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The news releases, reports, and other documents listed below have been selected by the Ag Center because they are of direct importance to the environmental compliance efforts of the agricultural community. The items are in chronological order, with the most recent listed first.

May 2, 2013
USDA and EPA Release New Report on Honey Bee Health
In October 2012, a National Stakeholders Conference on Honey Bee Health, led by federal researchers and managers, along with Pennsylvania State University, was convened to synthesize the current state of knowledge regarding the primary factors that scientists believe have the greatest impact on managed bee health.
Those involved in developing the report include USDA's Office of Pest Management Policy (OPMP), National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), Agricultural Research Services (ARS), Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), National Resource Conversation Service (NRCS) as well as the EPA and Pennsylvania State University. The report will provide important input to the Colony Collapse Disorder Steering Committee, led by the USDA, EPA and the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS).
To view the report, which represents the consensus of the scientific community studying honey bees, please visit: http://www.usda.gov/documents/ReportHoneyBeeHealth.pdf

Pesticide News Story: Comment Period Open on NMFS' Draft Measures to Protect Threatened and Endangered Pacific Salmon
The EPA is seeking comments by May 31, 2013, on draft Reasonable and Prudent Measures (RPMs) and Alternatives (RPAs) included in a draft Biological Opinion that the agency received from the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) on May 1, 2013. This draft Biological Opinion addresses the potential effects from three pesticides to Pacific salmon and steelhead listed as endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act. The three pesticides are: propargite, fenbutatin oxide and diflubenzuron.

May 1, 2013
MEDIA ADVISORY: USDA, EPA and Stakeholders to Discuss New Report on Honey Bee Health
Kathleen Merrigan, Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Bob Perciasepe, Acting Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), alongside top scientists and stakeholders, will host a conference call tomorrow to discuss a new report on the factors contributing to decline in honey bee health in the United States. The report summarizes the latest science and emerging research on honey bee health, as discussed at The National Stakeholder Conference on Honey Bee Health in October 2012.
The new report shows that honey bee decline is the result of multiple factors, including parasites and disease, genetics, poor nutrition and pesticide exposure.

Pesticide Registration Requests, Actions, and Tolerance Updates

April 30, 2013
Pesticide News Story: EPA Recognizes National Healthy Schools Day; Encourages School Integrated Pest Management
Protecting children's health where they live, learn, and play is a top priority for the EPA. Children in the United States continue to face risks arising from exposure to pests and pesticides in school settings.
April 30, 2013, is National Healthy Schools Day, a day dedicated to promoting healthy school environments for children. Healthy Schools Day is coordinated by Healthy Schools Network, Inc.  in cooperation with the EPA to promote EPA's environmental health guidelines and programs for schools and children's health.

Pesticide News Story: NAS Report on Ecological Risk Assessment for Endangered and Threatened Species under FIFRA and ESA Now Available
 The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, along with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), is announcing the availability of a report developed by the National Academy of Sciences' National Research Council outlining recommendations on specific scientific and technical issues related to the development of endangered and threatened species risk assessments for pesticides that are compliant with the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). The EPA, USDA, FWS and NMFS asked the NRC to consider a range of scientific and technical issues including:

April 23, 2013
EPA Takes Action Against New Jersey Importer of Illegal Pesticides
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has issued a legal complaint against the Caribbean Corp. of Little Ferry, New Jersey for violating federal pesticides law. The company faces fines of up to $51,200 for importing pesticides into the United States from Mexico without first properly notifying the EPA, and for importing, selling and distributing unregistered and misbranded pesticides. Under federal law, products used to kill pests, including antibacterial cleaners and disinfectants, must be registered with the EPA and contain labels written in English with instructions on their proper use.

April 22, 2013
MEDIA ADVISORY: EPA Commemorates Earth Day, Continues Conversation on Climate Change
This Earth Day, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is expanding the conversation on climate change through public engagement and education on the importance of continuing to protect the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the land we live on.
As we continue to make strides in protecting the climate by cutting carbon pollution and greenhouse gasses, EPA is participating in events to spur greater action to reduce the effects of climate change such as warmer temperatures, sea level rise, stronger storms and more droughts.

April 19, 2013
MEDIA ADVISORY: EPA Acting Administrator Bob Perciasepe Participates in Earth Day Activities
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Acting Administrator Bob Perciasepe will be commemorating Earth Day 2013, April 22nd, by participating in a number of Earth Day activities.
On Earth Day, April 22nd, Acting Administrator Perciasepe will join Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and White House CEQ Chair Nancy Sutley, to announce the first-ever District Sustainability Award and the honorees for the Green Ribbon Schools program. Schools are honored for their exemplary efforts to reduce environmental impact and utility costs, promote better health, and ensure effective environmental education, including civics and green career pathways.

