Tag Archive for: EPA

EPA Announces Implementation of Electronic Gold Seal Letter for Exporting Pesticides

This original announcement was published by EPA on November 17, 2020. Click here for more information.

 

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is now providing pesticide registrants with electronic Certificates of Registration, commonly known as gold seal letters. This improved process allows for the electronic gold seal letters to be emailed to registrants rather than physically mailed, providing a key flexibility during the COVID-19 public health emergency.

These letters serve as proof for pesticide exporters that the product is registered with EPA and meets all necessary registration requirements. Registrants can request gold seal certificate letters from the Agency for use internationally. For information on how to request a gold seal certificate letter, including information on how registrants should present the letters to the U.S. Department of State when authentication is needed for business purposes, please visit https://www.epa.gov/pria-fees/m006-pria-fee-category.

Approved labels and gold seal letters for registered pesticide products can be found on the Pesticide Product and Label System.

Now Available for Public Comment: ORD Staff Handbook for Developing IRIS Assessments

This original announcement was published by EPA’s Health and Environment Risk Assessment team on November 10, 2020. Click here for more information. 

 

Notice: EPA’s Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) Program released the Office of Research and Development (ORD) Staff Handbook for Developing IRIS Assessments, or IRIS Handbook, for a 90-day public comment period. The IRIS Handbook provides operating procedures for developing IRIS assessments including problem formulation approaches and methods for conducting systematic review, dose response analysis, and developing toxicity values.

EPA is submitting a notice for publication in the Federal Register (FR). Please refer to the official notice in a forthcoming FR publication, which will appear on the Federal Register website (https://www.federalregister.gov/) and on Regulations.gov (https://www.regulations.gov) in Docket No. EPA-HQ-ORD-2018-0654. Once published in the Federal Register, an additional IRIS listserv notice will be distributed to notify the public.

For more information on this document, please visit the EPA IRIS website.

EPA Releases Draft Biological Evaluations for Atrazine, Simazine and Propazine

This original announcement was published by the EPA on Friday, November 6, 2020. Click here for more information.

 

EPA is taking the next step in its regulatory review of atrazine, simazine and propazine, three widely-used herbicides used to control a variety of grasses and broadleaf weeds. Atrazine is used on about 75 million acres of agricultural crop land every year and is especially effective, affordable, and well-studied.

In September 2020, EPA announced its interim registration review decisions for atrazine, simazine and propazine (collectively known as the triazines), finalizing measures to protect human health, mitigate potential ecological risks while providing America’s farmers with valuable tools they have come to rely upon.

Today, EPA is releasing its draft biological evaluations (BEs) for triazines for public review and comment. Biological evaluations are the beginning of EPA’s Endangered Species Act consultation review process for pesticides where the agency determines if an endangered or threatened species or critical habitat could be affected by the use of a certain pesticide.

EPA will accept public comments on the draft evaluations until Jan. 5, 2021. After carefully considering the public comments received and any additional data received, the agency will finalize the BEs. If EPA determines a pesticide may affect a listed species or its critical habitat, the agency will consult with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service (the Services) as appropriate. The Services will then issue a biological opinion to determine if the population of a species would be adversely impacted and, if so, propose ways to reduce risks. It is the goal of EPA to ensure that pesticides can continue to be used safely with minimal impacts to threatened and endangered species.

This is the second group of pesticides, and the first herbicides, where the agency used its March 2020 Revised Method for National Level Listed Species Biological Evaluations of Conventional Pesticides to assess potential impacts that these herbicides may have on threatened and endangered species and their critical habitats. As such, EPA used advanced exposure modeling techniques to estimate exposures to plants in various environments such as wetlands.

