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Pesticides; Draft Guidance for Pesticide Registrants on Use of Antimicrobial Pesticide Products in Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration Systems

 
[Federal Register: December 29, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 250)]
[Notices]
[Page 78433-78434]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr29de06-73]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[EPA-HQ-OPP-2006-0351; FRL-8108-9]

Pesticides; Draft Guidance for Pesticide Registrants on Use of
Antimicrobial Pesticide Products in Heating, Ventilation, Air
Conditioning, and Refrigeration Systems

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of availability; Reopening of Comment Period.

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SUMMARY: The Agency is reopening the comment period and seeking
additional public comment on a draft Pesticide Registration Notice (PR
Notice) entitled ``Use of Antimicrobial Pesticide Products in Heating,
Ventilation, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration Systems.'' PR Notices
are issued by the Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP) to inform
pesticide registrants and other interested persons about important
policies, procedures, and registration related decisions, and serve to
provide guidance to pesticide registrants and OPP personnel. This
particular draft PR Notice would, once final, provide guidance to the
registrants concerning EPA-registered sanitizer, disinfectant and other
antimicrobial products whose labels bear general directions for use on
or incorporation within hard, non-porous or porous surfaces, but which
are not specifically registered for treatment of Heating, Ventilation,
Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Systems (HVAC&R).

DATES: Comments must be received on or before February 27, 2007.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by docket identification
(ID) number EPA-HQ-OPP-2006-0351, by one of the following methods:
    ? Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov.
Follow the on-line instructions for submitting comments.
    ? Mail: Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP) Regulatory Public
Docket (7502P), Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania
Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460-0001.
    ? Delivery: OPP Regulatory Public Docket (7502P),
Environmental Protection Agency, Rm. S-4400, One Potomac Yard (South
Building), 2777 S. Crystal Drive, Arlington, VA. Deliveries are only
accepted during the Docket's normal hours of operation (8:30 a.m. to 4
p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal holidays). Special
arrangements should be made for deliveries of boxed information. The
Docket telephone number is (703) 305-5805.
    Instructions: Direct your comments to docket ID number EPA-HQ-OPP-
2006-0351. EPA's policy is that all comments received will be included
in the docket without change and may be made available on-line at
http://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information
provided, unless the comment includes information claimed to be
Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other information whose
disclosure is restricted by statute. Do not submit information that you
consider to be CBI or otherwise protected through regulations.gov or e-
mail. The Federal regulations.gov Web site is an ``anonymous access''
system, which means EPA will not know your identity or contact
information unless you provide it in the body of your comment. If you
send an e-mail comment directly to EPA without going through
regulations.gov, your e-mail address will be automatically captured and
included as part of the comment that is placed in the docket and made
available on the Internet. If you submit an electronic comment, EPA
recommends that you include your name and other contact information in
the body of your comment and with any disk or CD-ROM you submit. If EPA
cannot read your comment due to technical difficulties and cannot
contact you for clarification, EPA may not be able to consider your
comment. Electronic files should avoid the use of special characters,
any form of encryption, and be free of any defects or viruses.
    Docket: All documents in the docket are listed in the docket index.
Although listed in the index, some information is not publicly
available, e.g., CBI or other information whose disclosure is
restricted by statute. Certain other material, such as copyrighted
material, is not placed on the Internet and will be publicly available
only in hard copy form. Publicly available docket materials are available
either in the electronic docket at http://www.regulations.gov,
or, if only available in hard copy, at the OPP Regulatory Public Docket
in Rm. S-4400, One Potomac Yard (South Building), 2777 S. Crystal Drive,
Arlington, VA. The hours of operation of this Docket Facility are from
8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal holidays.
The Docket telephone number is (703) 305-5805.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tracy Lantz, Antimicrobials Division
(7510P), Office of Pesticide Programs, Environmental Protection Agency,
1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460-0001; telephone number:

[[Page 78434]]

(703) 308-6415; fax number: (703) 308-8481; e-mail address: 
lantz.tracy@epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. General Information

A. Does this Action Apply to Me

    This action is directed to the public in general. Although this
action may be of particular interest to those persons who are required
to register pesticides and those who maintain Heating, Ventilation, Air
Conditioning and Refrigeration Systems. Since other entities may also
be interested, the Agency has not attempted to describe all the
specific entities that may be affected by this action. If you have any
questions regarding the information in this notice, consult the person
listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.

