The Fort Peck Tribes Office of Environmental Protection have a cooperative agreement with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). EPA regulate pesticides under broad authority granted in two major statutes, the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act and the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. These laws have been amended by the Food Quality Protection Act and the Pesticide Registration Improvement Act.
Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) is a United States federal law that set up the basic U.S. system of pesticide regulation to protect applicators, consumers, and the environment. It is administered and regulated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the appropriate environmental agencies of the respective states. FIFRA has undergone several important amendments since its inception. A significant revision in 1972 by the Federal Environmental Pesticide Control Act (FEPCA) and several others have expanded EPA’s present authority to oversee the sales and use of pesticides with emphasis on the preservation of human health and protection of the environment by “(1) strengthening the registration process by shifting the burden of proof to the chemical manufacturer, (2) enforcing compliance against banned and unregistered products, and (3) promulgating the regulatory framework missing from the original law”.
Under FIFRA no individual may sell, use, nor distribute a pesticide not registered with the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). A few exceptions allow a pesticide to be exempt from registration requirements. There must be a label on each pesticide describing, in detail, instructions for safe use. Under the act, the EPA must identify each pesticide as “general use”, “restricted use”, or both. “General use” labeled pesticides are available to anyone in the general public. Those labeled as “restricted use” require specific credentials and certifications through the EPA (certified applicator).
There are 7 different types of Inspections conducted by the EPA Compliance Inspector for the Fort Peck Tribes. These include Agricultural Use (Ag-Use), Non-Agricultural Use (Non-Ag Use), Producer Establishment, Restricted Use Pesticide (RUP) Dealer, Worker Protection Standard (WPS), Marketplace, and Container-Containment Inspections.
Agricultural inspections include the inspection of pesticide applications in conjunction with the production of agricultural commodities. Agricultural commodities are defined in 40 CFR section 171.2(a)(5) as, “any plant, or part thereof, or animal or animal product, produced by a person (including farmers, ranchers, vineyardists, plant propagators, Christmas tree growers, aquaculturists, floriculturists, orchardists, foresters, or other comparable persons) primarily for sale, consumption, propagation, or other use by man or animals.” Worker Protection Standard (WPS) inspections are a type of agricultural inspection conducted to monitor compliance with the WPS requirements.
Pre- and post-application activities are appropriate for inspection. Use inspections should be used to determine label comprehension and directions for use compliance by applicators. Use inspections can also detect non-compliant labels in the channels of trade or being used by consumers. An experimental use permit inspection in conducted to determine compliance with an experimental use permit and may be an actual observation of an application or an inspection of records.
Non-agricultural inspections include the inspection of non-agricultural pesticide applications such as pest control in industrial or residential settings.
Use inspections include the many facets of use of a pesticide, including: storing, handling, mixing, loading, and disposal.
A producer establishment inspection (PEI) is an inspection of an establishment where pesticides or devices are produced and held for distribution or sale. During PEI inspections:
- products
- product labels
- refillable and non-refillable containers
- containment, and
- records
are examined for compliance. Inspection of the books and records required by Section 8 also is part of these inspections.
Restricted-Use Pesticide (RUP) Dealer inspections are conducted to determine compliance with FIFRA record keeping requirements regarding sales and distribution of RUPs and to ensure that RUPs are sold only to certified applicators or non-certified persons for application by a certified applicator who is specifically certified for use of the particular RUP.
Agricultural establishments may include farms, nurseries, greenhouses and forests. Routine WPS agricultural-use inspections are conducted at agricultural establishments to ensure users of pesticides subject to WPS comply with requirements. The inspections involve examining practices of agricultural and handler employers and their employees to assess compliance with:
- product-specific worker protection requirements included on product labeling, such as, personal protective equipment, restricted entry intervals, and oral and posted warnings used at the establishment
- generic WPS requirements such as pesticide safety information, decontamination supplies, safety training, emergency assistance and worker notification requirements
The goal in conducting routine WPS agricultural-use inspections is to monitor employer compliance. WPS inspections are generally performed during the significant periods of the agricultural production season.
Normally conducted at places of pesticide sales, marketplace inspections ensure industry compliance with product registration, formulation, packaging and labeling requirements and that products are correctly distributed to the channels of trade. In addition, these inspections help EPA and its regulatory partners determine whether procedures for the disposal and storage of pesticides, pesticide containers and pesticide-related wastes are being followed.
Inspections include:
- current registered products
- potential unregistered products
- cancelled and suspended products
These inspections focus on the storing of pesticides in a facility. The pesticide container regulations establish standards for pesticide containers and repackaging as well as label instructions to ensure the safe use, reuse, disposal and adequate cleaning of the containers. Pesticide registrants and refillers (who are often distributors or retailers) must comply with the regulations, and pesticide users must follow the label instructions for cleaning and handling empty containers.
For more information about Fort Peck Tribes – OEP Pesticide Program, you may contact Destiny Eder at (406) 768-2313 or [email protected] You may also find more Pesticide information at www.epa.gov/pesticides. You may also find us on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/FortPeckTribesPesticides/.