All Knowledge & Insights By Date

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released the annual pesticide registration maintenance fee materials for fiscal year (FY) 2025. The deadline for payment of EPA’s annual maintenance fee for pesticide registration is January 15, 2025. Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) Section 4(i)(1)(A) requires everyone who holds an active or suspended pesticide registration granted under FIFRA Sections 3 and 24(c) (special local needs) to pay an annual maintenance...

On September 30, 2024, Ya-Wei (Jake) Li, Deputy Assistant Administrator for Pesticide Programs at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), announced that he will be leaving EPA to take a position with the U.S. Department of Interior’s (DOI) Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) as the Assistant Director for Ecological Services. This program is responsible for how the agency conserves endangered species and many other wildlife. Li was Deputy Assistant Administrator for Pesticide Programs for...

On July 2, 2024, the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) announced the release of modifications to its proposed pesticide application notification regulation. DPR states this regulation will support the statewide implementation of what it describes to be a “first-of-its-kind” system that would provide information to the public in advance regarding the planned applications of “restricted material pesticides” used in agriculture. DPR initially proposed the regulation on...

On February 14, 2024, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued an Existing Stocks Order for Dicamba Products Previously Registered for Over-the-Top Use on Dicamba-Tolerant Cotton and Soybean (Existing Stocks Order). This announcement was needed in response to the February 6, 2024, ruling by the U.S. District Court of Arizona vacating the 2020 registrations for over-the-top (OTT) dicamba products. EPA states this Existing Stocks Order “addresses use of the formerly-registered...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released the annual pesticide registration maintenance fee materials for fiscal year 2024. The January 16, 2024, deadline for payment of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) annual maintenance fee for pesticide registrations is fast approaching. The Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) Section 4(i)(1)(A) requires everyone who holds an active or suspended pesticide registration granted under FIFRA Sections 3...

On June 20, 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it is seeking input from stakeholders on ways to make bilingual pesticide labeling accessible to farmworkers and to implement a plan to ensure that farmworkers have access to the bilingual pesticide labeling by December 2025, as required by the Pesticide Registration Improvement Act of 2022 (PRIA 5). 88 Fed. Reg. 39845. PRIA 5 requires EPA to begin to seek stakeholder input on ways to make...

On June 8, 2023, the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) issued Notice 2023-07: Pesticide Registration Program Annual Processing Timelines. Under Notice 2023-07, DPR sets forth its annual report summarizing the past five years of registration and post-registration activities. This includes the number of pesticide product registration and amendment submissions received and processed, and average number of days to complete different types of registration submissions are also...

On May 17, 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced it released, and is seeking public comment on, draft guidance that claims to improve the efficiency of EPA’s Endangered Species Act (ESA) analyses for new pesticide active ingredient applications and active ingredients undergoing registration review. When the guidance is issued in final, EPA states that it will fulfill the requirements outlined in the Pesticide Registration Improvement Act of...

On February 22, 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention (OCSPP) announced that it will co-host a virtual public meeting with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Center of Veterinary Medicine (CVM) on March 22, 2023. As stated in our February 17, 2023, blog, EPA and FDA are considering how best to update their respective oversight responsibilities for specific products in an efficient and...

On February 15, 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention (OCSPP) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM) announced plans to seek public input on the best approaches for updating their respective oversight responsibilities for specific products. EPA states the goal is to determine responsibilities in an efficient and transparent manner and in alignment with each agency’s...

On January 13, 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced it is notifying pesticide registrants that EPA will send supplemental invoices to reflect the new annual pesticide registration maintenance fee for fiscal year (FY) 2023. To meet new statutory requirements in the Pesticide Registration Improvement Act of 2022 (PRIA 5), which was signed into law on December 29, 2022, the revised fee for FY 2023 for each registered pesticide product will be $4,875,...

