25 Feb Courtesy ARA: EPA Responds to Objections Regarding Chlorpyrifos Tolerance Revocation
The information below is courtesy of Agricultural Retailers Association.
EPA issued a final rule in August 2021 in response to the Ninth Circuit Court’s order revoking all tolerances for chlorpyrifos. After issuing the August 2021 final rule and consistent with the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, EPA provided an opportunity for any person to file an objection to any aspect of the final rule and request a hearing on those objections. The deadline for all objections and hearing requests was October 29, 2021. The concerns raised in the objections include the scope of the revocation of tolerances, economic and environmental impacts of the revocation, and the implementation timeframe.
After careful consideration, EPA is denying all objections, hearing requests, and requests to stay the final rule filed during the period for submitting responses to the final rule. EPA is also providing a copy of its response to objections and the accompanying order in the chlorpyrifos final rule docket EPA-HQ-OPP-2021-0523 at www.regulations.gov.
In addition to the response to objections, EPA has issued letters to the registrants of chlorpyrifos products with food uses confirming revocation of the tolerances and indicating cancellation and label amendment options. These options include the ability for registrants to submit registration amendments to remove food uses from product labels or submit a voluntary cancellation for products where all uses are subject to the tolerance revocation. For questions related to disposal of chlorpyrifos, please visit Frequent Questions About the Chlorpyrifos 2021 Final Rule.
For registrations not voluntarily cancelled, EPA intends to issue a Notice of Intent to Cancel under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act to cancel registered food uses of chlorpyrifos associated with the revoked tolerances.
This action will be incorporated into the ongoing registration review of chlorpyrifos. EPA is continuing to review the comments submitted on the chlorpyrifos proposed interim decision, draft revised human health risk assessment, and draft ecological risk assessment. These documents are available in the chlorpyrifos registration review docket EPA-HQ-OPP-2008-0850 at www.regulations.gov.
After considering public comments, EPA will proceed with registration review for the remaining non-food uses, which may propose additional measures to reduce human health and ecological risks. More information on the registration review process is available here.
Separately, on February 9, 2022, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released specific guidance consistent with the channels of trade provision to address questions related to treated commodities with chlorpyrifos residues, including imported foods. Visit FDA’s website for additional information and to read the guidance.
Click here to learn about the pending legislation by agriculture stakeholder groups challenging this decision in federal court.