The biological evaluations make effects determinations for 1,795 listed species and 792 designated critical habitats when these pesticides are used according to product labels. This includes no effect (NE), not likely to adversely affect (NLAA), and likely to adversely affect (LAA) determinations. A summary of LAA determinations for atrazine, simazine, and propazine is below:

  • Atrazine is likely to adversely affect 54 percent of all species and 40 percent of critical habitats ;
  • Propazine is likely to adversely affect 4 percent of all species and 2 percent of critical habitats; and,
  • Simazine is likely to adversely affect approximately 53 percent of species and 40 percent of critical habitats.

To read the biological evaluations, please visit our webpage. EPA is accepting public comments via docket EPA-HQ-OPP-2020-0514 at www.regulations.gov.

EPA Proposes Updates to List of Pests of Significant Health Importance

This original announcement was published by the EPA on November 4, 2020. Click here for more information.

 

Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released an updated list of pests of significant health importance for public review and comment.

Federal law requires EPA, in coordination with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), to identify pests of significant public health importance and in coordination with the Public Health Service, to develop and implement programs to improve and facilitate the safe and necessary use of chemical, biological, and other methods to combat and control such pests of public health importance. The list serves as a useful tool for private and public organizations including local or state governments, departments of public health, pesticide registrants, and non-governmental organizations when making decisions and plans about future public health actions.

Since this list’s original publication in 2002, new vector-borne diseases have been identified and pests that had been previously thought of as benign or nuisance pests have been found to adversely impact public health. EPA, CDC and USDA collaborated to update the list to incorporate significant changes regarding vector-borne diseases and related research, and eliminate gaps or ambiguities in the current pests list.

The draft Pesticide Registration Notice more precisely describes both the pests and expected public health impacts and adds several new pests (ex. brown dog tick) and public health impacts (ex. Zika fever and coronaviruses like SARS-CoV-2). Other pests have been renamed or grouped with similar species or removed altogether (ex. hobo spider).

The list does not affect the regulatory status of any registration or application for registration of any pesticide product.

EPA will take public comment on the draft Pesticide Registration Notice during a 60-day public comment period ending on January 3, 2021 via www.regulations.gov (Docket ID: EPA-HQ-OPP-2020-0260).

EPA Proposes Registration of New Active Ingredient to Control Corn Rootworm and Other Pests

This original announcement was published by the EPA on October 30, 2020. Click here for more information.

 

EPA is proposing to register pesticide products containing the new active ingredient broflanilide.

Broflanilide is an insecticide designed to control soil-dwelling insects (ex. corn rootworm larvae, seedcorn maggot, white grubs, and wireworms) on corn and tuberous and corm vegetables. It can also be used as seed treatment to control wireworms on cereal grains.

EPA is also proposing to use bloflanilide for control of flies, ants, bedbugs, cockroaches, termites and other insects in industrial, commercial and residential areas.

EPA has not identified any risks of concern for human health.

EPA is proposing specific mitigations to address potential ecological risks to bees. These include advisory language to reduce exposure to pollinators from spray drift by using ultra coarse spray nozzles, directions for use for treated seed to reduce exposure to birds and mammals, and the use of a vegetative buffer strip within 15 feet of waterbodies to address risks to aquatic invertebrates.

To read more about the proposed registration of broflanilide and to comment, see docket EPA-HQ-OPP-2018-0053 at www.regulations.gov. The public comment period will be open for 30 days, closing on November 29, 2020.

EPA Finalizes Improvements to Pesticide Application Exclusion Zone Requirements

This original announcement was published by the EPA on October 29, 2020. Click here for more information!

 

Today, at Overman Farms in Goldsboro, N.C., U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Andrew Wheeler will announce that the agency has finalized important improvements to requirements for the pesticide application exclusion zone (AEZ)—the area surrounding pesticide application equipment that exists only during outdoor production pesticide applications. EPA’s targeted changes improve the enforceability and workability of the AEZ requirements, decrease regulatory burdens for farmers, and maintain critical worker protections. Today’s revisions are consistent with the 2018 Pesticide Registration Improvement Act (PRIA). The AEZ requirements are part of EPA’s agricultural Worker Protection Standard (WPS) regulations.

