EPA Update

Still More Proof Your "Registered" POISONS Were Not
Properly "Tested"...........

                       

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Subject:    Still More Proof Your "Registered" POISONS Were Not
Properly "Tested"...........
 Date:       Fri, 25 May 2001 07:52:41 -0400
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 

cc:    Christine Whitman whitman.christine@epa.gov

Dear Mr. Helliker, I thought you might like to read the EPA Pesticide Program Update from EPA's Office of Pesticide Programs 05/24/01 http://www.epa.gov/pesticides


IN THIS UPDATE:

1. Cancellation Order Issued for Diazinon Uses

2. Ethyl Parathion Cancellation Requests Published

3. Scientific Advisory Panel to Review Nontarget Plant Toxicity Testing Issues

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1. CANCELLATION ORDER ISSUED FOR DIAZINON USES

EPA has issued a cancellation order for certain uses of the pesticide diazinon, based on requests by the registrants and an agreement between the registrants and EPA reached in December 2000. These cancellation requests were published for comment January 10, 2001. The Federal Register notice published May 2, 2001, lists the uses that have been canceled, the uses that remain in effect, and the provisions for sale and use of existing stocks of diazinon labeled for uses that have been canceled. The order was effective on May 2.

For further information on this cancellation order, see the Federal Register notice, available on EPA's Web site at www.epa.gov/fedrgstr. Information on the December agreement between EPA and the registrants is available at http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/op/diazinon.htm.

2.     ETHYL PARATHION CANCELLATION REQUESTS PUBLISHED

On May 2, EPA published in the Federal Register the Notice of Receipt of Cancellation Requests and Amendments for ethyl parathion. It states that the registrant has requested that use of ethyl parathion on corn grown for seed stop immediately and that registrations for manufacturing-use products be canceled. End-use products are to be canceled and sales and distribution by registrants are to be stopped by December 31, 2002. All sales and distribution of ethyl parathion products are to be stopped by August 31, 2003, and all use is to be stopped by October 31, 2003. This notice provides a 30-day comment period on the timing of the ethyl parathion phase-out, as listed above. The registered uses of ethyl parathion are alfalfa, barley, corn, cotton, canola, sorghum, soybean, sunflower, and wheat. EPA issued its revised risk assessment for ethyl parathion March 1, 2000. This assessment identified high risks to workers and to the environment from current uses of ethyl parathion and listed several data requirements that would have been required to refine the risk for continued registration. In October, 2000, EPA and the registrant announced an agreement to phase out the remaining uses of ethyl parathion due to the worker and environmental risks. (Ethyl parathion residues in food crops grown in the U.S. and in drinking water do not pose significant dietary risk concerns.) EPA must receive comments on this notice by June 1, 2001, identified by docket number OPP-34171B. The Federal Register notice is available on EPA's Web site (www.epa.gov/fedrgstr). EPA's risk assessment for ethyl parathion is available at www.epa.gov/pesticides/op/ethyl_parathion.htm.


3.     SCIENTIFIC ADVISORY PANEL TO REVIEW NONTARGET PLANT TOXICITY TESTING ISSUES

EPA has announced plans for a three-day meeting of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) Scientific Advisory Panel (SAP) to review a set of issues being considered by the Agency pertaining to review of nontarget plant toxicity tests under the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Under NAFTA, EPA and our Canadian counterpart, the Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA), have conducted a joint review of aquatic and terrestrial plant tests and test methods. The existing data requirements and tests may not provide the information needed to adequately characterize risks to certain nontarget plants. As an example, the number of plant species specified in the plant test guidelines may need to be increased. In addition, tests may be needed to assess plant reproduction and community impacts. The purpose of this session is to review nontarget plant toxicity tests under NAFTA.

The meeting, scheduled for June 27-29 from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., is open to the public. It will be held at the Sheraton Crystal City Hotel, 1800 Jefferson Davis Highway, Arlington, VA 22202. The telephone number for the Sheraton Crystal City Hotel is (703) 486-1111. For more information about participating in the meeting, see the Federal Register notice (May 4, 2001 (Vol. 66, No. 87, Pages 22552-22553). A meeting agenda is available on EPA's Web site (http://www.epa.gov/scipoly/sap). Background documents will be posted on the Web site as the material becomes available.

Well Mr. Helliker, none of the above would NOW be necessary if you would have properly tested your "registered" POISONS - BEFORE you allowed them to be put on the market to harm us, our pets and the wildlife! Jean-Paul Sartre once noted: "We are our choices." I would like to add that we are also your choices! Please be careful!

Respectfully, Stephen L. Tvedten

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