April 17, 2013
Pesticide News Story: EPA Seeks Efficacy Data for Antimicrobial Pesticides for Fogging or Misting
The EPA seeks to ensure that antimicrobial products that are intended to control public health microorganisms, and are applied by fogging or misting, are effective as claimed and are labeled in a manner that will prevent unreasonable adverse effects on human health or the environment. Registrants of antimicrobial products that contain fogger/mister label instructions are being asked either to provide existing efficacy data, or to commit to provide new data that address the public health claims for their fogger/mister products.

April 16, 2013
MEDIA ADVISORY: EPA Senior Agricultural Counselor Speaks on Agriculture, Environmental Issues
Today Sarah Bittleman, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) senior Agricultural Counselor to the EPA Administrator will speak on a conference call to agriculture trade press publications. She will discuss her background and her role at EPA as an advisor to the Acting Administrator on ways environmental policy may impact growers and the greater agriculture community.

MEDIA ADVISORY: EPA, USDA and State Partners to Discuss Priority Water Pollution Reduction Issues April 18 and 19 in Louisville, Kentucky
On April 18-19, representatives from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), other federal agencies and states in the Mississippi River basin will meet in Louisville, Ky. to discuss strategies and innovative approaches for reducing nutrient pollution in the basin and the Gulf of Mexico.

April 15, 2013
EPA action protects Big Windsor Reservoir from feedlot waste
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has reached an agreement with the Cactus Hill Ranch Company (Cactus Hill) in which the company will pay $16,000 penalty to resolve alleged violations of the Clean Water Act at its sheep feedlot in Weld County, Colorado, near the Big Windsor Reservoir.
According to the agreement, EPA alleges that Cactus Hill discharged wastewater in violation of the concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO) regulations under the Clean Water Act. These violations include the discharge of waste without a permit and inadequate waste containment.

April 12, 2013
Pesticide News Story: USA Today: EPA ensures safety
Your article "Study: Two-thirds of pesticides got flawed EPA approval" about EPA's process for ensuring the safety of chemicals in consumer products, mischaracterizes federal law and the agency's work to protect people's health and the environment.
Consistent with federal pesticide laws, a pesticide never enters the marketplace without testing to ensure safety for both human health and the environment.
The Environmental Protection Agency allows expanded uses of already-registered pesticides (known as conditional registration) only if there are sufficient data to ensure that human health and the environment are protected. Based on EPA's in-depth analysis in 2012, over 90% of conditionally registered products involve pesticides that are identical to pesticides already in the marketplace, or differed only in ways that EPA scientists believed would not significantly increase any negative effects.

April 11, 2013
Pesticide News Story: Buffer Zone Calculator is Available to Assist Soil Fumigant Applicators
An electronic Buffer Zone Calculator is available in EPA's Soil Fumigant Toolbox. The EPA developed this new tool to help soil fumigant applicators, growers, enforcement personnel and others determine the buffer zone distances now required by soil fumigant product labels. Buffer zones provide distance between the edge of fields treated with pesticides and bystanders, people who live, work or otherwise spend time nearby.
When the final set of soil fumigant label changes went into effect on December 1, 2012, implementing important new protections for workers and bystanders, buffer zones were among the mitigation measures that began appearing on fumigant labels. As of that date, only soil fumigant products bearing all of the required risk mitigation measures may be sold and distributed by registrants. Growers and applicators can still apply products bearing old labels until supplies are exhausted. However, labels of newly purchased products require applicators to calculate and observe buffer zones when applying soil fumigants.

April 10, 2012
EPA's FY 2014 Budget Proposal Maintains the Strength of Federal, State, and Tribal Core Environmental and Human Health Protections/FY 2014 Request Focuses on Transforming the Way EPA Does Business
Today the Obama Administration proposed a Fiscal Year 2014 (FY 2014) budget of $8.153 billion for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). This request is $296 million below the EPA's budget for Fiscal Year 2012.
"EPA's FY 2014 budget reflects our firm commitment to keeping American communities across our country healthy and clean, while also taking into consideration the difficult fiscal situation and the declining resources of state, local and tribal programs," said EPA Acting Administrator Bob Perciasepe. "Our request takes a balanced approach to funding the agency, including increased investments in more efficient technologies as well as necessary program eliminations or reductions."

April 3, 2013
EPA Settles with Hydrofarm, Inc. for Selling Unregistered Pesticides
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today announced a settlement with Hydrofarm, Inc. for selling two unregistered pesticides in violation of federal pesticide law. As part of the settlement, the Petaluma, Calif.-based Hydrofarm, Inc., one of the nation's largest distributors of agricultural and hydroponic supplies, has agreed to pay $316,000 in fines and has stopped selling both products.

