EPA Pesticide Program Updates from EPA's Office of Pesticide Programs 09/11/02 http://www.epa.gov/pesticides ************************************ IN THIS UPDATE: 1)Pesticide Security Advisory 2)EPA Publishes List of Pests of Significant Public Health Importance ************************************ 1)Pesticide Security Advisory In light of the announcement by U.S. Attorney General Ashcroft that the threat level for terrorist attack has been elevated to "high," the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) suggests that those who manufacture, distribute, transport or store pesticides should be especially vigilant regarding physical security of those chemicals. Toward that end, EPA recommends that you review EPA's Pesticide Security Alert entitled: Pesticide Alert: Pesticide Security and Your Business published by EPA on September 2001 and available on the EPA website at: http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/citizens/pest_secu_alert.htm. The FBI requests that you expeditiously report any threats or suspicious behavior to your local FBI field office. A listing of FBI field offices can be found on the FBI website at: www.fbi.gov/contact/fo/info.htm. Explanatory information on the Homeland Security Advisory System can be found at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/03/20020312-5.html. Additional information on chemical security can be found at the following websites: The U.S. Department of Justice, through Sandia National Laboratories, has developed a chemical facility vulnerability assessment methodology (VAM). The VAM is a tool which chemical facilities may apply to assess their security vulnerabilities and to assist decisions regarding how to appropriately address those vulnerabilities. A report detailing the VAM can be accessed on the National Institute of Justice's website at: http://www.ncjrs.org/pdffiles1/nij/195171.pdf The American Chemistry Council (ACC) with the Synthetic Organic Chemical Manufacturers Association and the Chlorine Institute have produced a chemical site security guideline document and a chemical transportation security guideline document. Both documents are available on the ACC website at: http://www.Americanchemistry.com/ The Center for Chemical Process Safety (CCPS) has released, "Guidelines for Analyzing and Managing the Security Vulnerabilities of Fixed Chemical Sites." This book is intended for chemical site managers, process safety managers, security managers and others responsible for conducting security vulnerability analyses and managing security at fixed chemical sites. To request a copy of this document visit the CCPS website at: http://www.djbassoc.com/CCPSregister.asp If you have questions regarding this advisory or EPA's Pesticide Security Alert, please contact Dennis Deziel of EPA's Office of Prevention, Pesticides, and Toxic Substances at (202) 564-0331 ************************************ 2) EPA Publishes List of Pests of Significant Public Health Importance EPA has issued the final Pesticide Registration (PR) Notice identifying pests of significant public health importance. A Notice of Availability of the PR Notice was published in the Federal Register on September 11th. Section 28(d) of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act requires EPA, in coordination with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, to identify pests of significant public health importance. Before publishing the list, EPA and coordinating agencies used reviews by experts in public health and pesticide use patterns to compile the list. Public comments were also considered in developing the list. The publication of the list does not affect the regulatory status of any registration or application for registration of any pesticide product. EPA and coordinating agencies do not envision this list will remain static since it is possible that additional species may be found to present public health problems. As deemed necessary, EPA will update the list of pests of significant public health importance. Interested parties are invited to petition the Agency regarding the amendment of this list. The PR Notice (PR Notice 2002-1), which includes the full list of pests of significant public health importance, may also be found on EPA's website at http://www.epa.gov/opppmsd1/PR_Notices/pr2002-1.pdf. ************************************ For general questions on pesticides and pesticide poisoning prevention, contact the National Pesticide Information Center (NPIC), toll-free, at: 1-800-858-7378, by E-mail at npic@ace.orst.edu, or by visiting their website at: http://npic.orst.edu 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