Transcript Federal Pesticide Laws and Regulations

Federal Pesticide Laws
and Regulations
Stephen J. Toth, Jr.
Department of Entomology
North Carolina State University
Wayne G. Buhler
Department of Horticultural Science
North Carolina State University
Photograph by Ken Hammond
Federal Pesticide Laws and Regulations
Federal Insecticide, Fungicide
and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA):
regulates the sale and use of
pesticides
NCSU Communication Services
Federal Food, Drug and
Cosmetic Act (FFDCA):
controls pesticide residues
in food
Steve Toth
Federal Insecticide Act of 1910
• To ensure the quality of pesticide chemicals
purchased by consumers
• Set standards for manufacture of Paris green,
lead arsenate, insecticides and fungicides
• Provided for inspections, seizure of products
and prosecution
USDA National
Agricultural Library
Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and
Rodenticide Act of 1947
• Extended coverage to include
herbicides and rodenticides
• Required pesticide products to
be registered with the U. S.
Department of Agriculture
• Established labeling standards
for pesticides
USDA
FIFRA Amendments
1959 and 1964
• Added nematicides, plant regulators,
defoliants and desiccants to the definition
of “pesticide” or “economic poison”
• Established federal registration numbers
and signal words on labels
• Secretary of Agriculture
can suspend hazardous
pesticide registrations
Tim McCabe
The Federal Environmental
Pesticide Control Act of 1972
• Pesticides must be registered with
the newly-created Environmental
Protection Agency
• Pesticides classified by EPA for
“general” or “restricted” use
• New pesticide registration
standard to protect public
health and environment
Ken Hammond
FIFRA Amendments
1975, 1978, 1980 and 1981
• Improvements in the registration process
• Considerations of agricultural benefits of
pesticides in regulatory decisions
• Conditional registrations
of pesticides allowed to
reduce the registration
backlog
USDA Agricultural Research Service
Pesticide Reregistra tion
• Initiated by EPA in 1975 to bring
the older pesticide chemicals up
to current registration standards
• “Special Review” to further review those
pesticides that posed a risk or concern
• FIFRA amended in 1988 to impose a 9-year
schedule for the completion of reregistration
and establish substantial registration fee
The Worker Protection Standard for
Agricultural Pesticides (revised 1992)
• Product labels modified to restrict entry of
workers in pesticide-treated fields, specify
protective clothing, and notify workers of fields
treated with pesticides
• Employers must provide
safety training, sites for
decontamination, and
emergency treatment
Ken Hammond
Federal Food and Drug Act of 1906
(Pure Food Law)
• Fresh, canned or frozen food shipped in
interstate commerce must be pure and
wholesome
• Enforcement of law was
the responsibility of the
Secretary of Agriculture
• Pesticide residues not
considered
Dave Warren
Federal Food, Drug and
Cosmetic Act of 1938
• Authorized the Food and Drug Administration
to set tolerances for chemicals in food
• Tolerances established for lead arsenate and
Paris green on food
• Coloring required for
certain pesticides to
prevent their use as
flour
USDA Agricultural Research Service
Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act
1954 Miller Amendment
• Tolerances required for
all pesticides
• Raw agricultural
commodities
condemned if they
contained pesticide
residues above FDA
tolerance levels
Fred S. White
Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act
1958 Food Additives Amendment
• Covers food additives
(i.e., chemicals remaining
on food after processing)
• Included the “Delaney
Clause” which
established a zero
tolerance for food
additives found to
cause cancer
Tim McCabe
Delaney Clause Dilemma
• EPA had “negligible risk”
approach
to pesticide residues in raw food (cancer
risk of one-in-one-million)
• Zero tolerance required for potential cancercausing chemicals in processed food
• Current technology allows for detection of
extremely small residue levels
• Different standards for raw and processed
food created regulatory problem for EPA
Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act
Enforcement Responsibility
• EPA establishes
tolerances for pesticide
residues on raw and
processed food
• FDA enforces tolerances
on most domestic and
imported food
• USDA enforces
tolerances on meat,
poultry and eggs
NCSU Communication Services
USDA Agricultural Research Service
Food Quality Protection Act
of 1996
• Passed unanimously by Congress in July 1996 with
broad support from industry, agricultural groups,
environmental and health organizations; signed into
law in August 1996
• Amended FIFRA
and FFDCA
Dave Warren
Food Quality Protection Act
Intended to:
• Resolve the Delaney Paradox (zero tolerance for
suspected carcinogens in processed food)
• Protect children from
pesticides in food (1993
National Academy of
Science report)
• Address the issue of
endocrine disruption
(1996 book “Our
Stolen Future”)
Scott
Bauer
Food Quality Protection Act
of 1996
• Established a new, uniform standard for setting
