State Regulators Ask EPA to Allow State Pesticide Restrictions to Continue
The nation's state pesticide regulators are fighting back after EPA's recent announcement that it is considering limiting states' ability to place additional restrictions on federal pesticides.
Rose Kachadoorian, president of the Association of American Pesticide Control Officials (AAPCO) and an Oregon pesticide regulator, and Leo Reed, an Indiana pesticide regulator, penned a letter urging EPA to leave this state right untouched. Barbara Glenn, CEO of the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA), also sent a letter to EPA, asking the agency to consult with state regulators before making any decision.
"AAPCO takes this issue very seriously, and strongly supports a state's right to grant a Section 24(c) pesticide registration to reduce risk," Kachadoorian and Reed wrote.
At issue is an announcement made by EPA in late March that the agency is "reevaluating" how it handles additional restrictions placed on federal pesticides via a section of pesticide law known as 24(c). This section of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) was crafted to allow states to expand or supplement the use of a federally labeled pesticide according to individual state needs. However, states have occasionally used it to restrict a pesticide's use instead. Most recently, a number of states have used 24(c) labels to add restrictions to the new dicamba formulations XtendiMax, Engenia and FeXapan, out of concern over widespread off-target dicamba movement and injury over the past two years.
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Rose Kachadoorian, president of the Association of American Pesticide Control Officials (AAPCO) and an Oregon pesticide regulator, and Leo Reed, an Indiana pesticide regulator, penned a letter urging EPA to leave this state right untouched. Barbara Glenn, CEO of the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA), also sent a letter to EPA, asking the agency to consult with state regulators before making any decision.
"AAPCO takes this issue very seriously, and strongly supports a state's right to grant a Section 24(c) pesticide registration to reduce risk," Kachadoorian and Reed wrote.
At issue is an announcement made by EPA in late March that the agency is "reevaluating" how it handles additional restrictions placed on federal pesticides via a section of pesticide law known as 24(c). This section of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) was crafted to allow states to expand or supplement the use of a federally labeled pesticide according to individual state needs. However, states have occasionally used it to restrict a pesticide's use instead. Most recently, a number of states have used 24(c) labels to add restrictions to the new dicamba formulations XtendiMax, Engenia and FeXapan, out of concern over widespread off-target dicamba movement and injury over the past two years.
Click Here to read more.