| Volume 9, Number 3, July 3, 1996 |
Commercial applicator/dealer pesticide schools offered by the North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service in the Fall of 1996 are listed below:
SEPTEMBER 4-5 - RALEIGH - Categories: Ornamentals and Turf, Wood Treatment, Right of Way, and Aquatic.
SEPTEMBER 18-19 - WILSON - Categories: Ornamentals and Turf, Ag. Pest Plant, and Structural.
OCTOBER 1-2 - FLETCHER - Categories: Ornamentals and Turf, Ag. Pest Plant, Ag. Animal-Livestock, and Forest.
OCTOBER 15-16 - NEWTON - Categories: Ornamentals and Turf, Ag. Animal-Pets, Dealer, and Right of Way.
OCTOBER 29-30 - WILMINGTON - Categories: Ornamentals and Turf and Structural PWF.
NOVEMBER 5-6 - CHARLOTTE - Categories: Ornamentals and Turf and Public Health. (This school starts at 9:15 a.m.)
NOVEMBER 19-20 - WINSTON-SALEM - Categories: Ornamentals and Turf, Dealer, Ag. Pest Plant, and Structural PWF.
DECEMBER 10-11 - GREENVILLE - Categories: Ornamentals and Turf, Dealer, Ag. Pest Plant, and Forest.
Schools start at 8:30 a.m. and are over by 3:30 p.m. All tests are
given at each school at 1:00 p.m. on the second day; structural tests are
given only at locations where Structural is listed. For additional
information or application forms, contact John H. Wilson, Jr., Department of
Horticultural Science, Box 7609, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC
27695 (Telephone: 919-515-3113).
EPA is issuing two final amendments to the Agency's Worker Protection Standards for agricultural pesticides. The amendments will make the standards more practical and flexible for states and farmers to implement while maintaining safeguards for agricultural workers. The amendments will encourage the use of lower toxicity pesticides, allow the use of languages other than Spanish when appropriate, and facilitate posting of pesticide-treated areas in nurseries and greenhouses. The first amendment decreases from 30 days to seven days, the time during which decontamination supplies (soap, water, paper towels) must be available to workers entering fields when low toxicity pesticides are used. Low toxicity pesticides are those which have restricted entry intervals of four hours or less. Until now, the standards required decontamination supplies to be available whenever a worker performed any activity in a pesticide-treated area or where entry had been restricted within the past 30 days. The second amendment allows employers to replace the Spanish language on required warning signs with another language tailored to suit the language most often used by workers in that location. The English portion of the sign must remain. The standards require posting of warning signs that are visible from all usual points of worker entry into the treated areas. Also, as part of the second amendment, EPA is permitting the use of smaller warning signs in nurseries and greenhouses. Signs of approximately four and one-half by five inches can be used if the distance between signs is 25 feet or less; signs of approximately seven by eight inches can be used if the distance between signs is 50 feet or less.
EPA is continuing to work closely with the agricultural community,
states and workers to promote better understanding of the Worker Protection
Standards, clarify growers' responsibilities, support outreach and
educational activities and identify and address issues of concern in the
standards implementation. The two amendments will go into effect 60 days
after publication in the Federal Register. U. S. Environmental Protection
Agency, June 21, 1996
EPA and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) have published a multi-colored poster summarizing key elements for employers and workers to follow for controlling heat stress. EPA's Worker Protection Standard for agricultural pesticides requires employers to protect workers from heat-related illness when protective gear must be worn to reduce pesticide exposure.
The poster, 20" x 24", is in English on one side and Spanish on the other. In addition to providing basic instructions for preventing heat-related illnesses, the poster also outlines in detail the signs, symptoms, and causes of various heat-related illnesses, as well as first-aid treatment. The poster is a summary of A Guide to Heat Stress In Agriculture, issued jointly by EPA and OSHA.
Copies of the poster (document number 055-000- 00544-3) are $1.25 each; the Guide (document number 055-000-
00474-9) is $3.50. Both available from the U.S. Government Printing Office, Superintendent of Documents, Washington,
D.C. 20402 (Telephone: 202-512-1800). Orders of 100 or more copies receive a 25 percent discount. U. S. Environmental
Protection Agency, May 9, 1996
To protect public health and the environment from possible ground water contamination, the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency is proposing that the sale and use of five widely used pesticides be governed by management plans developed and tailored by each state to prevent contamination under conditions of use in the state. The five pesticides, all potential human carcinogens, are alachlor, atrazine, cyanazine, metolachlor and simazine.
