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Committee to Advise on Reassessment and Transition - Paper #9
Support For Minor Use Pesticides
EPA's program for minor use crops
- Since FQPA, EPA has worked even more closely with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to expedite review and registration of minor crop pesticide alternatives, promote research and development of new safer minor use tools, and increase dialogue with the minor crop community.
- To facilitate minor use efforts, EPA created a multi-disciplinary Minor Use Team and a Public Health Steering Committee, the goals of which are to:
- Provide greater coordination between EPA and minor use growers prior to Agency decisions;
- Increase coordination with USDA, the Inter-Regional Research Project #4, industry, growers, and other stakeholders to promote registration and use of reduced-risk pesticides for minor uses; and
- Encourage the development of pesticide use and residue data by growers, USDA, and other stakeholders for use in refining risk assessments.
- The Agency also appointed a minor use ombudsman whose main job is to serve as liaison and advocate for minor crop grower needs.
- Willis Wheeler has joined OPP's team on detail from IR-4, to advise on minor crop issues.
- We have maintained quick action on section 18 emergency exemptions, many for minor crops, and granted over 550 emergency exemptions in FY1999. In fact, despite the more rigorous review standards imposed by FQPA, we have also maintained our pre-FQPA turnaround time for section 18 applications.
- Through the Tolerance Reassessment Advisory Committee (TRAC) we increased dialogue with pesticide stakeholders, including minor crop growers, encouraging comments on our implementation process and decisions.
- With the assistance of USDA, EPA has collected additional pesticide use and residue data for tolerance reassessments. USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service and Pesticide Data Program provide statistically sound, reliable pesticide use and residue data and develop data collection based on EPA needs.
- The Administration has also provided support to USDA's development of integrated pest management strategies. In FY2000, this includes over $10 million for pesticide alternatives programs. EPA is an active partner with USDA in selecting projects which fulfill the mission of these grants.
Priority consideration for minor uses during the registration process
- EPA has established a system that gives review priority among conventional pesticides to products that include minor crop uses.
- The Agency is expediting biopesticide registrations by harmonizing data development and review of biopesticides with our counterparts under the North American Free Trade Agreement.
- USDA's InterRegional Project #4 (IR-4) has been an important ally in accelerating the registration of alternatives to organophosphates, carbamates, and B2 carcinogens, with special emphasis on reduced risk products. EPA/IR-4 partnership projects include:
- establishing tolerances for multiple crops for selected reduced-risk chemicals, significantly reducing review time;
- improving the tolerance petition format and creating new crop groupings;
- streamlining the reduced risk justification format for minor uses;
- harmonizing registration data development with other countries.
- While the Agency only established one IR-4 sponsored tolerance in 1997, EPA established 32 tolerances for minor crops or minor crop groupings in 1999 and the workplan for FY 2000 calls for EPA to review over 100 petitions on 40 active ingredients, which could result in 300 new registrations for minor crops.
For more information:
- Status information and the available risk assessment and risk management documents on the organophosphate pesticides are available on EPA's web page www.epa.gov/pesticides/op.
- Contact the National Pesticide Telecommunications Network (800-858-7378; http://npic.orst.edu
for information on the toxicity of pesticides.
- EPA's pesticide homepage www.epa.gov/pesticides has information about pesticide regulation as well as publications about pesticide issues for consumers.