The Environmental Protection Agency is notifying the public that the Agency intends to publish in the Federal Register a notice stating the pesticide safety training materials with the expanded content required by the 2015 FIFRA Worker Protection Standard (WPS) are available for use. The notice of availability will be published in docket EPA-HQ-OPP-2011-0184 on www.regulations.gov.
The training materials with expanded content have been available at the Pesticide Education Resources Collaborative (PERC) and were developed through an EPA cooperative agreement. EPA also approved training materials developed by other organizations, some of which are available on PERC’s website. Updated training materials must be used 180 days after the publication of the notice in the Federal Register. Continue reading
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APHIS proposes to remove the domestic quarantine for Emerald Ash Borer
Some of you may already be aware of this proposal, but I wanted to post it to highlight the comment period. See below.
APHIS is proposing to remove the domestic quarantine regulations for the emerald ash borer (EAB). Eliminating this regulation is in keeping with USDA’s goal of reducing regulations that have outlived their usefulness. The proposal would end APHIS’ domestic regulatory activities, which includes actions such as issuing permits, certificates and compliance agreements, making site visits, and conducting investigations of suspected violations, and instead direct all available resources toward managing the pest. APHIS remains committed to controlling this invasive pest and wants to conduct more research and release a greater number of biological control agents—tiny stingless wasps that are natural predators of the EAB—since biocontrol has shown the most promise for stopping EAB’s spread. Continue reading →
Filed under: featured | Tagged: comment period, EAB, emerald ash borer, Federal Register, quarantine, USDA regulation | Leave a comment »