Lisa M. Campbell Quoted in Chemical Watch Article “California Company Sues US EPA Over Cleaning Wipes Confiscation”
On October 14, 2020, comments by Lisa M. Campbell, Partner, Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C®), were featured by Chemical Watch in an article regarding a recent lawsuit filed against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Zuru, the importer of a seized shipment of wipes, claims that the confiscated cleaning wipes “do not fall under FIFRA because they are neither labelled nor advertised as a pesticide and make no claims about disinfecting.”
Lisa Campbell, a partner at Bergeson & Campbell, said the EPA has long taken the position that products containing registered biocidal active ingredients are pesticides even if no pesticidal claims are made.
“The bleach exception to this rule has generally been applied only to bleach products that make only cleaning claims; these products were effectively ‘grandfathered’ in as an exemption to the registration requirements given the longstanding previously largely unregulated ubiquitous use of bleach cleaning products,” she said.
“Whether the court reviewing the Zuru complaint will uphold EPA’s position on these issues will be of significant interest, as the lack of claims could potentially persuade a court to disagree with EPA,” Ms. Campbell said.
See – https://chemicalwatch.com/166466/california-company-sues-us-epa-over-cleaning-wipes-confiscation (subscription required)