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Pesticide News Story: EPA Publishes Proposed Rule Amending the Pesticide Container and Containment Regulations
For Release: June 11, 2008
June 11, 2008 - EPA has published a notice in the Federal Register proposing a rule to amend the container and containment regulations in 40 CFR part 156 and 165. The public has 30 days to provide comments to the Agency on the proposed rule that is available at https://www.epa.gov/fedrgstr/EPA-PEST/2008/June/Day-11/p12843.htm.
The proposed amendment, which applies to all registrants, would provide a one year extension of the labeling compliance date; change the phrase “sold or distributed” to “released for shipment” as associated with all compliance dates; provide for exceptions to the language requirements for some specific nonrefillable packages; allow for waivers of certain label requirements for other refillable and nonrefillable containers on a case-by-case basis; and correct typographical and other minor errors.
The Agency is proposing to amend the container and containment regulations because stakeholders (primarily registrant groups and individual registrants) contacted the Agency with significant concerns after the final rule titled “Pesticide Management and Disposal; Standards for Pesticide Containers and Containment” was published in 2006. Stakeholder expressed concerns about:
- the compliance date for the label requirements and whether there would be adequate time to make the required changes;
- problems that the registrants could face handling pesticide products that are returned at the end of the 2009 use season because returned products would likely no longer be in compliance and, if not, would not be able to be resold or redistributed; and
- the scope of pesticide products and containers for which some of the labeling statements are being required because the regulations currently require the statement “nonrefillable container” on every container, including containers like aerosol cans and foil pouches that may be considered inherently nonrefillable.
The Agency generally agrees with these concerns and, after investigating several options, concluded that an amendment to the container and containment rule is necessary. Questions and answers about the proposed amendment to the container and containment regulations are available at: https://www.epa.gov/pesticides/regulating/containers.htm.