Pesticide Registration Requests, Actions, and Tolerance Updates

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March 2013
March 2013 Newsletter Livestock and Poultry Environmental Learning Center
The March issue provides a link to the hub for live webcasting at Waste to Worth. It also introduces two new air quality resources on measuring air quality and odors. Several new videos on resources for policy makers, health impacts, biofilters and manure covers, odors/neighbors and setbacks have been published. A new feedlot air treatment cost calculator is also available. The resources section includes publications on manure in no-till systems, climate change, organic production, and more! Grazing animals and an agriculture app catalog headlines the "hot topics" area. As always, there are several great events and announcements. More...

March 29, 2013
Bio-diesel Fuel Company Owner Sentenced to 188 Months in Federal Prison for Crimes Connected to Illegal Fuels Scheme / Jeffrey Gunselman also fined $175,000 and ordered to pay nearly $55 million in restitution
Jeffrey David Gunselman, 30, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Sam R. Cummings to 188 months in federal prison, fined $175,000 and ordered to pay more than $54.9 million in restitution, following his guilty plea in December 2012 to an indictment charging 51 counts of wire fraud, 24 counts of money laundering and four counts of making false statements in violation of the Clean Air Act.

Pesticide News Story: Pesticide Dietary Exposure Database and Software Now Available
The EPA has released an updated version of the Dietary Exposure Evaluation Model-Food Commodity Intake Database (DEEM-FCID)/Calendex software (v. 3.18/9.14). This replaces the previous version posted on the EPA website and made available to the public in June 2012. The DEEM-FCID software can be found and downloaded at http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/science/deem/.

March 28, 2013
Alaska seafood processors settle with EPA for Clean Water Act waste discharge violations
Two seafood processors operating in Alaskan waters failed to comply with Clean Water Act permits that regulate seafood waste discharges, according to settlement agreements with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Aleutian Leader Fisheries and Salamatof Seafoods agreed to settle the violations with EPA in separate agreements and pay fines.

Pesticide News Story: EPA Workshop on New Provisions in PRIA 3 - April 10, 2013
The EPA will hold a workshop on April 10 to discuss new provisions in the Pesticide Registration Improvement Extension Act of 2012, known as PRIA 3, and the agency's experiences to date with its implementation. Plenary presentations will include discussions on what is new in PRIA 3, the 2-day label review process, new technical screening of applications, the EPA's new similarity clinic process to handle applications for substantially similar products, changes in primary and secondary actions, and inert ingredients in pesticide products.

March 27, 2013
Pesticide News Story: New Process Gives Stakeholders More Opportunities for Input in Pesticide Registration Reviews and Endangered Species Act Consultations
The EPA is making significant changes in the pesticide registration review process under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) to enhance opportunities for stakeholder input and improve coordination across federal agencies during associated Endangered Species Act (ESA) consultations. These changes are discussed in the final paper, "Enhancing Stakeholder Input in the Pesticide Registration Review and ESA Consultation Processes and Development of Economically and Technologically Feasible Reasonable and Prudent Alternatives." Jointly developed by the EPA, the Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the National Marine Fisheries and Fish and Wildlife Services (known collectively as the Services), the final paper reflects comments received on a proposed version issued in August 2012. Both the proposed and final documents are available in docket EPA-HQ-OPP-2012-0442 at www.regulations.gov.

March 25, 2013
Pesticide News Story: New Materials Available for Farmworker Families for National Farmworker Awareness Week
March 24-31, 2013 marks the 14th annual National Farmworker Awareness Week. Through multiple cooperative agreements and partnerships, the EPA supports training and resources for farmworkers to protect themselves and their families from potential risks of pesticide exposure.
Under an agreement with the EPA, The Association of Farmworker Opportunity Programs (AFOP) has developed new pesticide safety training materials for use in training farmworkers and their families to prevent pesticide take home exposure. Pesticide take-home exposure occurs when farmworkers take home pesticide residues that may cling to their skin, clothing, hats, boots, tools, lunch coolers, car seats and any other items in the work environment. Their children may then be exposed to these pesticide residues.

March 21, 2013
Pesticide News Story: EPA Criteria for IR-4 Public Interest Finding Now Available on the Web
The EPA has posted the criteria that it will use in determining when a pesticide registration application will be exempt from paying the registration service fee under the Pesticide Registration Improvement Extension Act (PRIA 3). Under PRIA 3, pesticide registration applications that are solely associated with a tolerance petition submitted in connection with the Interregional Research Project No. 4 and is in the public interest is exempt from registration service fees.

March 20, 2013
Recent Actions Ensure New England Companies Adhere to Protections in Federal Pesticide Law
Over the past several months, EPA has taken a series of enforcement actions against several New England firms for alleged violations of the federal law that governs pesticides in the U.S. (the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, or "FIFRA").