On December 14, 2022, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the removal of 12 chemicals from the current list of non-food inert ingredients approved for use in pesticide products because the inert ingredients have been identified as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and are no longer used in any registered pesticide product. 87 Fed. Reg. 76488. On September 13, 2022, EPA published a proposal to remove the 12 chemicals from the list of approved...

The January 17, 2023, deadline for payment of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) annual maintenance fee for pesticide registrations is approaching. The Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) Section 4(i)(1)(A) requires everyone who holds an active or suspended pesticide registration granted under FIFRA Sections 3 and 24(c) (special local needs) to pay an annual maintenance fee to keep the registration in effect. The maintenance fee requirement does not...

On July 6, 2022, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a proposed consent decree intended to resolve the case, Center for Food Safety, et al. v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (3:21-cv-09640-JSC), brought against EPA in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California alleging that EPA has unreasonably delayed responding to a petition for rulemaking relating to the regulatory exemption of pesticide treated seed.  87...

On May 25, 2022, the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) announced that it will hold three public workshops to collect feedback on the next phase of design and development for DPR’s pesticide application notification system. DPR states that the workshops will be hosted online via Zoom and facilitated by the UC Davis Center for Regional Change. Each workshop will follow the same format, including a brief overview of the proposed design for the statewide...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Inspector General (OIG) announced the availability of its fiscal year (FY) 2022 oversight plan on December 14, 2021. According to OIG, the plan reflects the priority work that the OIG believes is necessary to keep EPA, the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB), and Congress fully informed about issues relating to the administration of EPA programs and operations. The planned oversight projects...

The January 18, 2022, deadline for payment of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) annual maintenance fee for pesticide registrations is approaching. The Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) Section 4(i)(1)(A) requires everyone who holds an active or suspended pesticide registration granted under FIFRA Sections 3 and 24(c) (special local needs) to pay an annual maintenance fee to keep the registration in effect. The maintenance fee requirement does not...

The January 15, 2021, deadline for payment of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) annual maintenance fee for pesticide registrations is approaching.  The Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) Section 4(i)(1)(A) requires that everyone who holds an active or suspended pesticide registration granted under FIFRA Sections 3 and 24(c) (special local needs) to pay an annual maintenance fee to keep the registration in effect.  The maintenance fee...

On March 30, 2020, the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) released a “Nano Matters” podcast episode on “Improving Pesticide Use with Nanotechnology.”  In the episode, Cristina Sabliov, Professor of Biological and Agricultural Engineering at Louisiana State University, explains how nanotechnology can improve pesticide delivery.  She discusses her work on a polymeric nanoparticle delivery system that could reduce the environmental impact of pesticides.  “Nano...

The January 15, 2020, deadline for payment of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) annual maintenance fee for pesticide registrations is fast approaching.  The Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) Section 4(i)(1)(A) requires that everyone who holds an active or suspended pesticide registration granted under FIFRA Sections 3 and 24(c) (special local needs) to pay an annual maintenance fee to keep the registration in effect.  The maintenance fee...

On September 30, 2019, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released an updated Aquatic Life Benchmarks Table for registered pesticides.  The update includes four newly registered pesticides and their degradants as well as new values for more than 30 previously registered pesticides. The benchmarks inform state and local regulators in their interpretation of water quality monitoring data. Waterbodies where benchmarks are exceeded may be prioritized for further investigation.  EPA...

On April 19, 2019, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP) announced that it will hold a public meeting of the Pesticide Program Dialogue Committee (PPDC) on May 8, 2019, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and May 9, 2019, from 9 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. (EDT) in the first-floor conference center at One Potomac Yard South, 2777 South Crystal Drive in Arlington, Virginia.  84 Fed. Reg. 16486.  The Federal Register notice states that the agenda is...

Due to the government shutdown and to the late notification to applicants, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has extended the annual maintenance fee submission date for pesticide registrants from January 15, 2019, to February 15, 2019.  Under Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) Section 4(i)(1)(A), each registrant of a pesticide must pay an annual fee by January 15 of each year for each registration; the fee for 2019 is $ 3,392.  The...