pesticide residue tolerances in both raw and
processed food (i.e., a “reasonable certainty that
no harm will result from aggregate exposure”)
• Repels the “Delaney
Clause”
Doug Wilson
Food Quality Protection Act
of 1996
• Allows EPA to add 10x safety
factor when setting pesticide
residue tolerances to protect
infants, children and other
sensitive population subgroups
Ken Hammond
Food Quality Protection Act
of 1996
• When setting tolerances, EPA
must consider the aggregate
exposure (food and non-food
uses) of all pesticides having
common mechanism of toxicity
(e.g., organophosphates)
• EPA must review all tolerances
(about 9,700) within 10 years
Charles B. Ford
NCSU Communication Services
Potential Impacts of the
Food Quality Protection Act
• Elimination or loss of registrations for certain classes
of pesticides, for example:
Organophosphate and
carbamate pesticides
due to human toxicity
EBDC fungicides due
to possible carcinogenic
effects on humans
Tim McCabe
Potential Impacts of the
Food Quality Protection Act
• Elimination or loss of registrations for certain classes
of pesticides (continued):
Organophosphates:
Disyston
Dursban/Lorsban
Guthion
Malathion
Methyl parathion
Monitor
Orthene
Carbamates:
Benlate
Furadan
Lannate
Sevin
Vydate
B2 Carcinogens:
Bravo
Captan
Dithane
Maneb
Vapam
Potential Impacts of the
Food Quality Protection Act
• Registrations for minor crop and specialty uses
of pesticides dropped by registrants to lower risk
(i.e., protect registrations with greater economic
return)
Fred S. White
Scott Bauer
NCSU Communication Services
Potential Impacts of the
Food Quality Protection Act
• Section 18 registrations (emergency
exemptions) will be needed more often
due to lost registrations; however, will
be harder to obtain
Time-limited tolerance for
the pesticide on the crop is
now required before an
emergency exemption is
granted
USDA Agricultural Research Service
Progress in the Implementation of the
Food Quality Protection Act
• EPA Tolerance Reassessment
(FQPA Time Frames)
– 33% by August 3, 1999
– 66% by August 3, 2002
– 100% by August 3, 2006
• EPA met the first tolerance reassessment deadline by
completing 3,290 tolerance reassessment decisions -over 33% -- by August 3, 1999
Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA)
• The Act mandates that employers (including farmers)
protect their employees from hazards in the workplace
• Includes workers in pesticide manufacturing plants,
pesticide applicators and farm workers
• Requires written hazard
communication plans,
a material safety data
sheet (MSDS) for each
hazardous chemical, and
training of employees
on protective measures
NCSU Communication Services
Federal Endangered Species Protection Act
• The Act makes it unlawful to harm any plant or animal
species listed by the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service as
endangered or threatened
• EPA developed Endangered Species Protection Program
in cooperation with USDA, Fish and Wildlife Service
• Pesticide use is restricted in
areas near listed species
• Pesticide labels instruct users
to consult county bulletins
listing locations where use
of pesticides is restricted
Tim McCabe
Federal Clean Water Act
• The Act protects nation’s waterways from both point source
and non-point source pollution
• Point source pollution is controlled by EPA through a permit
system
• Amendments in 1987 allow
for restriction of non-point
source pollution such as
agricultural chemical run-off
• States are required by EPA to
submit management plans for
non-point source pollution
Ken Hammond
Safe Drinking Water Act
• The Act authorizes EPA to establish maximum contaminant
levels for pesticides in drinking water
Ken Hammond
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
• The RCRA provides EPA with authority to regulate storage
and disposal of pesticides and their containers
• Discarded pesticides and containers can be considered solid
waste (must meet certain criteria)
• Regulations vary for “small quantity” and “large quantity”
generators of hazardous waste
• Farmers exempt if they triplerinse used pesticide containers
and dispose of them according
to product label
Tim McCabe
Transportation Safety Act
• The Act controls all modes of transportation of hazardous
waste, including pesticides
• U. S. Dept. of Transportation regulations cover handling,
shipping, packing and labeling of pesticides; also covers
placarding of vehicles
• Regulations depend on
hazard class to which a
pesticide belongs
Ken Hammond
Food, Agriculture, Conservation
and Trade Act of 1990
• The Act mandated that USDA require all certified pesticide
applicators (private as well as commercial) to keep records
of “restricted use” pesticide applications
• Records must be kept
by certified applicator
for at least two years
after application
NCSU Communication Services
Literature Cited
• DiFonzo, C. 1998. Food Quality Protection Act: First Year
Update. Pesticide Research Center, Michigan State University
Extension. 4 pp.
• Toth, S. J., Jr. 1996. Federal Pesticide Laws and Regulations.
Southern Extension and Research Activity - Information
Exchange Group 1. 4 pp
http://ipmwww.ncsu.edu/safety/Southern_region/fed-pest.pdf