EPA Announces Revision To Current Pesticide Crop Grouping Regulations
On August 27, 2019, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced via the Federal Register, proposed revisions to its pesticide tolerance crop grouping regulations. These regulations allow the establishment of tolerances for multiple related crops based on data from a representative set of crops. EPA is proposing the revision of one commodity definition and the addition of three new commodity definitions. In addition, EPA’s proposal includes an amendment to the herbs and spices crop group currently provided in Crop Group 19. The crops in current Crop Group 19: Herbs and Spices Group will be separated into two new crop groups: Crop Group 25: Herb Group and Crop Group 26: Spice Group. These revisions aim to increase the utility and benefit of the crop grouping system for producers and other commercial agriculture stakeholders. Over the next several years, a series of crop group updates is expected. Comments are due on October 28, 2019.