Posted on June 01, 2023 by editorBergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C®) is pleased to announce that additional FIFRA Tutor® regulatory training courses are now available at www.FIFRAtutor.com. The one-hour F105 -- Due Diligence and Transferring FIFRA Registrations and/or Data module and two-hour F208 -- Data Citation, Data Compensation, and Data Sharing module join six existing FIFRA Tutor courses providing expert, essential Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) training. Professionals can preview and enroll in on-demand classes to complete at their own pace and timing. These courses are intended to provide on-demand knowledge to assist with the strategic planning that is critical to global product development. The subtleties of FIFRA are presented in a clear and business-focused context.
FIFRA Tutor online training courses include video lessons and detailed handout materials, including copies of all presentations and relevant course materials from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other sources. The full list of modules currently available includes:
- F101 -- An Overview of FIFRA
- F102 -- Import and Export of Pesticides
- F104 -- Reporting and Recordkeeping Requirements
- F105 -- Due Diligence and Transferring FIFRA Registrations and/or Data
- F109 -- Defining Tolerances and Their Regulation
- F110 -- Adverse Effects Reporting Requirements
- F206 -- Antimicrobial Pesticides
- F208 -- Data Citation, Data Compensation, and Data Sharing
FIFRA Tutor courses are developed and presented by members of B&C’s renowned FIFRA practice group, which includes former EPA officials, an extensive scientific staff, and a robust and highly experienced team of lawyers and non-lawyer professionals extremely well versed in all aspects of FIFRA law, regulation, policy, compliance, and litigation.
Courses can be completed at the learner’s own pace, and enrollment is valid for one full year. Interested professionals should visit www.FIFRAtutor.com to view sample course segments and purchase modules.
Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. is a Washington, D.C., law firm focusing on conventional, biobased, and nanoscale industrial, agricultural, and specialty chemical product approval and regulation, and associated business issues. B&C represents clients in many businesses, including basic, specialty, and agricultural and antimicrobial chemicals; biotechnology, nanotechnology, and emerging transformative technologies; paints and coatings; plastic products; and chemical manufacturing, formulation, distribution, and consumer product sectors. Visit www.lawbc.com for more information.
Posted on March 16, 2023 by Lisa M. CampbellBy James V. Aidala and Barbara A. Christianson
On March 13, 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a proposed rule that would update the pesticide Application Exclusion Zone (AEZ) requirements under the 2015 Agricultural Worker Protection Standard (WPS). 88 Fed. Reg. 15346. The proposed rule is available at EPA-HQ-OPP-2022-0133, and comments on the proposed rule are due on or before May 12, 2023.
Application Exclusion Zone
According to EPA’s press release, the WPS regulations offer protections to over two million agricultural workers and pesticide handlers who work at over 600,000 agricultural establishments. In 2015, EPA made significant changes to the standard to decrease pesticide exposure among farmworkers and their family members.
Among the changes, the revised standard includes a new provision requiring agricultural employers to keep workers and all other individuals out of the AEZ area during outdoor pesticide applications. The AEZ is the area surrounding an ongoing pesticide application that people must not enter to avoid exposure. EPA states that an AEZ moves with the equipment during applications to protect farmworkers and bystanders that could be contacted by pesticides.
In 2020, EPA published a rule specific to the AEZ requirements, limiting the applicability of the protections to the agricultural employer’s property and shrinking the AEZ size from 100 feet to 25 feet for some ground-based spray applications. Prior to the effective date of the 2020 AEZ Rule, petitions were filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York (SDNY) and in the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals challenging the 2020 Rule. The SDNY issued an order granting the petitioners’ request for a temporary restraining order. As a result, the 2020 AEZ Rule has not gone into effect, and the AEZ provisions in the 2015 WPS remain in effect.
EPA states that it determined the provisions in the 2020 AEZ Rule weakened protections for farmworkers and nearby communities from pesticide exposure and should be rescinded to protect the health of farmworkers, their families, and nearby communities.