On November 19, 2018, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that the U.S.-Canada Regulatory Cooperation Council (RCC) Stakeholder Forum will take place on December 4, 2018, from 12:00 p.m. to 5:15 p.m. (EST) and on December 5, 2018, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (EST) at the Washington Convention Center, 801 Mt. Vernon Place, in Washington, D.C.  The RCC brings together senior regulatory officials, industry, and other members of the public from...

On April 12, 2018, House Agriculture Committee Chairman Michael Conaway (R-Texas) released the Committee’s draft Farm Bill reauthorization, the “Agriculture and Nutrition Act of 2018” (H.R. 2). The House Agriculture Committee passed the Farm Bill package on April 18, 2018, setting it up for a floor vote in the House.  The 600-plus page draft legislation includes a number of provisions that will be of interest to pesticide registrants and the pesticide user community, including the...

On March 6, 2018, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a proposed rule (pre-publication version available here) to add hazardous waste aerosol cans to the category of universal wastes regulated under the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) regulations (Title 40 of the C.F.R., Part 273), entitled Increasing Recycling: Adding Aerosol Cans to the Universal Waste Regulations.  EPA cites as authority for this change Sections 2002(a), 3001, 3002, 3004, and...

On October 4, 2017, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced the availability of final guidance that helps to clarify FDA and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) jurisdiction over the regulation of mosquito-related products intended to function as pesticides, including those produced through the use of biotechnology.  The notice was published in the Federal Register on October 5, 2017.  82 Fed. Reg. 46500.  Guidance for Industry #236,...

On May 31, 2017, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the release of its Food Contact Sanitizing Solutions Model (FCSSM), a pesticide risk assessment model that has been developed to “estimate indirect dietary exposure to components of sanitizing solutions used in commercial settings.”  EPA states that “the model offers guidance for estimating exposure where there may be inadvertent transfer of residue to edible items prepared or transported on surfaces...

On May 30, 2017, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit responded to two petitions for review of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) conditional registration of a nanosilver pesticide product and vacated the conditional registration.  NRDC v. EPA, No. 15-72308.  The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) as well as the Center for Food Safety (CFS) and the International Center for Technology Assessment (ICTA) filed petitions in 2015 asking the...

On May, 24, 2017, the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) issued guidance regarding its Notice 2015-13 to applicants registering pesticide impregnated materials bearing pesticide claims to be sold and distributed into or within California, per Notice 2015-13, issued December 11, 2015.  Each retailer (or authorized representative) of an affected product must submit an Application for Pesticide Registration (DPR-REG-030) to DPR by July 1, 2017.  The...

On January 12, 2017, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its Policy to Mitigate the Acute Risk to Bees from Pesticide Products (Mitigation Policy) which describes methods for addressing acute risks to bees from pesticides.  EPA states that this Mitigation Policy is “more flexible and practical than the proposed policy” that was issued on May 29, 2015, and it has “made modifications to its approach with the goal of better targeting compounds that pose an...

The California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) recently proposed a regulation that it states is intended to “(1) provide minimum statewide standards for all agricultural pesticide applications near public K-12 schools and child day care facilities; (2) provide an extra margin of safety in case of unintended drift or when other problems with applications occur (e.g., equipment failure causes an unintended release of pesticide, or an abrupt change in weather conditions); (3) increase...

The following documents have been filed in the Anderson v. McCarthy proceedings in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California:  (1) U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Notice of Motion and Motion for Summary Judgment; (2) Defendant-Intervenors CropLife America, et al.’s Notice of Motion and Motion for Summary Judgment; and (3) Plaintiffs’ Memorandum of Points and Authorities in Support of Motion for Summary Judgment. EPA’s documents are...

