EPA Mulls How To Limit Output Of Riskiest Pesticides

The EPA said in a Federal Register notice that the public hearing is aimed at helping to develop a mechanism for allocating a production cap on specific pesticides' active ingredients.

Under federal law, the agency is required to assess the health risks of residue from nearly 10,000 U.S. pesticides, a review which has been criticized by farm and chemical groups for threatening to curb some of the nation's most popular insect killers.

A stricter level of safety must be applied to children, due to their developing nervous systems and bodies, according to the 1996 law – The Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA) of 1996 – that launched the agency review.

The EPA said it aims to replace a temporary one-year limit on annual production of azinphos-methyl (AZM) by developing a mechanism that can be used for other pesticides, as necessary. Residue from the pesticide AZM, widely used on apples, pears, peaches and other fruits and vegetables, has been found to pose a risk to children’s’ health.

"Because EPA has restricted the quantities of certain pesticides in the past and may do so in the future, the agency agreed to hold a public meeting to get input on establishing a mechanism for accomplishing this and any future chemical-specific quantity limits," the agency said.

The EPA said a mechanism to cap production of AZM and other potential pesticides must allow for economic competition among registered manufacturers. The plan should minimize any disruption in the market, be verifiable and be simple to administer, the agency said.

The two primary makers of AZM are Bayer Corp. of Kansas City, and Makhteshim-Agan of Israel.

Industry, consumer advocates and others can submit suggestions to the EPA by August 24 via e-mail to opp-docket+epa.gov. The EPA said it wants suggestions on the following issues:

• How to apportion chemical-specific production limits to maintain price competition and allow new competitors to enter the market. The agency said two possibilities were to set manufacturer quotas or allow the free market to determine allocation.
• How often manufacturers must report production to verify the limit is not exceeded. A system where each registrant has a predetermined quota would require "significantly" less reporting, the agency said.
• Whether to use a calendar year or crop year basis for setting 12-month manufacturing limits. The agency said it would prefer to set one timeframe that could be used in all future pesticides, but needs feedback on whether crop or production cycles warrant setting timeframes on a case-by-case basis.
• How to define exactly what should be capped. The temporary AZM cap was expressed in pounds of active ingredient imported because the present sources of technical grade AZM are overseas. The agency said it wants feedback on whether to restrict certain pesticides by imposing caps on imports, domestic production, or sales of end-use products.