Cleanlink News October 20 2009
EPA Actions Could Negatively Impact Industry
According to ISSA reports, in the past couple of weeks, the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA)'s Office of Pesticide Programs made two announcements
that raise significant concerns for the cleaning products industry.
First, the agency indicated that it will require disclosure
of inert ingredients on all pesticide products, including disinfectants and
sanitizers. In addition, the EPA staked out a new policy, the ripple effect of
which is likely to jeopardize the agency’s ability to timely process pesticide
registrations.
Ingredient Disclosure
In response to 2006 petitions from the Northwest Coalition
for Alternatives to Pesticides and a group of state attorneys general, EPA
announced September 30 that it is moving forward with a rule to require the
disclosure of the identities of all inert ingredients in pesticides including
those that are potentially hazardous. The petitions identified over 350 inert
ingredients as hazardous and called on the agency to require their disclosure on
pesticide product labels.
In its response to the petition, the EPA acknowledged the
need for stakeholder input into the rulemaking process and said it will publish
an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking by the end of the year. ISSA is
monitoring this process very closely and will engage with EPA, along with other
allied industry trade associations, to ensure that this important confidential
business information is protected and that disclosure is not done in a manner,
which needlessly alarms the public or blacklists certain chemicals.
Public Review
In another troubling development, EPA announced October 1
that in the name of “transparency,” it plans to allow the public to review and
comment on risk assessments and proposed registration decisions for pesticides.
This expanded process will apply to all new pesticide active ingredients, first
food uses, first outdoor uses, and first residential uses.
Beginning October 1, EPA’s risk assessment and proposed
decision will be added to the public docket and made available for a 30-day
public comment period. Following the comment period, EPA will publish its
decision and a response-to-comment document.
ISSA is greatly concerned that this policy was announced
without input from the pesticide industry and that the additional public
comment period could jeopardize the agency’s ability to meet its Pesticide
Registration Improvement Renewal Act decision timeframes.
ISSA
continues to monitor these issues as they develop and will fight to insure the
legitimate interests of industry.