Alachlor, atrazine, cyanazine, metolachlor and simazine are among the most frequently detected pesticides in ground water, including numerous detections indicating contamination above levels of concern established under EPA's drinking water standards. These five products are all used to control weeds and have similar use patterns. Each has been classified as a potential human carcinogen based on animal studies.
The proposal, a federal-state partnership, grew out of extensive collaboration with state agencies and other stakeholders. With this rule, EPA is proposing state management plans as a flexible and cost-effective mechanism to assess the potential for ground water contamination and to manage pesticide use to prevent it on a state-by-state, region-by-region basis. Pesticide product labels would be changed to restrict use according to the terms of state-developed management plans approved by EPA. The sale and use of pesticides which are identified as posing significant ground water concerns would be allowed only in states with EPA-approved plans. State plans will focus ground water protection on the most vulnerable areas.
Atrazine, used primarily on corn and sorghum, is the most heavily used pesticide in the United States, with use estimated by EPA at 68 to 73 million pounds of active ingredient in 1995. Alachlor (common trade names Lasso, Bullet, Partner) is used primarily on corn, soybeans, dry beans and peanuts and had an EPA-estimated use of 22 to 27 million pounds in 1995. Metolachlor (common trade names, Dual and Pennant), used primarily on corn, soybeans, peanuts, grain sorghums, potatoes, pod crops, cotton, safflower and woody ornamentals, had an EPA-estimated use of 59 to 64 million pounds in 1995. Simazine (trade names Caliber and Princep) which is used on corn, alfalfa, numerous fruit and berry crops, ornamentals, turf, lawns, and for algae control on ponds, had an EPA-estimated use of less than five million pounds in 1995. Cyanazine (common trade Bladex), used primarily on corn, cotton, and sorghum, had an EPA-estimated use of 24 to 29 million pounds in 1995. (Under terms of a voluntary agreement reached by EPA with cyanazine registrants, its use is being phased out, beginning in 1997.)
After the proposed regulation becomes final, the Agency is proposing to allow 24 months for the states to submit
management plans for the five pesticides, six months for EPA to approve them, and a three-month startup period.
Comments on the proposed rule are due 120 days after publication in the Federal Register (June 26, 1996). Comments
should be addressed to: Public Response and Program Resources Branch, Office of Pesticide Programs, U. S. EPA, 401
M Street, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20460. U. S. Environmental Protection Agency, June 24, 1996
On June 11, EPA issued a report Environmental Indicators of Water Quality in the United States for the purpose
of establishing a baseline by which to measure future efforts to protect water quality. The report was produced by EPA
in collaboration with a number of public and private agencies. Copies of the report are available by calling EPA's Water
Resources Center at 202-260-7786; by writing to EPA's Office of Water, Mail Code 4503F, Washington, DC 20460; or
via the Internet at http://www.epa.gov/OWOW/indic. U. S. Environmental Protection Agency, June 11, 1996
EPA's pesticide program has reported a significant improvement in the quality of studies being submitted to the
Agency in support of reregistering pesticide products. Since 1993, the overall rejection rate for studies done in support
of reregistration has been cut in half. As a result, EPA is able to devote more of its resources to reregistering other active
ingredients rather than reviewing repeated studies. The improvements are the result of four years of workshops and other
activities EPA has conducted with the pesticide industry and their scientists as well as improving the Agency's guidance
for conducting studies. Under 1988 Amendments to the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, pesticide
manufacturers are required to submit scientific studies to bring the database supporting all pre-November 1984 registrations
up to current scientific standards for safety testing. In 1991, EPA made an analysis of the thousands of studies submitted
in support of reregistration. The Agency found that it was rejecting studies at high rates in all scientific disciplines because
the studies failed to meet minimum Agency standards. For some companies, the rejection rate for all studies was over
50 percent. EPA estimates that it has cost the pesticide industry in a range from $0.6 to $1.2 billion since 1988 for
repeating studies for reregistering pesticides. U. S. Environmental Protection Agency, April 12, 1996
EPA has increased the fees charged for processing petitions for tolerances or legal residue levels in food and feed by
the same 2.54 percent locality-pay increase provided civilian employees in the Federal government (in the metropolitan
areas of Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, Maryland) in January. Under the new fee scale, effective June 3, the basic fee
for establishing a new tolerance is $61,950. The Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA) authorizes EPA to
establish pesticide tolerance levels for raw agricultural commodities and requires the Agency to collect fees to cover the