Proposed Changes and Flexibilities
EPA is proposing to reinstate several provisions from the 2015 WPS, including:
- Applying the AEZ to:
- Beyond an establishment’s boundaries; and
- When individuals are within easements (such as easement for utility workers to access telephone lines).
- Establishing AEZ distances for ground-based spray applications of:
- 25 feet for medium or larger sprays when sprayed from a height greater than 12 inches from the soil surface or planting medium; and
- 100 feet for fine sprays.
Additionally, EPA is proposing to retain two provisions in the 2020 AEZ Rule that it believes are consistent with the intent of the 2015 WPS AEZ requirements and, according to EPA, are supported by information available that provides more clarity and flexibility for farming families. EPA proposes to retain:
- A clarification that suspended pesticide applications can resume after people leave the AEZ; and
- An “immediate family exemption” that allows only farm owners and the farm owners’ immediate family to remain inside enclosed structures or homes while pesticide applications are made, providing family members flexibility to decide whether to stay on-site during pesticide applications, rather than compelling them to leave even when they feel safe remaining in their own homes.
Commentary
The 2015 WPS rule made significant changes and enhancements to the original 1992 WPS program and represented years of review and consideration of significant changes to the earlier rules. For the most part, by the end of that rule-gestation process, most changes were not considered controversial even as various stakeholders criticized or were dissatisfied by the final rule. Nonetheless, as the Trump Administration arrived in 2017, it considered revisions to the 2015 WPS rule in three areas: the minimum age of workers, the ability for a worker to designate a third-party representative to have the right to review application records if there was an inquiry related to a possible pesticide-related injury, and the AEZ provisions. During this time that the Trump Administration considered and proposed changes, reauthorization of the pesticide industry fee law, the Pesticide Registration Improvement Act (PRIA), was moving through Congress. Proposed to be part of the 2018 Farm Bill, the PRIA reauthorization legislation was held up by Senator Udall (D-NM) over concerns about what he considered changes that would unacceptably weaken the 2015 WPS program.
This part of the saga came to an end when Senator Carper (D-DE), as Chair of the Senate Environment Committee, exchanged letters with the Trump Administration that promised no changes to the WPS requirements except for consideration of the AEZ provisions in exchange for allowing certain EPA appointee nominations to be considered for a confirmation vote. This is worth noting since it was an explicit exchange of correspondence and not a more typical “informal” agreement between Administrations and Senators regarding confirmation votes. Eventually, the Trump Administration proposed and eventually issued only revisions to the AEZ requirements to, according to statements at the time, clarify and simplify the 2015 rule provisions. It is those revisions that are now being changed in this 2023 rule.
In the end, these 2023 revisions mostly revert the AEZ requirements back to the 2015 regulation requirements. They do include some additional elements of the 2020 changes to respond to stakeholder concern elements of the provisions to clarify more precisely how to protect bystanders. As a result, these regulations continue to implement two of the declared priorities of the Biden Administration: (1) increased emphasis on environmental justice concerns; and (2) to review and likely reverse decisions made by the Trump Administration considered to be not sufficiently protective and/or not sufficiently justified by the underlying factual basis relied upon by the previous Administration.
Posted on January 23, 2023 by Lisa M. CampbellBy Barbara A. Christianson
On January 13, 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced it is notifying pesticide registrants that EPA will send supplemental invoices to reflect the new annual pesticide registration maintenance fee for fiscal year (FY) 2023. To meet new statutory requirements in the Pesticide Registration Improvement Act of 2022 (PRIA 5), which was signed into law on December 29, 2022, the revised fee for FY 2023 for each registered pesticide product will be $4,875, increased from the $3,400 level specified in the EPA invoices provided in early December 2022.
