All Knowledge & Insights By Date

On February 10, 2016, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced it was initiating an external peer review of the updated draft protocol for testing the antimicrobial efficacy of copper-containing surface products.  The products in question are hard surface copper-containing surface products such as door handles, light switch panels, and bed rails, which are utilized for their antimicrobial characteristics.  EPA states that “the testing described in this draft...

Significant issues concerning the scope of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) authority to cancel conditional registrations are raised by recent events concerning flubendiamide products sold in the U.S. by BayerCrop Science LP (Bayer) under the trade name Belt.  Bayer announced on February 5, 2016, that it will not comply with EPA’s request that Bayer “voluntarily” cancel its registered flubendiamide products.  In a January 29, 2016, letter, EPA stated that...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently launched a new Pesticide Worker Protection Dashboard (Dashboard).  EPA states this Dashboard is “focused on the universe of agricultural operations regulated and farm workers and pesticide handlers covered by the Worker Protection Standard.”  EPA states that the Dashboard provides charts and graphs presenting certain key enforcement and compliance information related to the Worker Protection Standard (WPS) program...

On December 17, 2015, in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Case Nos. 14-73353, et al. (consolidated), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) filed a reply in support of its motion for voluntary vacatur and remand of its decision granting a registration to intervenor DowAgroSciences LLC (DowAgro) for Enlist Duo herbicide under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA).  DowAgro responded to the motion by agreeing that remand is appropriate but...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently updated the electronic reporting option for pesticide establishments using the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) Section Seven Tracking System (SSTS), now referred to as the Enhanced Section Seven Tracking System (eSSTS).  On December 17, 21, 22 and 28, EPA will hold four public webinars to explain the Central Data Exchange (CDX) registration process for the eSSTS and demonstrate report submission using...

On December 7, 2015, in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Case Nos. 14-73353, et al. (consolidated) Intervenor Dow AgroSciences, LLC (DowAgro) filed a response, and Petitioner the Center for Food Safety, et al. (CFS, et al.) filed joinder in and response to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) motion for voluntary vacatur and remand of EPA’s registration of DowAgro’s Enlist Duo herbicide under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and...

On December 7, 2015, in Case Nos. 14-1036 and 15-5168, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued an order denying the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) motion for summary affirmance of an order issued by the D.C. District Court dismissing a complaint filed by Plaintiffs-Appellants Center for Biological Diversity, et al. (the Center) for lack of jurisdiction.  The Center’s complaint alleged that EPA violated the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and the Administrative...

On November 24, 2015, in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, Case No. 14-73353, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (Respondent; EPA) filed a motion for voluntary vacatur and remand of EPA’s registration, as amended, of Dow AgroSciences LLC’s (Dow) Enlist Duo herbicide under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA).  The motion for vacatur is unusual and noteworthy to all pesticide registrants. This case commenced in October 2014 when the...

In a November 2, 2015, Federal Register notice, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)  issued the final rule revising the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) Worker Protection Standard (WPS).  EPA previously announced these revisions on September 28, 2015, and stated that it would issue the final rule in the Federal Register within 60 days.  The following are important dates: EPA also states that it is “committed to a...

On October 30, 2015, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it is requesting comments on a proposal to revoke all tolerances for the insecticide chlorpyrifos.  EPA issued this proposal in response to an August 10, 2015, writ of mandamus by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.  The court granted this unusual relief in response to a 2007 administrative petition to cancel chlorpyrifos registrations or to revoke chlorpyrifos tolerances by the...