“Since day one, the Trump Administration has been committed to protecting the health of all our citizens,” said EPA Administrator Wheeler. “The changes to the AEZ requirements make it easier to ensure people near our nation’s farms are protected, while simultaneously enhancing the workability of these provisions for farm owners and protecting the environment.”

This final action balances the input EPA received from a wide range of stakeholders during the proposed action’s 90-day comment period. EPA has clarified and simplified the AEZ requirements based in part on input from state pesticide regulatory agencies and agricultural stakeholders after the adoption of the 2015 WPS rule. Consistent with PRIA, EPA is only implementing changes related to the AEZ requirements in the WPS. These targeted changes include:

  • AEZ requirements only apply within the boundaries of the agricultural establishment, removing off-farm responsibilities that were difficult for state regulators to enforce.
  • Immediate family members of farm owners are now exempted from all aspects of the AEZ requirements. Farm owners and their immediate family are now able to shelter in place inside closed buildings, giving farm owners and immediate 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.
  • New clarifying language has been added so that pesticide applications that are suspended due to individuals entering an AEZ may be resumed after those individuals have left the AEZ.
  • Simplified criteria to determine whether pesticide applications are subject to the 25- or 100-foot AEZ.

No changes were made to the “Do Not Contact” provision that prohibits a handler/applicator and the handler’s employer from applying a pesticide in such a way that it contacts workers or other persons directly or through drift.

To read the rule in full, please visit: https://www.epa.gov/pesticide-worker-safety/worker-protection-standard-application-exclusion-zone

Background

The original WPS regulation was enacted in 1992 under EPA’s Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) authorities to protect farm workers from pesticide exposures in production agriculture. The WPS requires owners and employers on agricultural establishments and commercial pesticide-handling establishments to protect employees on farms, forests, nurseries, and greenhouses from occupational exposure to agricultural pesticides.

In 2015, EPA finalized various significant revisions to the 1992 WPS. Among the 2015 revisions was a new provision requiring agricultural employers to keep workers and all other individuals out of an area called the “application exclusion zone” (AEZ) during outdoor pesticide applications. The AEZ is the area surrounding pesticide application equipment that exists only during outdoor production pesticide applications. The AEZ will be 25 feet in all directions for ground pesticide applications when sprayed from a height greater than 12 inches, and 100 feet in all directions for outdoor aerial, air blast, air-propelled, fumigant, smoke, mist and fog pesticide applications.

The initial intent of the AEZ was to supplement existing WPS provisions for farm workers to better protect them and other on-farm persons that could be contacted by pesticides. However, state regulators expressed concerns with enforcing the complex AEZ requirements and farm owners expressed concerns with applying and complying with pesticide regulations.

 

 

EPA Continues Webinar Series Dedicated to Integrated Pest Management Strategies

This original announcement was published by the EPA on October 29, 2020. Click here for more information!

 

On Nov. 12, 2020, EPA’s Office of Pesticide Programs continues its focus on integrated pest management (IPM) strategies. EPA will host a 60-minute webinar, IPM for Scale Insect Pests of Trees and Woody Ornamentals, followed by a 30-minute Q&A session.

Objectives for the webinar include:

  • Learning how to identify between different types of scale insects – armored and soft – and control tactics for each;
  • Determining IPM preventative measures appropriate for each stage of the scale insect life cycle;
  • Learning how to identify and manage an infestation and what actions to take to minimize tree, shrub or ornamental damage; and
  • Understanding how to incorporate pesticides safely into a comprehensive IPM plan.

The featured speaker for this event is Richard Buckley, the Director of Rutgers University Plant Diagnostic Lab and Nematode Detection Service.

Furthermore, pest management professionals and arborists can seek continuing education credits from their associations or states by participating in this webinar.

Register here: IPM for Scale Insect Pests of Trees and Woody Ornamentals – Nov. 12 | 2 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. EST

Following this webinar, EPA will discuss the topic of Invasive Woody Plant Management on Dec. 1, 2020.

