News Releases from Region 01

Companies Settle with EPA for Alleged Pesticide Import Violations in Connecticut

BOSTON - Under a recent settlement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), a Connecticut firm and a Singapore company have together agreed to comply with federal pesticide laws designed to protect public health and the environment.

KX Technologies LLC of West Haven, Conn. and an associated entity, KX Technologies Pte. Limited, of Singapore, also agreed to pay $76,362 in penalties to settle EPA claims that they produced and imported water filtration devices, which were "pesticidal products," without submitting the required reports to EPA, in violation of federal environmental law.

"It is critically important that companies who produce, market or import pesticidal products carefully adhere to United States requirements that protect peoples' health and our environment," said EPA New England Regional Administrator Alexandra Dunn. "EPA oversight of pesticides used and marketed in the U.S. is a core agency function that ensures Americans are protected while allowing economic growth and innovation to thrive."

The agreement and order filed by EPA settled claims by the agency that the West Haven company did not file reports called "Notices of Arrival" before importing regulated devices in 2016 and 2017 and that both companies failed to file production reports for 2016 for their respective facilities, all in violation of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). This law regulates pesticides and devices. Under the agreement, the companies certified that they have fully addressed the violations and are now in compliance with the law.

Background

Under federal law, importers of pesticidal products must provide data to EPA regarding pesticides or devices that may be entering the U.S. This is accomplished by submitting Notice of Arrival forms to EPA for review before pesticides or devices enter the country. The forms contain important information, for example, active ingredients, quantities, countries of origin, identity of producing establishments, carriers, ports of entry, and contact information. This information helps EPA decide whether pesticidal products may pose unreasonable adverse risks to public health or the environment and, also, provides contact information in the event of an emergency related to the movement of potentially harmful pesticides or devices.

While EPA's New England office has historically processed 1,500 to 2,000 of these notices annually, the agency recently transitioned to a national electronic reporting system that will streamline the process both for importers and agency staff.

The annual production reports that are required under the federal pesticide law provide essential data to help EPA determine where and in what manner pesticides and devices are being produced, sold, and distributed. This lets EPA enforce the law and assess and reduce risk, thus protecting human health and the environment. The reports also help EPA maintain reliable data on the production of pesticides nationwide.

About 170 New England pesticide producers submit annual reports to EPA each spring covering the year before.

More information:

Enforcing federal pesticide import requirements:
https://www.epa.gov/enforcement/pesticides-imports-enforcement

Regulating pesticides:
https://www.epa.gov/regulatory-information-topic/regulatory-information-topic-pesticides

General EPA information on pesticides:
https://www.epa.gov/pesticides