey Center (Entrance #1 to the Georgetown University Medical Center), Salons C-F-H. The telephone number at the center is 202/687-3200.

EPA will post the agenda for the seminar on the pesticides Web site. In addition, a Federal Register notice announcing the meeting will be published shortly.

Comments Invited on New Pesticide Product Registration Application
EPA announces receipt of an application to register a pesticide product containing a new active ingredient not included in any previously registered products pursuant to the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), as amended. Product name: Technical Trypsin Modulating Oostatic Factor (TMOF). Product type: Insecticide. Active ingredient: Trypsin Modulating Oostatic Factor at 100%. Proposed classification/Use: Manufacturing use product for formulation into insecticidal products for mosquito control. Written comments, identified by the docket ID number OPP-2002-0270, must be received on or before November 8, 2002.

Pesticide Registration Requests, Actions, and Tolerance Updates

October 3
EPA Reduces Fine for Firm That Voluntarily Disclosed Chemical Use and Release Violations
EPA announced that it reached a settlement last week with cheesemaker Joseph Gallo Farms, resulting in no financial penalty for the company's failure to properly report to the Agency the use and release of chemicals at its Atwater facility. Under the EPA's self-reporting audit policy, the EPA may reduce penalties up to 100 percent for violations that are voluntarily discovered, promptly disclosed to the agency, and corrected. The potential fine assessed for these violations was just under $150,000. Gallo Farms informed the agency by letter on June 5 that during an audit conducted that week the company had discovered potential violations of the EPA's right-to-know reporting policy for the use and release of nitric acid and nitrate compounds.

October 2
U.S. Settles With 12 Minnesota Ethanol Companies
The Department of Justice, EPA, and the state of Minnesota announced comprehensive civil settlements with 12 ethanol plants in Minnesota for alleged Clean Air Act violations. The settlements are the first agreements to mandate reductions in air pollution from the ethanol manufacturing industry.

EPA Orders Companies To Stop Marketing Unregistered Anthrax Decontamination Products
EPA issued a stop-sale order to two companies to cease advertising and selling their respective products that allegedly protect against anthrax. The companies both marketed their unregistered pesticides over the Internet.

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