According to EPA, PRIA 5 directs EPA to collect, to the extent practicable, an average amount of $42 million in pesticide registration maintenance fees annually for FYs 2023-2027. The previous collection target for FY 2023 under the Pesticide Registration Improvement Extension Act of 2018 (PRIA 4) was $31 million. Additionally, EPA notes that maximum payment caps and small business caps are increased in PRIA 5 and will be reflected in the forthcoming reinvoicing.
EPA states that all registrants with FIFRA Section 3 and Section 24(c) pesticide product registrations will receive an e-mail to notify them of this change. Registrants will need to access their product filing forms, pay any outstanding portion of the revised maintenance fees, and return completed documents to EPA. EPA instructs that if a company has already made payment to EPA in response to the earlier invoicing, the company will need to pay the difference between that initial payment and the amount owed under the supplemental invoicing. As PRIA 5 was enacted following EPA’s initial invoicing and shortly before the statutory payment deadline of January 17, 2023, EPA states it understands that registrants may encounter difficulties with timely payment of appropriate FY 2023 maintenance fees but encourages registrants to submit the required fee and form to EPA as soon as possible after the supplemental invoicing. EPA also encourages registrants to reach out to it with any .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Posted on January 11, 2023 by editorRegistration is now open for the “What to Expect in Chemicals Policy and Regulation and on Capitol Hill in 2023” webinar on January 31, 2023, 11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. (EST).
This webinar offers our best-informed judgment as to the trends and key developments chemical industry stakeholders can expect in 2023. At a political level, the Republicans’ narrow control of the U.S. House of Representatives will almost certainly invite a greater degree of oversight of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) actions, particularly with respect to implementation of the 2016 amendments of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). Concepts core to the Act, including “reasonably foreseen,” “to the extent necessary,” “systematic review,” and “best available science,” continue to evolve and not always in predictable, coherent, and consistent ways. Similar policy shifts are seen in the agricultural and biocidal area, with perhaps less dramatic effect. How the 2024 general election will influence EPA’s policy choices is unclear. In that the election cycle has already begun, we caution all to buckle up and prepare for what we expect will be an eventful, fascinating year.
Register now to join Lynn L. Bergeson, Managing Partner, Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C ®); James V. Aidala, Senior Government Affairs Consultant, B&C; Richard E. Engler, Ph.D., Director of Chemistry, B&C; and Dennis R. Deziel, Senior Government Affairs Advisor, B&C for this informative and forward-looking webinar.
Topics Covered:
- TSCA in 2023
- Final rules for mitigating risks identified in EPA risk assessments
- Proposed rules for mitigating risks identified in EPA risk assessments
- Risk evaluations -- assumptions and methods
- Test orders to impose chemical testing requirements
- New chemicals update on premanufacture notice (PMN) issues
- Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) in 2023
- Congressional renewal of Pesticide Registration Improvement Act (PRIA) (registration fee program) for an additional five years
- Endangered Species Act (ESA) program plans and progress
- Program priorities for 2023, including environmental justice, registration review deadlines, staffing and budget, and possible 2023 Farm Bill actions
Speakers Include:
James V. Aidala, Senior Government Affairs Consultant with B&C, has been intimately involved with the TSCA and FIFRA legislative reauthorization and key regulatory matters for over four decades. Mr. Aidala brings extensive legislative experience on Capitol Hill and past experience as the senior official at EPA for pesticide and chemical regulation and provides clients with vital insights into not only relevant current policies of EPA and sister agencies, but also the way these policies have been or are likely to be formulated to help clients more successfully address regulatory matters.
Richard E. Engler, Ph.D. is Director of Chemistry with B&C. Dr. Engler is a 17-year veteran of EPA and is one of the most widely recognized experts in the field of green chemistry, having served as senior staff scientist in EPA’s Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics (OPPT) and leader of EPA’s Green Chemistry Program. He has participated in thousands of TSCA substance reviews at EPA, as well as pre-notice and post-review meetings with submitters to resolve complex or difficult cases, and he draws upon this invaluable experience to assist B&C clients as they develop and commercialize novel chemistries.
