The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has denied a petition from the Center for Food Safety (CFS) and other groups calling on the agency to amend or formally interpret the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) as not exempting seeds covered in insecticide and thus requiring compliance with registration and labeling under FIFRA. CFS filed the rulemaking petition in 2017; when EPA failed to respond to the petition by late 2021, the group filed suit. In its September 27, 2022, response denying the petition, EPA stated it “will continue to review labeling instructions for pesticides registered for seed treatment use(s) in registration and registration review to verify the completeness of these instructions for both use of the treating pesticide and the distribution, sale, and use of the treated seed.” EPA also said it intends to issue an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking "to seek additional information on pesticide seed treatment…
Tag Archives EPA
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has reportedly rejected efforts to ban chlorpyrifos, finding that "the data available are not sufficiently valid, complete or reliable to meet petitioners' burden to present evidence demonstrating that the tolerances are not safe." The decision follows a 2015 ban and 2017 reversal, which prompted legal challenges. EPA will reportedly continue to review the safety of chlorpyrifos through 2022.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has affirmed its previous opinions finding that "there are no risks to public health when glyphosate is used in accordance with its current label and that glyphosate is not a carcinogen." “EPA has found no risks to public health from the current registered uses of glyphosate,” EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler said in a press release. “Today’s proposed action includes new management measures that will help farmers use glyphosate in the most effective and efficient way possible, including pollinator protections. We look forward to input from farmers and other stakeholders to ensure that the draft management measures are workable, realistic, and effective.” Meanwhile, the New York legislature has passed a ban on chlorpyrifos that would take effect January 1, 2020. After that date, aerial application of the pesticide would be prohibited; after January 1, 2021, all use of the pesticide would be prohibited except for…
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced a settlement with Whole Foods Inc. after a year-long investigation into the company’s hazardous-waste disposal at facilities in five states. According to EPA, the investigation uncovered that Whole Foods did not properly make hazardous waste determinations—as required by the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act—and mishandled spent lamps. Under the settlement terms, Whole Foods will correct the violations, pay $3.5 million and “promote hazardous waste compliance in the retail industry as part of a supplemental environmental project.” That project will aim to educate Texas retailers—”particularly smaller businesses”—about hazardous waste laws and the importance of maintaining compliance. “All companies must follow the law and be responsible stewards of their hazardous waste, from generating it to safely disposing of it,” an EPA administrator was quoted as saying in a September 20, 2016, press release. “Whole Foods is correcting these violations and will ensure their stores…
In a lawsuit brought by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) alleging failure to meet a deadline to set limits on perchlorate levels in drinking water, a New York federal court has issued an order adopting the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) preferred language to admit the failure. Nat. Res. Def. Council v. EPA, No. 16-1251 (S.D.N.Y., order entered September 19, 2016). An EPA attorney reportedly admitted in court that the agency had missed the deadline of February 11, 2013, to set limits on perchlorate in drinking water after announcing its intention to propose regulations two years prior. NRDC and EPA then submitted proposed orders admitting the failure, and the court adopted EPA’s language without further discussion. See Law360, September 20, 2016. The court’s order finds that (i) EPA triggered a non-discretionary duty to propose a maximum contaminant level goal by February 11, 2013; (ii) EPA failed to propose that goal…
U.S. Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) have written a March 14, 2016, letter requesting that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) act on recommendations contained in a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report on bee health. Summarizing federal initiatives designed to improve bee health and protect pollinator populations, the report calls on USDA to “coordinate with other agencies to develop a plan to monitor wild, native bees, and evaluate gaps in staff expertise in conservation practices.” In particular, GAO recommends that USDA redouble its efforts with the White House Pollinator Health Task Force to “develop a mechanism, such as a federal monitoring plan, that would (1) establish roles and responsibilities of lead and support agencies, (2) establish shared outcomes and goals, and (3) obtain input from relevant stakeholders, such as states.” According to the report, USDA should also update…
Refuting earlier claims that California wines allegedly contain “dangerously high” levels of arsenic, a new study has concluded that inorganic arsenic in blush, white and red California wines “does not represent a health risk for consumers.” Dennis Paustenbach, et al., “Analysis of Total Arsenic Content in California Wines and Comparison to Various Health Risk Criteria,” American Journal of Enology and Viticulture, January 2016. Using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry to characterize the arsenic content of 101 wines produced or bottled in California, the authors evidently found that blush wines contained the greatest total arsenic concentration, followed by white and then red wines. In particular, the study tested 28 wines singled out in media reports as exceeding the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s maximum contaminant level for arsenic in drinking water of 10 μg/L. But even though these wines contained more total arsenic than randomly selected products, “no more than 0.3% of…
A University of Washington study has allegedly found that many red wines produced in California, Washington, New York and Oregon contain arsenic levels exceeding the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA’s) limit for drinking water of 10 parts per billion (ppb). Denise Wilson, “Arsenic Content in American Wine,” Journal of Environmental Health, October 2015. Authored by an electrical engineering professor, the study purportedly finds that all samples taken from 65 representative wines contained inorganic arsenic, with an average arsenic level of 23.3 ppb. In addition, 58 percent of the samples contained lead and 5 percent exceeded EPA’s lead limits for drinking water. A companion study notes that adults who consume high quantities of rice and infants who consume organic brown rice syrup could also be ingesting arsenic at levels that exceed maximum recommended amounts. The research ultimately raises concerns about dietary exposure to arsenic from multiple sources, urging wineries to test…
Several consumer and environmental groups, including the Center for Food Safety and Center for Environmental Health, have filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) seeking declaratory and injunctive relief for EPA’s alleged failure to respond to the groups’ 2008 petition calling for regulation of consumer products containing nano-sized versions of silver. Ctr. for Food Safety v. EPA, No. 14-2131 (D.D.C., filed December 16, 2014). According to the complaint, the 2008 petition requested that EPA classify nano-silver products as pesticides and provided EPA with a legal, policy and scientific blueprint for necessary action. EPA opened a comment period on the matter later that year but allegedly failed to take any further action. The petition also included an index of products that contained nano-silver, including food storage containers, food/produce cleaners, cutlery, cutting boards, and ingestible “health” drink supplements. The groups assert that nanomaterials “create unique human health and environmental risks,…
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has published preliminary materials for the Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) toxicological review of diisononyl phthalate (DINP), a plasticizer used in food-contact materials.Slated for discussion at the IRIS Bimonthly Public Science Meeting to be held October 29-30, 2014, in Arlington, Virginia, the preliminary materials include (i) “a planning and scoping summary,” (ii) “information on the approaches used to identify pertinent literature,” (iii) “results of the literature search,” (iv) “approaches for selection of studies for hazard identification,” (v) “presentation of critical studies in evidence tables and exposure-response arrays,” and (vi) “mechanistic information for DINP.” In addition to feedback on these general topics, EPA has specifically requested public comment and discussion on “DINP-induced liver effects, including spongiosis hepatis”; “the evidence for DINP-induced male reproductive toxicity; “the relevance of the xenograft and ex-vivo tissue studies”; the human relevance of animal studies associating mononuclear cell leukemia with DINP…
