Archives

August 10, 2026

EPA Extends Emerging Viral Pathogen Guidance for the Mpox Virus

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has extended its Emerging Viral Pathogen (EVP) Guidance for Antimicrobial Pesticides (Guidance) in response to the mpox virus (formerly monkeypox), which had been considered to be a rare disease caused by infection with the mpox virus. EPA developed its Guidance in 2016 to address emerging pathogens. Under this Guidance, EPA provides pesticide registrants with a voluntary “two-stage process to enable use of certain EPA-registered disinfectant...
July 27, 2026

DPR Reaches $200,000 Settlement Related to Restricted Material Pesticide Sales

On July 1, 2026, the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) announced it had reached a settlement with Keystone Pest Solutions to resolve allegations related to the sales of certain pesticide products. The penalty of nearly $200,000 relates specifically to sales of the following restricted materials: 2,4-dicholophneoxyacic acid (2,4-D), diuron, carbaryl, dimethylamine salt of dicamba, dimethylamine salt of 2-methyl-4-chlorophenoxyacetic acid, and Simazine. The specific allegations...
July 24, 2026

EPA MyPeST Deadline for Bilingual Translation Compliance Reporting Due July 31, 2026

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) deadline for Spanish language bilingual labeling compliance reporting under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) (as amended by the Pesticide Registration Improvement Act of 2022 (PRIA 5)) via MyPeST is July 31, 2026. This reporting deadline is limited to restricted use pesticides (RUP) and agricultural products (non-RUPs) in Acute Toxicity Category I. EPA’s MyPeST platform is a web-based system designed to replace...
July 21, 2026

EPA Releases Guides to Assist Users with the MyPeST Platform for Pesticide Submission

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP) has provided new resources to assist users with their MyPeST applications. EPA’s MyPeST platform is a web-based system designed to replace the Pesticide Submission Portal, offering registrants a transparent dashboard for tracking application statuses and managing bilingual pesticide labeling compliance. The MyPeST User Guide (Version 3.0.1, dated July 8, 2026) is available now. EPA states that the User Guide...
July 16, 2026

The Surprising Science Shift That Changed His Career — A Conversation with Richard J. Fehir, Ph.D.

This week, I had the pleasure of speaking with my new colleague, Richard J. Fehir, Ph.D., Senior Chemist/Regulatory Scientist, at B&C and its consulting affiliate, The Acta Group (Acta®), to discuss his career at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and how he is now deploying his considerable scientific chops at B&C and Acta. Rick is a bit unusual, as he has worked for both EPA’s Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics (OPPT) and Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP),...
July 9, 2026

Unpacking the Consequences of the Decision in Monsanto Company v. Durnell

For more than a decade, litigation over glyphosate-based herbicides has sat at the intersection of federal pesticide regulation, state tort law, scientific risk assessment, and broader debates over the role of juries in evaluating product safety. The Supreme Court's June 25, 2026, decision in Monsanto Company v. Durnell (Durnell) represents the Court's most significant interpretation of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act's (FIFRA) preemption provision since Bates v. Dow...
June 29, 2026

California DPR Announces Proposed Revisions to Enforcement Response Regulations

On June 12, 2026, the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) announced proposed revisions to its enforcement response regulations. The initiative proposes to increase fines, revise the criteria for referring violations to enforcement, re-define violation types, and make other clarifications or amendments to enforcement procedure. The last major substantive update to the regulations took place in 2006. Purpose and Substance of Proposal DPR states that the proposed action...
June 26, 2026

Roundup®, FIFRA, and Federal Uniformity: The Supreme Court Speaks

The U.S. Supreme Court issued one of the most significant pesticide law decisions in years on June 25, 2026, holding in Monsanto Co. v. Durnell that the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) expressly preempts state-law failure-to-warn claims that would require pesticide labels to include warnings beyond those required by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The Court's 7-2 decision is expected to have far-reaching implications for pesticide manufacturers,...
June 16, 2026

EPA Updates New Approach Methods to Replace Animal Testing for Chemical Assessments

In a significant move toward modernizing chemical safety assessments, on June 2, 2026, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced two major actions aimed at replacing traditional, animal-based testing with advanced scientific alternatives, typically known as New Approach Methods (NAM), for chemical assessments under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) and Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). EPA is also introducing a streamlined process for researchers,...