Leveling the FIFRA Playing Field: Life Beyond Termilind

February 2000
Citation:
30
ELR 10125
Issue
2
Author
Lynn L. Bergeson and Lisa M. Campbell

The quest by law abiding pesticide registrants for relief from illegally registered pesticides has taken a new turn. Tacitly acknowledging the futility of urging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to initiate enforcement action against bad actors, registrants are now, in epidemic proportion, taking their case to EPA in the form of filing administrative petitions to revoke and/or cancel Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) registrations issued to competitors and alleged to be obtained illegally. EPA's Offices of General Counsel and Pesticide Programs struggle on a good day to keep up with the relentless demands of implementing the Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA) and the day-to-day business of FIFRA registration and reregistration. The administrative burden placed on EPA as a result of these petitions is further stressing a system that often appears on the brink of collapse. Nonetheless, the administrative petition process, albeit slow, frustrating, and costly for both EPA and registrants, at the least has the potential to provide the semblance of a level playing field. This Dialogue describes In re Termilind, a landmark EPA decision revoking two FIFRA registrations, its progeny, and the reasons why EPA must streamline its current system or identify a better one to address the problem of illegally registered pesticide products.

The authors are founding shareholders of Bergeson & Campbell, P.C., a Washington, D.C., law firm specializing in chemical product approval and regulations and other environmental and occupational safety and health law and business matters. The firm is outside counsel to Amvac Chemical Corporation and represented Amvac in the Termilind matter.

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