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EPA TO EXPEDITE APPROVAL OF PHEROMONE PESTIC
For your info - P. Dines
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Joseph Makuch, INTERNET:jmakuch@nal.usda.gov
To: Patricia Dines, 73652,1202
To: enviro-news@nal.usda.gov
Date: Fri, Sep 13, 1996, 2:39 PM
Subject: PA EPA REIN. REQ. TO EXPEDITE THE APPROVAL OF PHEROMONE PEST. (fwd)
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Fri, 13 Sep 1996 14:32:04 -0400
From: GROUP PRESS 202-260-4355 <PRESS@epamail.epa.gov>
To: Multiple recipients of list <epa-press@webster.rtpnc.epa.gov>
Subject: PA EPA REIN. REQ. TO EXPEDITE THE APPROVAL OF PHEROMONE PEST.
FOR RELEASE: FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 1996
EPA REINVENTS REQUIREMENTS TO EXPEDITE THE
APPROVAL OF PHEROMONE (BIOLOGICAL) PESTICIDES
EPA has completed a series of regulatory reinvention measures to
speed-up the registration of new, safer insect pheromone pesticides,
resulting in the approval of new products in record time. Pheromones
are naturally occurring compounds used by insects to communicate and
mate with one another. The use of these compounds can achieve pest
control by confusing normal insect behavior and preventing
reproduction. Pheromones are good for human health and the
environment because they pose fewer risks than traditional chemical
pesticides. They are effective at very low doses and fit well into
integrated pest management programs, reducing the need for
conventional insecticides. EPA's new common sense measures, a series
of rules published between 1993 and 1996, have reduced both the time
and cost of bringing new pheromone pesticides to market. Approval
times have been reduced from over two years to as little as two
months, contributing to the development and marketing of a record
number of safer products mainly used to control moth and caterpillar
pests in the past three years. Specific measures include exempting
most pheromone pesticides from requirements for the establishment of
tolerances (maximum permissible levels for residues in food). This
exemption is appropriate because no harmful residues result from
pheromone use. EPA is also allowing research and testing of most
pheromone products to proceed on up to 250 acres of land without
requiring prior Agency approval, compared to the 10-acre limit that
applies to conventional pesticides. A larger area is required to test
the effectiveness of pheromone products, and their low risk justifies
an exemption from the 10-acre limit. The 250-acre exemption saves
both EPA and pheromone developers time and money. Many of the
registrants of these products are small companies with limited
resources and savings will allow them to free-up capital for product
development and for technical assistance to growers on how to use
these safer products to replace chemical insecticides. EPA's
pheromone reinvention measures are one of a number of initiatives
being implemented by the Agency in response to President Clinton's
charge to reinvent government processes and reduce regulatory burdens
wherever possible while preserving public health protection.
R-132 # # #