costs of processing petitions for tolerances, so that the tolerance process will be as self-supporting as possible. The
regulation governing tolerances provides for automatic annual adjustments to the fees based on annual percentage changes
in federal salaries. The increased fees were published in the Federal Register on May 3. U. S. Environmental Protection
Agency, May 3, 1996
A series of pesticide educational fact sheets have been developed and published by the Southern Region Pesticide Impact Assessment Program. The eight pesticide fact sheets are: The Delaney Clause by Rodney Holloway and Melissa Rowell (2 pp.), A Proper Perspective on Pesticide Toxicity by Mary L. Grodner (2 pp.), Why Use Pesticides? by Mary L. Grodner (2 pp.), Federal Pesticide Laws and Regulations by Stephen J. Toth, Jr. (4 pp.), Pest Resistance to Pesticides by Robert G. Bellinger (3 pp.), Pesticides and the Endangered Species Protection Program by Monte P. Johnson and Thomas Barnes (4 pp.), Pesticide Residues in Food: The Safety Issue by Joseph D. Waldrum, Pamela L. Brady and J. Ples Spradley (4 pp.), and Pesticide Usage in the United States: History, Benefits, Risks, and Trends by Keith S. Delaplane (6 pp.). Copies of these pesticide fact sheets can be obtained free of charge by contacting: Stephen J. Toth, Jr., Department of Entomology, Box 7613, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695-7613, Telephone: (919) 515-8879, Fax: (919) 515-7746, Internet: Steve_Toth@ncsu.edu.
These pesticide fact sheets are also available in PDF format at the following location on the World Wide Web:
safety/Southern_region/contents.html.
* The Chemical Producers and Distributers Association (CPDA) is acting as a conduit for parties interested in the reregistration of the insecticide rotenone for terrestrial uses (agricultural and homeowner). On July 20, 1995 it was announced that all agricultural uses of rotenone are threatened with cancellation if reregistration for these uses of this insecticide remains unsupported. EPA has extended the data-call-in dates to allow a package to be developed that will satisfy reregistration requirements for the agricultural uses. Call Mike Novak if you have an interest in the continued availability of rotenone for agricultural uses. For additional information contact: Mr. Mike Novak, CPDA, Telephone: 703-548-7700, Fax: 703-548-3149. Reregistration Notification Network, U. S. Department of Agriculture 6(4), May 17, 1996
* Rhone-Poulenc Ag Company, the sole basic producer of the fungicide iprodione (Rovral), has voluntarily deleted the postharvest uses for cherries (sweet), nectarines, peaches, and plums on its registered iprodione products as of March 18, 1996. Also, they have deleted the use of iprodione on cowpeas. Current labels list the preharvest interval (PHI) as 7 days and the number of allowable applications as 4. This action was taken to avoid problems with the Delaney clause; iprodione is presently considered a B2 (probable) carcinogen. Existing stocks can be sold and used as directed on their labels until those stocks are exhausted. For additional information contact: Ms. Danielle Larochelle, Rhone-Poulenc Ag Company, Telephone: 919-549-2718, Fax: 919-549-2545. Reregistration Notification Network, U. S. Department of Agriculture 6(4), May 17, 1996
* The U. S. EPA has announced the voluntary cancellation of all registrations of the fungicide metalaxyl (Ridomil, Subdue, Apron) held by Ciba Crop Protection. Ciba holds the only EPA registrations on technical metalaxyl. In its place, Ciba will replace metalaxyl with the recently registered mefenoxam (Ridomil Gold, Apron XL, Subdue MAXX), a R-enantiomer of metalaxyl. Mefenoxam provides the same level of efficacy on the same sites as metalaxyl at half the rate. The effective date of cancellation of technical metalaxyl and Ciba end-use products of metalaxyl was May 31, 1996; under an agreement between the U. S. EPA and Ciba, metalaxyl products can be sold by Ciba until December 31, 1998 or until supplies are exhausted. There will be no loss of uses and no negative impact on minor crops or U. S. Agriculture because of replacement of metalaxyl products with mefenoxam products. For additional information contact: Dr. Charles Pearson, Ciba Crop Protection, Telephone: 910-632-7734, Fax: 910-292-6374 or Ms. Connie B. Welch, EPA, Registration Division, Telephone: 703-305-6226, Fax: 703-308-1825, E-mail: welch.connie@epamail.epa.gov. Reregistration Notification Network, U. S. Department of Agriculture 6(4), May 17, 1996
* Valent U.S.A. Corporation has reached a decision about which registered uses of naled (Dibrom) it will defend during reregistration, those to be supported in cooperation with IR-4, and those left unsupported. The unsupported uses will likely be deleted from all naled labels because the cost of reregistration does not justify continued registration. The following unsupported uses have been removed from Valent labels and will soon be removed from the labels of other registrants of naled, after which products with these unsupported uses may be sold and used until exiting stocks of such products are exhausted. Discussions are currently underway between Valent and EPA concerning the reregistration of naled. Valent may consider maintaining some of these unsupported uses if another party is willing to develop the necessary data. A RED on naled is expected sometime in 1996.
