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PA CIVIL COMPLAINTS AGAINST REGISTRANTS-PESTICIDES

Release Date: 10/04/94
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PA CIVIL COMPLAINTS AGAINST REGISTRANTS-PESTICIDES

FOR RELEASE: FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 1994

EPA SEEKS $183,000 IN CIVIL COMPLAINTS

AGAINST REGISTRANTS FOR VIOLATIONS OF PESTICIDE LAW

EPA is announcing that it has issued 12 civil complaints against pesticide registrants and is seeking $183,000 in penalties for violation of the Agency's Good Laboratory Practice Standards (GLPS) and the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). Under FIFRA, EPA requires companies that register pesticides to submit many types of tests, including studies of potential risks of the pesticides to human health and the environment and tests that show that the product is effective as claimed on the label. The GLPS were established to assure the quality and integrity of data submitted by registrants. EPA periodically conducts Good Laboratory Practice inspections of laboratories that submit pesticide studies to the Agency. The GLPS violations that EPA detected as a result of the inspections include deviations from study protocols, failure to meet quality assurance unit requirements, and incomplete final study reports. (EPA's proposed penalties for the registrants are listed in the attached table.) Under section 14 of FIFRA, a registrant who violates any provision of FIFRA may be assessed a civil penalty of not more than $5,000 for each offense. Other parties such as testing facilities, must receive a written warning prior to being assessed a civil penalty. FIFRA also allows for the issuance of a Notice of Warning to sponsors/registrants of studies for minor violations. Registrants have 20 days to respond to the complaints and may request a hearing to contest the facts in the complaint or the size of the penalty.

(Attachment in original file).