PR NOTICE 90-3
NOTICE TO REGISTRANTS OF PESTICIDE PRODUCTS
ATTENTION: Persons Responsible for Federal Registration and Reregistration of Pesticides
SUBJECT: Announcing the Formation of Industry-Wide Spray Drift Task Force*
A Spray Drift Task Force has been organized pursuant to provisions of FIFRA § 3 (c) (2) (B) (ii) to share the cost of developing a generic spray drift data base which is expected to be capable of satisfying spray drift data requirements for virtually all pesticide product registrations in the United States and Canada. Because of the wide cross section of pesticide registrants who could potentially benefit from this endeavor, the Environmental Protection Agency takes this unusual step to inform all pesticide registrants of its existence. Groundwork for this Task Force has been laid through joint efforts of EPA, the National Agricultural Chemicals Association, Agriculture Canada, and Environment Canada. This approach to fulfilling pesticide spray drift data requirements should result in considerable financial savings for pesticide registrants, while at the same time providing the Agency with a more complete and scientifically more sound basis for evaluating off-target movement of pesticides and assessing exposure of humans and the environment.
Pesticide registrants and those who have applied for or anticipate applying for registration of one or more pesticide products have the option of fulfilling spray drift data registration standards, general data call-ins, accelerated reregistration and new product registrations now and in the future. The Agency will accept evidence of full and continuous participation in this Task Force to justify requests for extensions of deadlines for submission of spray drift studies.
The Task Force is organized as a business Joint Venture, with costs to be shared equally by all participants. Each participating company will appoint representatives to Administrative and Technical Committees. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is not an administrative participant in the joint venture, but is represented on the technical committee, which will guide development of the data base, select study protocols, and supervise research. The target date for initial enrollment in the Joint Venture agreement is March 26, 1990, followed by an open enrollment period of 60 days. Late enrollment of participants thereafter will involve payment of an equal share of costs determined from the date of Task Force organization, interest on that amount, and possible additional financial penalties. Registrants are cautioned to carefully calculate the costs of complying with current and anticipated spray drift data requirements for product defense and new product registrations as they decide on participation in the Task Force.
The Task Force will prioritize the formulations, spray solutions, and product use patterns to be covered by the data base it produces. It is possible that certain atypical use patterns and uncommon formulations for which EPA might require separate spray drift studies would not be included in the data base. Early participation in the Task Force will give each registrant a voice in establishing those priorities.
This PR notice is issued by the Agency for the sole purpose of informing pesticide registrants of the activities of the Spray Drift Task Force. It is not intended to define or restrict the terms of or subsequent amendments to the Joint Venture agreement governing the Spray Drift Task Force and its operation.
Anne E. Lindsay, Director Edwin F. Tinsworth, Director Registration Division Special Review and Registration Division
- *Extracted from US EPA's PR Notice 90-3,