Supported Uses Expected to be Reregistered:
Supported by Valent: alfalfa (seed), almonds (dormant), barns, beans (dry, lima, green) (except cowpeas), broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, Chinese cabbage, cauliflower, cider mills, collards, corrals, cotton, cull piles, eggplants, feed lots, grapes, grapefruit, kale, lawns, lemons, mosquito and fly control, melons, oranges, ornamentals (including greenhouse uses), pastures, peas (not feed or forage), peaches (dormant), pens (holding), peppers, rangeland, safflower (California/Arizona), squash (summer), strawberries, sugarbeets, Swiss chard (California), tangarines, and walnuts
Supported by IR-4: hops
Unsupported Uses Likely to be Canceled:
alfalfa (forage), celery (only tolerance supported), cowpeas, cucumbers, forest trees, legumes (forage), lettuce, mushrooms, peaches (in season), peanuts, peas (field) (feed or forage), pumpkins, quinces, rice, soybeans, spinach (only tolerance supported), squash (winter), tobacco, tomatoes, and turnips
For registration information contact: Mr. Dan Fay, Valent U.S.A. Corporation, Telephone: 510-256-2770, Fax: 510-256-2888, E-mail: dfay@netcom.com. For sales and marketing contact: Ms. Sandra Gowanlock, Valent U.S.A. Corporation, Telephone: 510-256-2746, Fax: 510-256-2776. Reregistration Notification Network, U. S. Department of Agriculture 6(4), May 17, 1996
* The U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed to revoke tolerances established for residues on commodities for 13 pesticides for which all registrations have been canceled. Because of the time that has elapsed, the EPA is proposing immediate revocation of residue tolerances for the following nine pesticides: the herbicides sesone (SES), fluchloralin (Basalin), and metobromuron (Patoran); the fungicides basic zinc sulfate (BSZ), hexachlorophene (Nabac, Hexaphene), and manganous dimethyldithiocarbamate (manam); the insecticides ethyl formate, and hydrogen cyanide (hydrocyanic acid); and the plant growth regulator metachlorphenprop.
The remaining four pesticides have been registered as recently as 1993 and used as recently as 1995. The EPA is therefore proposing to delay revocation of the tolerances for the herbicides dalapon (Dowpon) and diphenamid (Enide), and the fungicides glyodin (Glyoxide, Glyodex) and DNOC (Elgetol) until May 1, 1999.
The EPA is not recommending the establishment of action levels in place of these regulations. Written comments, mentioning OPP-300408, should be sent to the Public Response Section of EPA by July 29, 1996.
For information contact: Mr. Owen F. Beeder, EPA, Registration Division, Telephone: 703-308-8351, Fax: 703-308-8369, E-mail: beeder.owen@ epamail.epa.gov. Send written comments to: Public Response Section (7506C), EPA, Office of Pesticide Programs, 401 M Street, SW, Washington, DC 20460, E-mail: opp-docket@epamail.epa.gov. Reregistration Notification Network, U. S. Department of Agriculture 6(5), June 17, 1996
* The EPA is staying the effective date of a final rule revoking the food additive regulations (FARs) for certain uses of propargite, mancozeb, ethylene oxide, and propylene oxide. This stay was effective as of May 20, 1996. It was filed in response to petitions from Uniroyal Chemical Company for propargite on tea and figs; the Mancozeb Task Force for mancozeb on oat bran; the American Spice Trade Association for ethylene oxide on ground spices; and Alberco Inc. for propylene oxide on nutmeats, ground spices, cocoa, and gums. The EPA is staying the effective date of the final rule until such time as the EPA issues its responses to the stay petitions.