In two recent orders issued in the neonicotinoid seed treatment case Anderson v. McCarthy, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California declined to take immediate action in response to a motion by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requesting that the Court dismiss the case for lack of subject matter jurisdiction.  This case involves allegations by a coalition of beekeepers, farmers, and non-governmental organizations (Petitioners) that EPA has...

On March 25, 2016, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of Inspector General (OIG) sent a memorandum to Jim Jones, Assistant Administrator, Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention (OCSPP), announcing that it plans to begin preliminary research to assess EPA’s management and oversight of resistance issues related to herbicide tolerant genetically engineered (GE) crops.  OIG states that its review will include the Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP), as well...

On March 10, 2016, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) filed a motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction and a supporting memorandum of law (Memorandum) in Anderson v. McCarthy, Case No. 3:16-cv-00068 (N.D. Cal. filed Jan. 6, 2016).  In support of its motion, EPA states that the District Court lacks jurisdiction because three of the four claims stated in the complaint “seek review of a guidance document that does not constitute ‘final agency...

On February 2, 2016, the Executive Board of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) Technical Working Group on Pesticides (TWG) released details of its proposed strategic framework the next five years.  The environmental regulatory authorities in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico comprise the TWG and developed the strategy.  They are the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA), and Mexico’s Secretaría de...

On January 6, 2016, a complaint was filed against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California by a coalition of U.S. beekeepers, farmers, and affiliated non-government organizations (Petitioners).  The Petitioners allege that EPA has allowed “the ongoing sale and use of unregistered pesticide products”  because, they claim, EPA has incorrectly construed seeds coated with neonicotinoid insecticides to be...

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 11, 2015, the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) issued California Notice 2015-13 that will require each person/company with products made from pesticide impregnated material that are sold into or within California under their own company name to register their product(s) as a pesticide.  Examples of pesticide impregnated materials affected by this Notice include apparel (e.g., jackets, shirts, hats, socks, pants, shorts) and non-apparel (e.g.,...

On November 6, 2015, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it has a new webpage that compiles information about secondary containers and service containers for pesticides.  Secondary and service containers are containers that are used by the pesticide industry as part of the process of applying pesticides, not for further sale or distribution.  EPA states that the website combines and replaces information previously found on the Labeling Questions and...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has launched a new pesticides website:  http://www2.epa.gov/pesticides, and a new biopesticides website:  http://www2.epa.gov/pesticides/biopesticides, among others.  EPA states that this gradual move to new versions of its content is part of a larger EPA effort to build a more user-friendly website.  The updated biopesticides website focuses on providing general information on biopesticides, as well as tools to assist...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Proposal to Mitigate Exposure to Bees from Acutely Toxic Pesticide Products published in the Federal Register on May 29, 2015, seeks comment on a proposal to adopt mandatory pesticide label restrictions to protect managed bees under contract pollination services from foliar application of pesticides that are acutely toxic to bees on a contact exposure basis, unless the application is made in accordance with a government-declared public...

On May 19 2015, President Obama’s interagency Pollinator Health Task Force — co-chaired by the Secretary of Agriculture and the Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) — issued its long awaited and anticipated “National Strategy to Promote the Health of Honey Bees and Other Pollinators,” as well as its “Pollinator Research Action Plan.”  This work was done in response to President Obama’s June 20, 2014, memorandum...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued an updated schedule for the Pesticide Registration Review program that sets forth a timetable for opening dockets for the next three years, through end of fiscal year 2017 (September 2017). Through the Pesticide Registration Review program, EPA reviews all registered pesticides at least every 15 years, as mandated by the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). Following the newly issued schedule, all...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it has “decided to postpone the [Pesticide Program Dialogue Committee (PPDC)] meeting scheduled for December 11-12, 2014.” EPA notes that “this is a particularly busy time of year in [the Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP)] as we are working to complete several major decisions and projects by the end of the year/early next year. We want to keep the momentum going so that we can share our progress with...