PPDC Meeting
Oct 18th
Pursuant to the Federal Advisory Committee Act, the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Pesticide Programs is holding a public meeting of the Pesticide Program Dialogue Committee on October 31, 2018. This meeting is intended to provide advice and recommendations to the EPA Administrator on issues associated with pesticide regulatory development and reform initiatives, evolving public policy and program implementation issues, and science issues associated with evaluating and reducing risks from use of pesticides.
The PPDC meeting will be held on Wednesday, October 31, 2018,from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursday, November 1, 2018, from 8:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. there will be an informational seminar on biotechnology- pesticide issues held for stakeholders.
Nominate Members of the FIFRA SAP
Oct 9th
EPA is requesting nominations of experts for ad hoc participation on the FIFRA SAP. Nominees will be considered for ad hoc participation in upcoming FIFRA SAP peer reviews, providing independent scientific advice to the Agency on health and safety issues related to pesticides. Nominations, including contact information and affiliation(s), should be submitted to the Designated Federal Official, Dr. Marquea D. King (king.marquea@epa.gov or 202-564-3626) on or before November 13, 2018.
Click here for more details and relevant links.
OIG Report Criticizes EPA’s Pesticide Emergency Exemption Process
Oct 1st
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of the Inspector General released a report entitled “Measures and Management Controls Needed to Improve EPA’s Pesticide Emergency Exemption Process.” This OIG Report included the following summary:
“What we found
The EPA’s Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP) does not have outcome measures in place to determine how well the emergency exemption process maintains human health and environmental safeguards. The program office also does not have comprehensive internal controls to manage the emergency exemption data it collects. Finally, the OPP does not consistently communicate emergency exemption information with its stakeholders.
EPA Seeks Comments on NMFS BiOp for 3 OPs
Mar 25th
EPA is seeking comment on the final Biological Opinion issued under the Endangered Species Act by the National Marine Fisheries Service regarding the potential effects of chlorpyrifos, malathion, and diazinon on federally listed threatened or endangered species and their designated critical habitats. Comments are due to EPA by May 22, 2018.
This is the first BiOp published under the new pesticide ESA Consultation procedures being developed by EPA, NMFS and the Fish and Wildlife Service. NMFS originally published this BiOp as final in response to a court order. EPA has reinitiated informal ESA consultation on the BiOp in order to allow more public comment on it.
PPDC Meeting May 2-3, 2018
Mar 14th
Pursuant to the Federal Advisory Committee Act, the Environmental Protection
Agency’s Office of Pesticide Programs is announcing a public meeting of the Pesticide Program Dialogue Committee on May 2-3, 2018. This meeting provides advice andrecommendations to the EPA Administrator on issues associated with pesticide regulatorydevelopment and reform initiatives, evolving public policy and program implementation issues,and science issues associated with evaluating and reducing risks from use of pesticides.
This PPDC meeting will be held on Wednesday, May 2, 2018, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., andThursday, May 3, 2018, from 9 a.m. to noon.
Public Comment Period Open for Glyphosate Draft Risk Assessments
Mar 8th
EPA has opened the 60-day public comment period for the draft glyphosate human health and ecological risk assessments. Comments are due by April 30, 2018.
The draft risk assessments and supporting documents are available in glyphosate’s registration review docket EPA-HQ-OPP-2009-0361 on www.regulations.gov.
After the comment period, EPA will evaluate the comments received and consider any potential risk management options for this herbicide.
For additional details read EPA’s December 2017 announcement: EPA Releases Draft Risk Assessments for Glyphosate.
EPA Accepting Public Comments on SAP Nominees
Feb 8th
On January 26, 2018, EPA published a Federal Register notice providing the names addresses, and professional affiliations of recent nominees by the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation for service on the FIFRA Scientific Advisory Panel established under section 25(d) of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act. Brief biographical sketches for the nominees are posted to the EPA website at www.epa.gov/sap. The Agency, at this time, anticipates selecting four of these individuals for new members to serve on the panel as a result of membership terms that will expire in 2018.
Federal Agencies Enter MOA on ESA Pesticides Consulting
Feb 1st
The Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of the Interior, and the Department of Commerce have signed a Memorandum of Agreement “MOA” that establishes an Interagency Working Group to Coordinate Endangered Species Act Consultations for Pesticide Registrations and Registration Review.
This MOA states that the Working Group shall consist of the Signatory Agencies to the MOA. In addition, the Signatory Agencies request that U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), and the Office of Management and Budget join the WorkingGroup, and that the CEQ serve as Chair of the Working Group.
NMFS Publishes Organophosphate Biological Opinion
Jan 15th
The U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service has published its ESA biological opinion for three organophosphate pesticides being reviewed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. NMFS’ BiOp is part of EPA’s regulation of the pesticides under the Federal Insecticide Fungicide and Rodenticide Act. NMFS’ published the following statement about this BiOp:
“NMFS provided the EPA with its final Biological Opinion addressing EPA’s registration of three chemicals – Chlorpyrifos, Diazinon, and Malathion – per a court ordered deadline.
EPA Seeks Comment on Glyphosate Risk Assessments
Dec 20th
On December 18, 2017, the United States Environmental Protection Agency released for comment its draft human health and ecological risk assessments for the herbicide glyphosate. EPA issued the following press release:
“The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is releasing for public comment the draft human health and ecological risk assessments for glyphosate, one of the most widely used agricultural pesticides in the United States.
The draft human health risk assessment concludes that glyphosate is not likely to be carcinogenic to humans. The Agency’s assessment found no other meaningful risks to human health when the product is used according to the pesticide label. The Agency’s scientific findings are consistent with the conclusions of science reviews by a number of other countries as well as the 2017 National Institute of Health Agricultural Health Survey.