The following was just released today from Dow AgroSciences:
On October 30, 2015, the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a proposal to revoke U.S.
food tolerances for the insecticide chlorpyrifos. This proposal was an outcome
of a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal decision ordering EPA to respond to allegations
about chlorpyrifos in a 2007 petition from the Natural Resources Defense
Council (NRDC) and Pesticide Action Network North America (PANNA), even before
the Agency had finished its formal health and safety evaluations of the product
underway in registration review.
On November 17, 2016, the EPA released a Notice of Data Availability (NODA)
with accompanying assessments to notify the public of the data that the Agency
may use to support its proposed decision to revoke all chlorpyrifos tolerances.
Both of these releases by EPA offered the opportunity for public comment and
many comments were submitted in support of retaining chlorpyrifos tolerances
from universities, stakeholders, growers, and customers in the ensuing comment
periods. Dow AgroSciences also submitted a comprehensive response to both EPA
releases.
U.S. EPA on March 29,
2017, announced that it would not proceed forward at this time with any
restrictions for chlorpyrifos or changes to U.S. tolerances. In addition, EPA
has notified the Courts that it is denying the NGO petition in full. Instead,
EPA announced that it will focus its attention on updating and revising its
human health assessment for chlorpyrifos under the standard procedures of the
Registration Review process scheduled for completion on October 1, 2022 in
order to support future decision making.
Dow AgroSciences believes the science and established legal and regulatory
standards and processes support the EPA decision to deny the activist petition
and retain all chlorpyrifos tolerances. Dow AgroSciences remains confident that
authorized uses of chlorpyrifos products offer wide margins of protection for
human health and safety. This is the right decision for farmers who, in about
100 countries, rely on the effectiveness of chlorpyrifos to protect more than
50 crops from damaging insect pests, some of which can only be effectively
controlled with chlorpyrifos. Dow AgroSciences will continue to cooperate with
EPA under the established Registration Review process in its scientific review
of this important crop protection solution.
Blayne
