^®: CRE Regulatory Action of the Week

EPA Seeks Comment on Human Testing
In 2001, EPA announced that it would not consider third-party studies of a pesticide's effects on humans until the Agency reassessed whether such studies should be accepted, and if so how they should be performed. In 2003, a federal court held that EPA's ban on third-party human studies violated the rule making requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act. In response to the court's decision, EPA recently announced in the Federal Register that the agency will determine the acceptability of third-party human studies on a case-by- case basis pending completion of a rule making that establishes a comprehensive framework for conducting such studies. EPA's Federal Register notice seeks comments by May 9, 2005, on its interim case-by-case approach and on its contemplated general framework.