Read more and register for upcoming IPM webinars here.

EPA Announces 2020 Dicamba Registration Decision

This original announcement was published by the EPA on October 28, 2020. Click here for more information.

Today, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Andrew Wheeler announced that EPA is approving new five-year registrations for two dicamba products and extending the registration of an additional dicamba product. All three registrations include new control measures to ensure these products can be used effectively while protecting the environment, including non-target plants, animals, and other crops not tolerant to dicamba.

“With today’s decision, farmers now have the certainty they need to make plans for their 2021 growing season,” said EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler. “After reviewing substantial amounts of new information, conducting scientific assessments based on the best available science, and carefully considering input from stakeholders we have reached a resolution that is good for our farmers and our environment.”

Through today’s action, EPA approved new registrations for two “over-the-top” (OTT) dicamba products—XtendiMax with VaporGrip Technology and Engenia Herbicide—and extended the registration for an additional OTT dicamba product, Tavium Plus VaporGrip Technology. These registrations are only for use on dicamba-tolerant (DT) cotton and soybeans and will expire in 2025, providing certainty to American agriculture for the upcoming growing season and beyond.

To manage off-site movement of dicamba, EPA’s 2020 registration features important control measures, including:

  • Requiring an approved pH-buffering agent (also called a Volatility Reduction Agent or VRA) be tank mixed with OTT dicamba products prior to all applications to control volatility.
  • Requiring a downwind buffer of 240 feet and 310 feet in areas where listed species are located.
  • Prohibiting OTT application of dicamba on soybeans after June 30 and cotton after July 30.
  • Simplifying the label and use directions so that growers can more easily determine when and how to properly apply dicamba.

The 2020 registration labels also provide new flexibilities for growers and states. For example, there are opportunities for growers to reduce the downwind spray buffer for soybeans through use of certain approved hooded sprayers as an alternative control method. EPA also recognizes and supports the important authority FIFRA section 24 gives the states for issuing locally appropriate regulations for pesticide use. If a state wishes to expand the federal OTT uses of dicamba to better meet special local needs, the agency will work with them to support their goals.

This action was informed by input from state regulators, grower groups, academic researchers, pesticide manufacturers, and others. EPA reviewed substantial amounts of new information and conducted assessments based on the best available science, including making Effect Determinations under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). With this information and input, EPA has concluded that these registration actions meet Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) registration standards. EPA believes that these new analyses address the concerns expressed in regard to EPA’s 2018 dicamba registrations in the June 2020 U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Further, EPA concluded that with the control measures now required on labels, these actions either do not affect or are not likely to adversely affect endangered or threatened species.

To view the final registration of the dicamba products, visit docket EPA-HQ-OPP-2020-0492 at www.regulations.gov.

Background

The United States is the world’s leading soybean producer and second-leading soybean exporter and also serves as the world’s third-largest cotton producer and the leading cotton exporter. Today, there are limited cost-effective options to control herbicide-resistant weeds affecting these commodities. In 2018, approximately 41 percent of U.S. soybean acreage was planted with dicamba-tolerant (DT) seed and almost 70 percent of U.S. cotton acreage was planted with DT seed in 2019. Relative to alternative herbicide programs, postemergence dicamba may reduce weed control costs for some growers, possibly by as much as $10 per acre, or over five percent of net operating revenue, not accounting for all measures growers will have to take to control off-field movement of dicamba.

Following reports of damage resulting from the off-site movement of dicamba, EPA amended the dicamba registration labels in 2017 and in 2018. In June 2020, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit vacated the registrations for three dicamba products: XtendiMax with VaporGrip Technology, Engenia Herbicide, and DuPont FeXapan Herbicide. As a result of the Court’s decision, EPA issued cancellation orders outlining limited circumstances under which existing stocks of the three affected products could be distributed and used until July 31, 2020.

