EPA ANNOUNCES
NEW FOIA WEB PAGE /
INERTS DISCLOSURE-
Subject: EPA ANNOUNCES NEW FOIA WEB PAGE-----INERTS DISCLOSURE----
Date: Tue, 31 Oct 2000 08:21:59 -0500
From: Stephen Tvedten <steve@getipm.com>
Organization: Get Set Inc. (www.getipm.com)
To: Paul Helliker <phelliker@cdpr.ca.gov>
Director, State of
California, Department of Pesticide Regulation
Dear Mr. Helliker, I thought you might like to read two of
the latest EPA Press Releases.
EPA ANNOUNCES NEW FOIA WEB PAGE.
EPA is pleased to announce the establishment and
availability of the new Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP) Freedom of
Information Act (FOIA) web page. Under
the 1966 Freedom of Information Act, citizens can request access to a wide range
of government records and information. The
1996 Electronic Freedom of Information Act (E-FOIA) clarified that the older law
not only applies to paper records, but to electronic records as well.
EPA's policy is to make the fullest possible disclosure of records to the
public, consistent with the rights of individuals to privacy, the rights of
persons entitled to confidential treatment of business information, and the need
for EPA to promote frank internal policy deliberations and to pursue its
official activities without undue disruption.
The new web page furthers these goals with regard to pesticide
information. In particular, the web page: details for users all the steps
required in submitting a FOIA request; informs the user of information readily
available on-line; and defines the type of information requiring review for the
removal of confidential business information.
You may visit the new web page, which serves as OPP's
Electronic Reading Room, at http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/foia For further
information, please contact Sherri Street on 703-308-8639.
Well Mr. Helliker, it is a start - now we need all of the
information on the "inerts".
PUBLIC INVITED TO HEAR INERTS DISCLOSURE
STAKEHOLDER WORKGROUP TELECONFERENCE
A teleconference call meeting of the Inert Disclosure
Stakeholder Workgroup is scheduled for Wednesday, November 8, 2000, from 3:00 pm
to 6:00 pm EST. The workgroup will
discuss four topics including; persons with multiple chemical sensitivity
concerns, a new proposal for label disclosure of inert ingredients, inert
ingredient concerns at the state level, and the Pesticide Industry's emergency
medical information process. The
workgroup was established to advise the Pesticide Program Dialogue Committee on
ways of making information about inert ingredients more available to the public
while working within the mandates of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and
Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) and related Confidential Business Information concerns.
Members of the public may listen to the meeting discussions on site at:
Crystal Mall 2, 1921 Jefferson Davis Highway, Arlington, Virginia 22202;
conference room 1123. Seating is
limited and will be available on a first come first serve basis. For further
information contact Cameo Smoot,Office of Pesticide Programs, (703) 305-5454 or
e-mail, smoot.cameo@epa.gov.
Well Mr. Helliker, Do you think the POISON industry should
have the "right" to continue to remain as silent as you regarding
their "inerts"? I believe
that nothing in a POISON formula that can KILL, INJURE, HARM, DESTROY,
INCAPACITATE, SICKEN, or NEGATIVELY EFFECT
people, pets and/or wildlife and/or that is capable of CONTAMINATING our
environment should be a "secret".
Especially if we are going to have to unknowingly have to eat, drink or
breathe it for any period of time. We
have the moral and legal RIGHT to know what the REAL RISKS are!!!!!
Respectfully, Stephen
L. Tvedten |
