On August 23, 2019, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a Federal Register notice announcing the receipt of 10 applications to amend currently registered pesticide products to add hemp as a new use site. The 10 application amendments are the result of the 2018 Farm Bill, signed in to law on December 20, 2018, that removed hemp from the Controlled Substances Act and legalized commercial use and production of hemp that contains less than 0.3% tetrahydrocannabinol...
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On July 18, 2019, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a pre-publication version of a Federal Register notice announcing a final order denying the Pesticide Action Network North America’s (PANNA) and the Natural Resources Defense Council’s (NRDC) 2007 Petition requesting that EPA revoke all tolerances and cancel all registrations for chlorpyrifos (Order). This Order constitutes final Agency action denying all of the Petitioners’ objections to EPA’s...
July 2, 2019
EPA Extends Deadline to Submit Comments on Proposed Interim Registration Review Decision for Glyphosate
On June 26, 2019, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced it was extending the comment deadline on its Proposed Interim Registration Review Decision (PID) for glyphosate acid and its various salt forms. 84 Fed. Reg. 30112. EPA states that it is extending the comment deadline “after receiving public comments requesting additional time to review the Glyphosate Proposed Interim Registration Review Decision and supporting materials.” The deadline to submit...
April 5, 2019
EPA Releases Draft Guidance For Pesticide Registrants On Plant Regulator Label Claims, Including Pla
By Lynn L. Bergeson On March 25, 2019, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finally weighed-in on the murky and often misunderstood topic of label claims for plant regulators and plant biostimulants in posting its Draft Guidance for Plant Regulator Label Claims, Including Plant Biostimulants in Docket # EPA-HQ-OPP-2018-0258. EPA issued the notice of availability in the Federal Register on March 27, 2019. 84 Fed. Reg. 11538. EPA states that the draft guidance, issued...
February 28, 2019
New All Things Chemical Podcast™ Episode “Pesticides: Navigating New Technologies under FIFRA”
This week, Lynn L. Bergeson sat down with Sheryl Lindros Dolan, a senior regulatory consultant here at Bergeson & Campbell (B&C®), to discuss all things pesticides: past, present, and future. In the discussion, Ms. Dolan provides the historical and legal/regulatory background necessary to understand the current state of pesticide regulation, which the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) manages under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, or FIFRA, as we...
February 26, 2019
Ninth Circuit Grants Petition for En Banc and Panel Rehearing in Chlorpyrifos Case
On February 6, 2019, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (Ninth Circuit) issued an order granting the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) and Acting EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler’s (collectively EPA or Respondents) September 24, 2018, petition for an en banc rehearing concerning the Ninth Circuit’s August 9, 2018, decision that vacated an EPA order maintaining chlorpyrifos registrations and remanded the case to EPA with directions to revoke all tolerances...
February 12, 2019
Deadline for Filing Annual Pesticide Production Reports — March 1, 2019
The March 1, 2019, deadline for all establishments, foreign and domestic, that produce pesticides, devices, or active ingredients to file their annual production for the 2018 reporting year is fast approaching. Pursuant to Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) Section 7 (7 U.S.C. § 136e), “any producer operating an establishment registered [under Section 7] shall inform the Administrator within 30 days after it is registered of the types and amounts of...
December 21, 2018
Appropriations Continuing Resolution Passed by the Senate on December 19, 2018, Extends PRIA through February 8, 2019
On December 19, 2018, the Senate passed a short-term Continuing Resolution (CR) to prevent a government shutdown and continue funding for the government through February 8, 2019. Currently, however, given the uncertainty over border wall funding, it appears likely that there may well be a government shutdown for some period of time. Until the immigration issue is ultimately resolved in an eventual agreement, however, the majority and Democratic staff of the U.S. House of...
December 14, 2018
EPA Proposes Joint Stipulation in Ellis Case Requiring EPA to Issue ESA Effects Determinations for Two Neonicotinoid Pesticides
On December 12, 2018, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a proposed joint stipulation and proposed stipulated notice of dismissal for Ellis v. Keigwin, No. 3:13-CV-1266 (N.D. Cal). 83 Fed. Reg. 63865. The Federal Register notice states that the parties are “proposing to reach a settlement in the form of a joint stipulation” that would, among other provisions “set a June 30, 2022, deadline for EPA to complete ESA [Endangered...
On October 19, 2018, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) posted the Final Work Plan (FWP) for the nanosilver registration review process under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). The FWP explains what the Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP) “knows about nanosilver generally, highlighting anticipated data and assessment needs for each unique nanosilver chemistry, identifying the types of information that would be especially useful to the...