March 18, 2013
Secure Pesticides and Chemicals during Poison Prevention Week/More than 145,000 reports made each year to poison centers involving pesticides and disinfectants
During National Poison Prevention Week, March 17-23, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) urges parents and caregivers to secure pesticides and other household chemicals in locked cabinets out of children's reach. 

EPA Promotes "Fix a Leak Week" with the Grand Opening of a WaterSense Home in Dallas, TX
Minor water leaks waste more than 1 trillion gallons of water each year in U.S. homes. During its annual "Fix a Leak Week," the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) WaterSense program reminds Americans to check household plumbing fixtures and irrigation systems for leaks. This year's "Fix a Leak Week" event runs from March 18 to 24.

March 14, 2013
Pesticide News Story: New Project LEAF Materials Available for Training Farmworkers and Families to Limit Pesticide Expo
The Association of Farmworker Opportunity Programs has developed new pesticide safety training materials for use in training farmworkers and their families to prevent pesticide take home exposure. Pesticide take-home exposure occurs when farmworkers take home pesticide residues that may cling to their skin, clothing, hats, boots, tools, lunch coolers, car seats and any other items in the work environment. Their children may then be exposed to these pesticide residues.

March 11, 2013
Pesticide News Story: EPA to Hold Pesticide Cancellation Hearing
On March 6th, the pesticide manufacturer Reckitt Benckiser Inc. requested a hearing in response to the EPA's notice of intent to cancel 12 of the company's D-Con mouse and rat poison products, averting the ban that otherwise would have taken effect on March 7th. The 12 D-Con products fail to comply with EPA's current safety standards and pose unreasonable risks to children, pets and wildlife. This is the first time in more than 20 years that a company has declined to voluntarily implement EPA risk mitigation measures for a pesticide product and requested a cancellation hearing.  

March 8, 2013
Pesticide News Story: FIFRA SAP to Consider Scientific Issues Concerning the Draft Product Performance Data for Products Claiming Efficacy against Invertebrate Pests
On March 19-21, 2013, the Pesticide Program will consult the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act Scientific Advisory Panel to consider scientific issues associated with product performance data that may be needed for the EPA to evaluate the efficacy of pesticide products used to control invertebrate pests. During the 3-day meeting the Panel will focus on data and methodologies being considered to support control of invertebrate pests of significant public health importance such as ticks and mosquitoes. Two other categories under consideration are wood-destroying insects and invasive invertebrate species.

Pesticide News Story: EPA Releases for Public Comment Draft Human Health and Ecological Risk Assessments for Pesticide Registration Review
The EPA is releasing for public review and comment the first group of draft human health and ecological risk assessments in the pesticide registration review process as laid out in the agency's proposed plan to increase stakeholder engagement in the registration review process. http://www.epa.gov/oppfead1/cb/csb_page/updates/2012/espp-stakeholder-comments.html
This action reflects the EPA's progress in moving from the early stage of registration review, in which new dockets are opened and work plans are established for pesticides beginning the process, to the later stage in which human health and ecological risk assessments are updated as needed and risk mitigation decisions are developed, with input from stakeholders and the public. Issuing the draft assessments supports the EPA's overall program objective of completing the first cycle of registration review for over 700 pesticide cases by October 2022.

March 07, 2013
 Pesticide News Story: EPA Extends Comment Period on Chlorpyrifos Preliminary Volatilization Assessment to May 7, 2013
As announced in the Federal Register on March 6, 2013, the EPA is extending for an additional 60 days the comment period on the agency's preliminary volatilization assessment for the registration review of chlorpyrifos. The comment period will close on May 7, 2013, rather than on March 8, 2013. The agency received requests from several commenters to extend the original 30-day comment period. Comments should be submitted by May 7, 2013, to docket EPA-HQ-OPP-2008-0850 at www.regulations.gov.

March 06, 2013
EPA and four Yakima Valley dairies reach agreement to reduce nitrate in local groundwater
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has reached legal agreements with four Yakima Valley dairies that will help reduce nitrate in area groundwater and nearby drinking water wells.

"This is good news, especially for those working locally to protect Yakima Valley groundwater," said EPA Regional Administrator Dennis McLerran, in Seattle. "By working constructively with us in this local situation, the dairies have committed to protect drinking water and we have committed to collaborate on practices that keep people safe and farms in business."

March 04, 2013
Media Advisory: EPA's Pollinator Summit on March 5
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will ;hold a public meeting with key stakeholders to collaborate on activities to protect honey bees and other pollinators from pesticide risks.
Bees are an important component of agricultural production and are critical to food and ecosystems. The summit will be an opportunity to advance our collective understanding and efforts to protect them.

Pesticide Registration Requests, Actions, and Tolerance Updates

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