Dennis R. Deziel, Senior Government Affairs Advisor with B&C, has an extraordinary depth of experience and knowledge of the regulatory process and government advocacy, honed through a career of senior leadership roles at EPA and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), among other significant positions. As Administrator of EPA Region 1, Mr. Deziel led the region’s 500-plus employees in managing energy, environment, and sustainability policy and programs, building coalitions across a wide range of stakeholders, including members of Congress, governors, federal and state government officials, industry, non-governmental organizations (NGO), and local communities.
Lynn L. Bergeson, Managing Partner, B&C, has earned an international reputation for her deep and expansive understanding of how regulatory programs pertain to nanotechnology, industrial biotechnology, synthetic biology, and other emerging transformative technologies. Ms. Bergeson counsels corporations, trade associations, and business consortia on a wide range of issues pertaining to chemical hazard, exposure and risk assessment, risk communication, minimizing legal liability, and evolving regulatory and policy matters.
Posted on January 11, 2023 by Lisa M. CampbellBy Heather F. Collins, M.S.
The March 1, 2023, deadline for all establishments, foreign and domestic, that produce pesticides, devices, or active ingredients to file their annual production for the 2022 reporting year is fast approaching. Pursuant to Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) Section 7(c)(1) (7 U.S.C. § 136e(c)(1)), “Any producer operating an establishment registered under [Section 7] shall inform the Administrator within 30 days after it is registered of the types and amounts of pesticides and, if applicable, active ingredients used in producing pesticides” and this information “shall be kept current and submitted to the Administrator annually as required.”
Reports must be submitted on or before March 1 annually for the prior year’s production. The report, filed through the submittal of EPA Form 3540-16: Pesticide Report for Pesticide-Producing and Device-Producing Establishments, must include the name and address of the producing establishment; and pesticide production information, such as product registration number, product name, and amounts produced and distributed. The annual report is always required, even when no products are produced or distributed.
EPA has created the electronic reporting system to submit pesticide-producing establishment reports using the Section Seven Tracking System (SSTS). Users will be able to use SSTS within EPA’s Central Data Exchange (CDX) to submit annual pesticide production reports. Electronic reporting is efficient, saves time by making the process faster, and saves money in mailing costs and/or courier delivery and related logistics. EPA is encouraging all reporters to submit electronically to ensure proper submission and a timely review of the report.
Links to EPA Form 3540-16, as well as instructions on how to report and how to add and use EPA’s SSTS electronic filing system, are available below.
Further information is available on EPA’s website.
Posted on December 27, 2022 by Lisa M. CampbellBy James V. Aidala and Dennis R. Deziel
On December 14, 2022, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the removal of 12 chemicals from the current list of non-food inert ingredients approved for use in pesticide products because the inert ingredients have been identified as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and are no longer used in any registered pesticide product. 87 Fed. Reg. 76488. On September 13, 2022, EPA published a proposal to remove the 12 chemicals from the list of approved inert ingredients. In response to EPA’s request for comments, no specific information regarding those 12 chemical substances or any products that may include them was provided to EPA.