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 e-mail. 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 submitting comments,
remember to:
    i. Identify the document by docket ID number and other identifying
information (subject heading, Federal Register date and page number).
    ii. Follow directions. The Agency may ask you to respond to
specific questions or organize comments by referencing a Code of
Federal Regulations (CFR) part or section number.
    iii. Explain why you agree or disagree; suggest alternatives and
substitute language for your requested changes.
    iv. Describe any assumptions and provide any technical information
and/or data that you used.
    v. If you estimate potential costs or burdens, explain how you
arrived at your estimate in sufficient detail to allow for it to be
reproduced.
    vi. Provide specific examples to illustrate your concerns and
suggest alternatives.
    vii. Explain your views as clearly as possible, avoiding the use of
profanity or personal threats.
    viii. Make sure to submit your comments by the comment period
deadline identified.

B. How Can I Get Copies of this Document and Other Related Information?

    1. Docket. EPA has established a docket for this action under
docket identification (ID) number EPA-HQ-OPP-2006-0351. Publicly
available docket materials are available either in the electronic
docket at http://www.regulations.gov, or, if only available in hard
copy, at the Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP) Regulatory Public
Docket in Rm. S-4400, One Potomac Yard (South Building), 2777 S.
Crystal Drive Arlington, VA. The hours of operation of this Docket
Facility are from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding
legal holidays. The Docket telephone number is (703) 305-5805.
    2. Electronic access. You may access this Federal Register document
electronically through the EPA Internet under the ``Federal Register''
listings at http://www.epa.gov/fedrgstr.

II. What Guidance Does this PR Notice Provide?

    The EPA is concerned that sanitizer, disinfectant and other
antimicrobial products are being used to treat surfaces of HVAC&R
systems, including but not limited to use as a part of an air duct
cleaning program. When initially registered, these products were
approved for use on hard surfaces such as countertops, but air ducts
were not intended to be included in the broad hard surface category.
EPA is concerned that data demonstrating efficacy when used in air
ducts have not been submitted for review by the Agency. Moreover, use
of these products in HVAC&R systems such as air ducts pose potential
human exposure and health risks to applicators and building occupants
which have not been assessed by the Agency.
    This draft PR Notice provides guidance which, once final, the
Agency would provide to registrants concerning labeling language that
EPA believes would address its current concerns for sanitizer,
disinfectant and other antimicrobial products whose labels bear
directions for use on, or incorporation within, hard, non-porous
surfaces, but which have not been specifically approved for use in
HVAC&R systems. The PR Notice describes an Agency approach that
registrants of products subject to this Notice should add a ``Do Not
Use'' statement to the labeling of such products. Supporting documents
for this draft PR Notice are contained in the docket.
    EPA originally published this document for comment in the Federal
Register on September 22, 2006 (71 FR 55471). The public comment period
ended on November 21, 2006. EPA received a request from The Chlorine
Institute to extend the comment period. The Chlorine Institute has
requested that the Agency provide additional information which was
utilized in support of the draft guidance. They have requested
additional time to evaluate this information. EPA agrees to reopen the
comment period for an additional 60 days.

III. Do PR Notices Contain Binding Requirements?

    The PR Notice discussed in this notice is intended to provide
guidance to EPA personnel and decision makers and to pesticide
registrants. While the requirements in the statutes and Agency
regulations are binding on EPA and the applicants, this PR Notice is
not binding on either EPA or pesticide registrants, and EPA may depart
from the guidance where circumstances warrant and without prior notice.
Likewise, pesticide registrants may assert that the guidance is not
appropriate generally or not applicable to a specific pesticide or
situation.

List of Subjects

    Environmental protection, Administrative practice and procedure,
Labeling, Pesticides and pests.

    Dated: December 20, 2006.
James Jones,
Director, Office of Pesticide Programs.
[FR Doc. E6-22304 Filed 12-28-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-S

 
 

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