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The California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) has issued a draft of its Stage 1 Alternatives Analysis (AA) Guide. DTSC developed this guidance to help the regulated community conduct AA and regulatory requirements under the California Safer Consumer Products (SCP) program. Comments on the draft document can be submitted online at the SCP Information Management System (CalSafer) website and are due by October 23, 2015. DTSC is holding two webinars, the second of which occurs on...

On August 7, 2019, EPA took long awaited action concerning the inclusion of Prop 65 warning statements for glyphosate on EPA registered pesticide labels, which will likely impact the broader ongoing debate over EPA approval of Prop 65 warnings on pesticide labels.  EPA’s August 7, 2019, letter to glyphosate registrants states that EPA “will no longer approve labeling that includes the Proposition 65 warning statement for glyphosate-containing products.”  EPA stated...

On June 16, 2015, the California Superior Court for the County of Almeda denied the petition of the Pesticide Action Network North America, et al. (PANNA) for a writ of mandate to direct the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) to set aside and vacate its final decisions approving amended registrations of Dinotefuran 20SG manufactured by Mitsui Chemicals Agro and Venom manufactured by Valent USA.  The active ingredient in both products at issue, dinotefuran, is a...

On May 22, 2015, the California State Assembly passed the Plastic Microbeads Nuisance Prevention Law, a bill designed to ban the use of microbeads in beauty products and prevent the environment harm that occurs when they inevitably end up in waterways. California is not the first state to restrict microbeads as Illinois, Maine, New Jersey, and Colorado have also done so and several other states are in the process of creating bans. The big difference with this legislation is that California is...

On May 8, 2015, in El Comite Para El Bienestar De Earlimart v. EPA, a Panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit denied a petition for review filed by several groups that the court describes as “community organizations” who challenged the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) 2012 approval of California State Implementation Plan (SIP) elements under the Clean Air Act (CAA), including its related approval of certain fumigant regulations.  This challenge was...

On February 27, 2015, the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) released California Notice 2015-3, entitled Concurrent Submission of Pesticide Products to the Department of Pesticide Regulation and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. In this Notice, DPR describes the four types of applications that may be submitted concurrently to DPR and to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the procedure applicants should follow to request concurrent submission, and how...

The California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) announced on February 26, 2015, a revision to the process for evaluation of the potential for a pesticide to move off-site into surface water when the pesticide is used in an urban area. The former evaluation method followed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approach with California specific parameters. This revision will continue to use the EPA approach but allow incorporation of a module specific for California urban...

The California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) recently issued its Progress Report 2012-2014, which highlights DPR’s view of achievements under the leadership of Director Brian Leahy. Among the achievements noted are the following; others are also discussed in the report. • Restricting sales of Second Generation Anticoagulant Rodenticides (SCAR). This action is described as having been “the catalyst for a national change, as the manufacturer agreed with U.S. EPA to phase...

The California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) has extended, from February 27, 2015, to Friday, March 13, 2015, the submission of written comments following DPR’s January 14, 2015, Registration Fee Workshop where DPR discussed the potential increase in registration fees for pesticide products pursuant to Food and Agricultural Code (FAC) § 12812(a). Under the proposal, DPR would increase fees for applications and renewals from $750 to $1,150, decrease fees for certain...

On February 12, 2015, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals will hear arguments in El Comite Para El Bienestar De Earlimart v. EPA, a case challenging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) approval of provisions in a State Implementation Plan (SIP) adopted by California under the Clean Air Act (CAA) that regulate emissions of pesticides (primarily fumigants like methyl bromide) that potentially may contribute to possible exceedances of the National Ambient Air Quality Standard...