EPA is removing the following 12 chemicals from the current list of inert ingredients approved for use in pesticide products:
- 2-Chloro-1,1,1,2-tetrafluoroethane (Chemical Abstracts Service Registry Number® (CAS RN®) 2837-89-0);
- α-(Cyclohexylmethyl)-ω-hydropoly(difluoromethylene) (CAS RN 65530-85-0);
- Dichlorotetrafluoroethane (CAS N 1320-37-2);
- Ethane, 1,1,1,2,2-pentafluoro- (CAS RN 354-33-6);
- Hexafluoropropene, polymer with tetrafluoroethylene (CAS RN 25067-11-2);
- Montmorillonite-type clay treated with polytetrafluoroethylene (no CAS RN);
- Poly(difluoromethylene), α-chloro-ω-(1-chloro-1-fluoroethyl) (CAS RN 131324-06-6);
- Poly(difluoromethylene), α-chloro-ω-(2,2-dichloro-1,1,2-trifluoroethyl)- (CAS RN 79070-11-4);
- Poly(difluoromethylene), α-(2,2-dichloro-2-fluoroethyl)-, ω-hydro- (CAS RN 163440-89-9);
- Poly(difluoromethylene), α-fluoro-ω-[2-[(2-methyl-1-oxo-2-propenyl)oxy]ethyl]- (CAS RN 65530-66-7);
- Poly(oxy-1,2-ethanediyl), α-hydro-ω-hydroxy-, ether with α-fluoro-ω-(2-hydroxyethyl)poly(difluoromethylene) (1:1) (CAS RN 65545-80-4); and
- Propane, 1,1,1,2,3,3,3-heptafluoro- (CAS RN 431-89-0).
EPA states, in the PFAS Strategic Roadmap to address PFAS, it is removing these chemicals from the inert ingredient list to prevent the introduction of these PFAS into pesticide formulations without additional EPA review. This is in line with EPA’s strategic roadmap to address PFAS.
According to EPA, once an inert ingredient is removed from the list, any proposed future use of the inert ingredient would need to be supported by data, which may include studies to evaluate potential carcinogenicity, adverse reproductive effects, developmental toxicity, and genotoxicity, as well as data on environmental effects. The data must be provided to and reviewed by EPA as part of a new inert ingredient submission request.
The final notice and information on inert ingredients approved for use in pesticide products is available here.
Additional information on EPA’s action on PFAS in pesticide containers is available here.
Commentary
EPA’s final removal of these ingredients from the current list of approved inert ingredients list is not surprising, although it raises important process questions that should be watched closely in future EPA Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) actions. The removal action helps EPA meet its political commitment related to PFAS consistent with the PFAS Roadmap, and as EPA states itself, the 12 PFAS that are the subject of the notice are no longer used in any registered pesticide products. Predictably, public comments focused on general risks of PFAS and not directly on EPA’s action related to inert ingredients listing removal. It is a win for EPA related to its commitment to take action to limit PFAS.
The process EPA used to remove these 12 chemicals from the list of inert ingredients is noteworthy and potentially concerning. EPA presented no risk-based evidence for this regulatory action and instead relied on a class-based aggregation of a subset of approved inert ingredients. It will be important to continue to monitor this issue.
Posted on December 21, 2022 by Lisa M. CampbellBy Heather F. Collins, M.S.
The January 17, 2023, deadline for payment of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) annual maintenance fee for pesticide registrations is approaching. The Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) Section 4(i)(1)(A) requires everyone who holds an active or suspended pesticide registration granted under FIFRA Sections 3 and 24(c) (special local needs) to pay an annual maintenance fee to keep the registration in effect. The maintenance fee requirement does not apply to supplemental distributor registrations, which are identified by a three-element registration number.
EPA states that entire process remains electronic in 2023. EPA will not send maintenance fee information by mail again this year. The instructions, maintenance fee filing form, fee tables, and product listings grouped by company numbers are available to download on EPA’s website. When completed, the filing submission should be e-mailed to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). A paper copy should not be sent to EPA.
The fee for 2023 is $3,400 for each registration up to the maximum fees that can be assessed to a single registrant. Each registrant of a pesticide must pay the annual fee and e-mail the response to EPA by Tuesday, January 17, 2023. Registrations for which the fee is not paid will be canceled, by order and without a hearing. As in years past, payment must be made electronically online at www.pay.gov.
For certain qualified small businesses, the first product registration maintenance fee may be reduced by 25 percent, if the applicant meets the following criteria:
- The applicant has 500 or fewer employees globally;
- During the three-year period prior to the most recent maintenance fee billing cycle, the applicant has average annual gross revenue from all sources that does not exceed $10 million; and
- The applicant holds a total of five or fewer registrations subject to the maintenance fee.