 

EPA Proposes New Safety Measures for Paraquat

This original announcement was published by the EPA on October 23, 2020. Click here for more! 

 

Today, EPA is taking the next step in its regulatory review of paraquat dichloride (paraquat), a widely-used herbicide.

As outlined in the proposed interim decision for paraquat, the agency is proposing new measures to reduce risks associated with paraquat in order to better to protect human health and the environment. These measures include:

  • Prohibiting aerial application for all uses and use sites except cotton desiccation;
  • Prohibiting pressurized handgun and backpack sprayer application methods on the label;
  • Limiting the maximum application rate for alfalfa to one pound of active ingredient per acre;
  • Requiring enclosed cabs if area treated in 24-hour period is more than 80 acres;
  • Requiring enclosed cabs or PF10 respirators if area treated in 24-hour period is 80 acres or less;
  • Requiring a residential area drift buffer and 7-day restricted entry interval (REI) for cotton desiccation;
  • Requiring a 48-hour REI for all crops and uses except cotton desiccation; and
  • Adding mandatory spray drift management label language.

In addition, EPA is proposing to allow truck drivers who are not certified applicators to transport paraquat when certain conditions are met.

Read the proposed interim decision here. Upon publication of the Federal Register notice, public comments will be accepted for 60 days in docket # EPA-HQ-OPP-2011-0855 until December 22, 2020 at www.regulations.gov.

Background

Paraquat is applied annually to control invasive weeds and plants in more than 100 crops—including cotton, corn, and soybeans, and there are presently no direct alternatives to this product. Because all paraquat products are Restricted Use Products, they can only be applied by certified pesticide applicators.

EPA has taken proactive steps, outside of the standard registration review process, to ensure paraquat is used in a manner that is safe and consistent with the label directions. This includes a safety awareness campaign and changes to labels and product packaging to stop improper uses, which have led to poisonings and deaths. Additionally, specialized training for certified applicators who use paraquat was released earlier this year to ensure that the pesticide is used correctly. EPA is continuing to evaluate the effectiveness of these measures as the agency works to complete the required registration review process.

The proposed interim decision (PID) for paraquat is the third step in EPA’s four-step process for evaluating a pesticide registration application that EPA conducts at least every 15 years. It is not a denial or an approval of the active ingredient.

In the PID, EPA proposes mitigation measures to reduce the human health and ecological risks identified in the agency’s human health and ecological risk assessments (step two). The agency published the draft risk assessments for paraquat in October 2019. The ID is the fourth step in the registration review process. In the ID, EPA finalizes mitigation measures to reduce the human health and ecological risks.

Additional information on the proposed interim decision for paraquat is available on EPA’s website.

EPA Holds Online Pesticide Program Dialogue Committee Meeting in October

This original announcement was published by the EPA on October 21, 2020. Click here for more info!

 

EPA’s Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP) will hold an online public meeting of the Pesticide Program Dialogue Committee (PPDC) on Oct. 28-29, 2020.

Topics will include:

  • Recent OPP registration activities, such as approving new products that could help with rodent control and prove helpful in preventing future wildfires in Western states;
  • Science policy activities, such as measures to reduce animal testing;
  • Conversations about the formation of four new PPDC workgroups: Pesticide Resistance Management, Farmworker and Clinician Training, Emerging Pathogens, and Emerging Technologies;
  • OPP’s COVID-19 response activities, including testing the efficacy of disinfectants against SARS-CoV-2; and,
  • OPP process improvements, such as IT modernization.

Please visit the PPDC webpage to see the agenda — which will include the link to register to attend the meeting — and the Federal Register notice.

To provide comments during the meeting or to request special accommodations, please contact Shannon Jewell at jewell.shannon@epa.gov or at (703)347-0109 by Oct. 23, 2020. You may also contact Ms. Jewell with questions about the PPDC.

Learn more about the Pesticide Program Dialogue Committee.