FESTF Offers to Help NAS Review of Pesticides ESA Risk Assessments
Dec 20th
The FIFRA Endangered Species Task Force (FESTF) has sent a letter to the National Academy of Sciences offering its experience and expertise to the NAS/National Research Council review panel reviewing risk assessments of FIFRA-Regulated Pesticides for species regulated by the Endangered Species Act. Their letter explains that FESTF
EPA Responds to Comments on Nano Registration
Dec 16th
There were many comments submitted on EPA’s Proposed Decision Document for the Registration of HeiQ AGS-20 as a materials preservative in textiles. EPA’s response to these comments is now public.
EPA’s response to comments on Nano registration is attached below.
EPA Publishes EDSP 21 Work Plan
Dec 16th
EPA’s EDSP 21 Work Plan responds to language in the proposed fiscal year 2012 budget for the agency, which states that “In FY 2012, EPA will begin a multi-year transition from the Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program (EDSP) to validate and more efficiently use computational toxicology methods and high throughput screens that will allow the agency to more quickly and cost-effectively assess potential chemical toxicity” (President’s Budget FY2012).
In response, the EDSP21 Work Plan describes an approach for using computational or in silico models and molecular-based in vitro high-throughput (HTP) assays to prioritize and screen chemicals to determine their potential to interact with the estrogen, androgen or thyroid (E, A, or T) hormonal systems.
The Critical Role of Civil Servants
Dec 12th
Court Continues Settlement Stay in ESA Pesticides Litigation
Dec 8th
On November 14, 2011, a federal court in San Francisco granted the parties’ motion to stay an ESA pesticides case until a status conference on February 10, 2012. The parties are ordered to file a status report by February 3, 2012. The purpose of the stay is to allow the parties more time to try to settle the case. This case involves the NGO plaintiffs’ allegations that EPA has violated the Endangered Species Act by failing to consult with NMFS and FWS on hundreds of pesticides.
The status report and court order are attached below.
EPA Conditionally Registers Nano Pesticide
Dec 8th
In a 72-page document dated December 1, 2011, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has granted a conditional registration under FIFRA for a pesticide containing nanosilver as an active ingredient. EPA summarizes its seminal decision as follows:
EPA is granting a conditional registration for the HeiQ Materials AG product named “HeiQ AGS-20” (hereafter referred to as “AGS-20”) under section 3(c)(7)(C) of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). The Agency’s basis for the conditional registration is that:
• AGS-20 contains nanosilver as an active ingredient and the nanosilver in AGS-20 is not in any currently registered pesticide;
CRE Requests SAP Review of EPA Nano Regulation
Nov 29th
CRE previously published an article on this site which joins several stakeholders who have requested that EPA convene a Science Advisory Panel to review and provide advice on EPA’s regulation of nanotechnology in pesticides. This article is available online at http://www.thecre.com/forum1/?p=2130 .
This article explains that EPA should as soon as practicable convene a FIFRA Science Advisory Panel to review many problems plaguing EPA’s current proposals regarding regulstion of nanotechnology in pesticides. These problems include:
● the lack of a clear definition of what constitutes a pesticide nanoscale material;
EPA and NGOs Ask for More Time in ESA Pesticide Litigation
Nov 29th
On November 28, 2011, the NGO plaintiffs and defendant EPA jointly asked a federal court in Washington State for more time to file a court-ordered status report advising the court of the impact of litigation in another court. The Washington court had previously ordered EPA and the NGOs to file a “status report by December 30, 2011 or within 30 days of a decision in Dow AgroSciences LLC v. Nat’l Marine Fisheries Serv., No. 09-cv-00824 (D. Md.), whichever comes first, advising the Court of the ongoing posture of that case.”
Congress Sends Letters to NAS/NRC re: Ecological Risk Assessment Review
Nov 22nd
The National Academy of Sciences/National Research Council is reviewing federal agency ecological risk assessment practices under FIFRA and the ESA. In a letter dated November 3, 2011, Reps. Hastings and Lucas sent the NAS/NRC review committee five letters. Members of Congress had previously sent these letters to federal agencies. According to Reps. Hastings and Lucas, these letters express “the detailed concerns of 31 members of Congress from across the nation, regarding the scientific basis and lack of consideration of economic impacts of the biological opinions (BiOps) that have been released to date on the impact of certain pesticide products on endangered salmon in the Pacific Northwest.”
Available: Record for NAS/NRC Ecological Risk Assessment Review
Nov 22nd
The National Academy of Sciences/National Research Council is reviewing federal agency risk assessment practices under FIFRA and the ESA. CRE now has the NAS/NRC record for this review through November 201l. CRE will be writing and posting articles on various documents in this record. The link below goes to an index for this record. If any reader wants one or more of these indexed documents, please contact us through the Submit a Post process on this page, or by email to slaughter@mbsdc.com.
The index of NAS/NRC ESA review record is attached below.