There also are maintenance fee waivers for products that meet the criteria in two specific categories: minor agricultural use products and public health pesticides. The procedure for requesting a fee waiver for individual products is described in the instructions provided by EPA.
More information on the annual maintenance fees is available on EPA’s website.
Posted on July 14, 2022 by Lisa M. CampbellBy James V. Aidala, Lisa R. Burchi, and Barbara A. Christianson
On July 6, 2022, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a proposed consent decree intended to resolve the case, Center for Food Safety, et al. v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (3:21-cv-09640-JSC), brought against EPA in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California alleging that EPA has unreasonably delayed responding to a petition for rulemaking relating to the regulatory exemption of pesticide treated seed. 87 Fed. Reg. 40233.
In accordance with EPA’s March 18, 2022, memorandum entitled “Consent Decrees and Settlement Agreements to Resolve Environmental Claims Against the Agency,” EPA issued a Federal Register notice providing the proposed consent decree to resolve Center for Food Safety, et al. v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and providing a comment period. Comments on the proposed consent decree from persons who are not named as parties to the litigation in question are due on or before August 5, 2022. The public can submit comments at www.regulations.gov in Docket ID Number EPA-HQ-OGC-2022-0511.
This case was filed in connection with a petition (Petition) from the Center for Food Safety on or around April 26, 2017, requesting that EPA amend 40 C.F.R. Section 152.25(a) to exclude seeds for planting coated with systemic pesticides intended to kill pests of the plant, or, in the alternative, publish a formal agency interpretation in the Federal Register stating that 40 C.F.R. Section 152.25(a) does not apply to seeds for planting coated with systemic pesticides intended to kill pests of the plant, and enforce the numerous pesticide registration and labeling requirements for each separate crop seed product that is coated with a neonicotinoid or other systemic insecticidal chemical (2017 Petition Requests). EPA requested public comment on the 2017 Petition and received approximately 100 substantive comments. On December 14, 2021, Plaintiffs filed a Complaint alleging that EPA's failure to respond to the Petition constitutes an unreasonable delay under Section 706(1) of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), 5 U.S.C. 706(1).
Under the proposed consent decree, EPA would, no later than September 30, 2022, either grant, deny, or grant in part and deny in part each of the Petition Requests. Court approval of this proposed consent decree would resolve all claims in this case except for the claim for the costs of litigation, including reasonable attorneys’ fees. EPA or the Department of Justice may withdraw or withhold consent to the proposed consent decree if the comments disclose facts or considerations that indicate that such consent is inappropriate, improper, inadequate, or inconsistent with the requirements of the APA or the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). Unless EPA or the Department of Justice determines that consent should be withdrawn, the terms of the proposed consent decree will be affirmed and entered with the court.
Commentary
The treated article exemption under FIFRA, as EPA has applied it over the years, has been relevant mostly to uncontroversial products such as shower curtains (the pesticide applied to such a product is intended to preserve the shower curtain and not considered using a pesticide when one uses the shower curtain). Meanwhile, the practice of coating seeds with pesticides became more controversial in recent years about possible impacts on honeybees from fugitive dust from neonicotinoid-treated crop seeds. The concern is whether such non-target movement of pesticide residues (the dust) might be partly responsible for the apparent decline in honeybee populations. Critics view EPA’s policy about treated articles as not incorporating a sufficiently robust assessment of the impacts of this pesticide use pattern -- that is, the dust from the treated seeds and the systemic nature of neonicotinoid products used this way have impacts that EPA “ignores” due to the treated article exemption.
