EPA Pesticide Program Update from EPA's Office of Pesticide Programs 09/20/01 http://www.epa.gov/pesticides *************************************************** IN THIS UPDATE: 1) INERT DISCLOSURE STAKEHOLDER WORKGROUP MEETING (IDSW) 2) BUTYLATE TOLERANCE REASSESSMENT, INTERIM RISK MANAGEMENT DECISION PUBLISHED 3) ETHYL PARATHION CANCELLATION ORDER PUBLISHED **************************************************** 1) INERT DISCLOSURE STAKEHOLDER WORKGROUP MEETING (IDSW) The IDSW has scheduled its next teleconference for Wednesday, September 26, 2001, from 12:00 - 3:00 EST to continue to discuss and revise the draft recommendations that workgroup members have developed for enhancing disclosure of inert ingredient information to the public. 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. The IDWS workgroup was established to advise the Pesticide Program Dialogue Committee on ways of making information on 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. For more information, please contact: Cameo Smoot, (703) 305-5454, or by e-mail at smoot.cameo@epa.gov. ************************************************ 2) BUTYLATE TOLERANCE REASSESSMENT, INTERIM RISK MANAGEMENT DECISION PUBLISHED On September 11, 2001, EPA published in the Federal Register a Report on FQPA Tolerance Reassessment Progress and Interim Risk Management Decision, known as a TRED, for the thiocarbamate pesticide butylate. Through the Federal Register notice, EPA also released the butylate human health assessment and related documents supporting the decision. Public comments should be submitted within 30 days (by October 11). Butylate is used as a soil-incorporated herbicide to control grassy and broadleaf weeds and nutsedge in corn. EPA has assessed dietary risks, including public exposure through food and drinking water (no residential uses are registered), and found that butylate, by itself, poses no risk concerns within the limits of the existing tolerances. No risk mitigation is needed at this time. Existing butylate tolerances remain in effect until the Agency determines whether a full reassessment of thiocarbamate cumulative risks is needed, and if so, the Agency will consider those risks. EPA completed a Reregistration Eligibility Decision (RED) for butylate in September 1993, before enactment of the Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA) on August 3, 1996. That law amended the FFDCA, requiring the Agency to review all tolerances for registered pesticides then in effect, considering aggregate risks, possible increased susceptibility to infants and children, and the cumulative effects of pesticides with a common mechanism of toxicity. Tolerances are considered reassessed once the safety finding has been made, or a revocation occurs. The butylate TRED Federal Register notice updates EPA's earlier decision regarding this pesticide, taking into account the new FFDCA provisions effected by FQPA. The butylate TRED Federal Register notice is available on EPA's Web site at http://www.epa.gov/fedrgstr . The butylate human health assessment and related documents are available at http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/reregistration/butylate/ . ************************************************ 3) ETHYL PARATHION CANCELLATION ORDER PUBLISHED On September 13, EPA published in the Federal Register a cancellation order for ethyl parathion. This order follows up on a May 2, 2001, notice regarding the registrant's cancellation requests. With this cancellation order, the use of ethyl parathion on corn grown for seed stops immediately and registrations for manufacturing-use products are canceled. End-use registrations 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 identified in this notice are to be stopped by August 31, 2003, and all use of these products is to end by October 31, 2003. 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 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.) 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. ************************************************ EPA distributes its Pesticide Program Updates to external stakeholders and citizens who have expressed an interest in OPP activities and decisions. We have established an electronic listserve for people who want to keep abreast of pesticide issues and decisions. This update service is part of EPA' s continuing effort to improve public access to Federal pesticide information. To subscribe or unsubscribe to our automatic mailing list, visit: http://www.epa.gov/oppfead1/cb/csb_page/form/form.html For general questions on pesticides and pesticide poisoning prevention, contact the National Pesticide Telecommunications Network (NPTN), toll-free, at: 1-800-858-7378, by e-mail at nptn@ace.orst.edu, or by visiting its Web site at: http://ace.orst.edu/info/nptn/ For information about ongoing activities in the Office of Pesticide Programs, visit our homepage at: http://www.epa.gov/pesticides Or call or write us directly at: Communication Services Branch Office of Pesticide Programs (7506C) US Environmental Protection Agency Ariel Rios Building 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20004-2403 703-305-5017