For additional information contact: Ms. Jean M. Frane, EPA, Policy & Special Projects, Telephone: 703-305-5944, Fax: 703-305-6244, E-mail: frane.jean@epamail.epa.gov. Reregistration Notification Network, U. S. Department of Agriculture 6(5), June 17, 1996
* The EPA has invited the public to assist them in prioritizing pesticides for reregistration in Fiscal Year 1997. They are interested in knowing which pesticides on a list of potential candidates for decisions in FY 1997 are of the greatest interest or concern to the public from a human health or environmental perspective, and why, so that the limited resources of the Office of Pesticide Programs may be focused most effectively. Following a comprehensive review of a pesticide case in the reregistration program, the EPA issues a document called a Reregistration Eligibility Decision (RED). The RED indicates which products containing the pesticide in question are eligible for reregistration and continued use. Of 382 chemical cases currently supported, the EPA has issued 129 REDs. There were 40 REDs completed in Fiscal Year 1995. Also there are 50 candidate reregistration cases from which 40 REDs are expected to be completed in Fiscal Year 1996. The EPA is soliciting comments on the suggested prioritization based on exposure and risk from the unfinished cases in the Fiscal Year 1996 candidate list and 99 more cases. Written comments in triplicate, mentioning OPP-34093, should be submitted to the OPP Pesticide Docket of EPA by July 15, 1996.
For information contact: Mr. Walter I. Waldrop, EPA, Reregistration Branch, Telephone: 703-308-8062, Fax: 703-308-8005, E-mail: waldrop.walter@ epamail.epa.gov. Send written comments to: OPP Pesticide Docket (7506C), EPA, Office of Pesticide Programs, 401 M Street, SW, Washington, DC 20460, E-mail: opp-docket@epamail.epa.gov. Reregistration Notification Network, U. S. Department of Agriculture 6(5), June 17, 1996
* The EPA has requested comments on a petition by Rhone-Poulenc to revoke food additive regulations for iprodione on raisins and dried ginseng. Rhone-Poulenc is proposing labeling restrictions which would prohibit the use of iprodione products on grapes used to produce raisins. They have committed to conducting an industry educational program in California, the only state where raisins are commercially produced. Rhone-Poulenc feels that once dried ginseng is in its ready-to-eat form, residues are unlikely to exceed the RAC tolerance, therefore a Section 409 food additive tolerance on dried ginseng is unnecessary. Written comments, mentioning OPP-300427, should be sent to the EPA Public Response Branch by July 5, 1996.
For general information: Ms. Jackie McQueen, EPA, Special Review Branch, Telephone: 703-308-8164, Fax: 703-308-8041, E-mail: mcqueen.jackie@ epamail.epa.gov. Send written comments to: Public Response Branch (7506C), EPA, Office of Pesticide Programs, 401 M Street, SW, Washington, DC 20460, E-mail: opp-docket@epamail.epa.gov. For registrant information: Ms. Danielle Larochelle, Rhone-Poulenc Ag Company, Telephone: 919-549-2718, Fax: 919-549-2545. For Delaney information: Ms. Jean Frane, EPA, Policy and Special Projects, Telephone: 703-305-5944, Fax: 703-305-6244, E-mail: frane.jean@epamail.epa.gov. Reregistration Notification Network, U. S. Department of Agriculture 6(5), June 17, 1996
* The EPA planned to revoke certain tolerances for maleic hydrazide, oryzalin, and hexazinone as of June 24, 1996.
These tolerances were proposed to be revoked. There were no comments or requests for referral to an advisory committee
received by EPA in response to the proposed rule. The revoked tolerances are for maleic hydrazide on cranberries;
oryzalin on cottonseed, barley grain, wheat grain, peas, potatoes, and soybeans; and hexazinone on eggs, poultry (fat, meat
byproducts, meat), and pineapple (fodder, forage). These tolerances are considered unnecessary or the uses causing these
residues were canceled in 1991 or earlier. For information contact: Mr. Jeff Morris, EPA, Special Review Branch,
Telephone: 703-308-8029, Fax: 703-308-8041, E-mail: morris.jeffrey@epamail.epa.gov. Reregistration Notification
Network, U. S. Department of Agriculture 6(5), June 17, 1996
Web page last updated on 5 July 1996 by Stephen J. Toth, Jr.
This Web version is a cooperative effort between the North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service and the