Interestingly, any residues remaining in the food produced using such products still must meet the Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA) safety standard of “reasonable certainty of no harm” from consuming the food -- but critics view the neonicotinoid products as causing unreasonable environmental impacts -- even if the finished food product is safe. In this view, critics of the current treated article exemption definition argue that the environmental impacts of neonicotinoid pesticides are left insufficiently regulated. One problem EPA faces, however, is that the treated article exemption applies to a much larger universe of pesticide applications than seed treatments, so changes to better evaluate the environmental impact of neonicotinoids could impact other products currently not viewed as controversial. This partly explains why EPA has delayed its response to the Petition as it considers how to respond. Changes to the current policy could result in many more products or applications needing EPA review, which would expand the pesticide registration universe at a time when EPA struggles to meet evaluation deadlines for currently registered products. EPA now will have to decide how to move forward on this issue, which will likely have more complex implications for products beyond neonicotinoid pesticides.
Posted on July 05, 2022 by Lisa M. CampbellBy Lisa R. Burchi and Barbara A. Christianson
On July 1, 2022, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a notice in the Federal Register announcing the availability of its progress report in meeting its performance measures and goals for pesticide reregistration during fiscal year (FY) 2019 (2019 Report). 87 Fed. Reg. 39517. Section 4(l) of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) requires EPA to publish information about EPA’s annual achievements in this area. The 2019 Report discusses the completion of tolerance reassessment and describes the status of various regulatory activities associated with reregistration. The 2019 Report also provides the total number of products reregistered and products registered under the “fast-track” provisions of FIFRA. The report is available at EPA-HQ-OPP-2014-0125. Comments can be submitted on or before August 30, 2022.
EPA’s completed product reregistration actions totaled 161, short of EPA’s goal of 400 actions. The table below details the actions completed in FY 2019.
Table 1. Product Reregistration Actions Completed in FY 2019
(as of January 22, 2022)
| Actions |
FY 2019 |
| Product reregistration actions |
36 |
| Product amendment actions |
18 |
| Product cancellation actions |
107 |
| Product suspension actions |
0 |
| Total actions |
161 |
EPA also states that 4,081 products had product reregistration decisions pending at the end of FY 2019, compared to 4,193 products with product reregistration decisions pending at the end of FY 2018, and 4,370 products with product reregistration decisions pending at the end of FY 2017. Regarding changes in the universe of products in product reregistration, EPA states: “an increase or decrease can be due to fluctuations in numbers of products associated with product-specific Data Call-Ins (PDCIs).”
The number of applications for registration requiring expedited processing (i.e., “fast-track” applications) that EPA considered and approved has dropped slightly in 2019, with 2,574, 2,303, and 1,739 in 2017, 2018, and 2019, respectively.
Posted on June 27, 2022 by Lisa M. CampbellThe latest episode of Bergeson & Campbell, P.C.’s (B&C®) All Things Chemical® podcast, “Balancing Wildlife Protection and Responsible Pesticide Use -- A Conversation with Jake Li,” features a conversation with Jake Li, Deputy Assistant Administrator for Pesticide Programs, Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention (OCSPP), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Conversation topics include what the Administration is doing to balance wildlife protection and responsible pesticide use and how the Endangered Species Act (ESA) Workplan is helping EPA’s Pesticide Program meet its ESA obligations.
Lynn L. Bergeson, Managing Partner, B&C, and James V. Aidala, Senior Government Affairs Consultant, B&C, and former Assistant Administrator for EPA’s Office of Prevention, Pesticides, and Toxic Substances, join Mr. Li for a wide-ranging discussion of OCSPP obligations and priorities related to wildlife protection and ESA.
Enacted almost 50 years ago, ESA is intended to preserve and protect imperiled species. Implementing ESA while balancing the need for pesticide use has proven to be challenging for decades. Jake Li and Jim Aidala both have significant experience in senior policy positions in this space at EPA, with a keen understanding of the legal, policy, and commercial implications of ESA. This discussion will be of keen interest to growers, pesticide suppliers, policy makers, and anyone with an interest in balancing the protection of wildlife and the responsible use of pesticides to protect the food supply and human health.
“Balancing Wildlife Protection and Responsible Pesticide Use -- A Conversation with Jake Li” is available now on B&C’s website and on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and Stitcher.
|
