Agriculture Division

Offices

Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA)

Director:	Rick Colbert

Phone Number:	(202) 564-2320

The Agriculture Division is responsible for environmental compliance programs for agricultural production, including agricultural chemicals, pest control, livestock, crops, and irrigation, as well as structural pesticide use, forestry, and lawn care. The Agriculture Division also manages the Good Laboratory Practices Program and sponsors EPA's National Agriculture Compliance Assistance Center, the first stop for people in the agricultural community who need information on compliance with environmental regulations.

EPA's National Strategy for Agriculture underlines the Agency’s commitment to a strong partnership with the agriculture community to assist in fulfilling its mission of protecting human health and the environment. Communication, collaboration and innovation are the basic tools emphasized in this strategy for constructing these essential partnerships.

The Agriculture Division is responsible for:

Program Implementation

leading compliance assistance and monitoring program for the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA)
administering the FIFRA state and tribal compliance cooperative agreement program
administering the pesticide producer registration and production reporting program under Section 7 of FIFRA
implementing the Agency's Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) compliance monitoring program
representing the United States in international GLP regulatory activities
leading compliance program support Confined Animal Feeding Operations (CAFO) requirements under the Clean Water Act (CWA)
providing compliance assistance to the ag sector concerning the application of environmental statutes (e.g., Clean Air Act (CAA), Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-know Act (EPCRA), etc.)
administering FIFRA Section Seven Tracking System (SSTS)
administering Discharge Monitoring Report - Quality Assurance Program (DMR-QA)
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Compliance Assistance

compliance assistance to the ag community and to ag information providers
providing compliance assistance to pesticide manufactures and users
promoting environmental best management practices for agriculture
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Compliance Monitoring

providing guidance on inspections of pesticide producing establishments, retailers, applicators, farms, and other sites involved in the sale or distribution of pesticides, with a special emphasis on protecting agricultural workers from the effects of exposure to pesticides through the Worker Protection Standard (WPS) Program
assuring the quality and integrity of test data submitted to the Agency under FIFRA and the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) through the Good Laboratory Practices (GLPs) program
training EPA and state inspectors on CAFO requirements under CWA and how to inspect facilities
training EPA, state, and tribal inspectors on FIFRA requirements and conducting inspections
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Guidance/Policy Development

identifying priority and emerging issues in the ag sector and pesticide manufacturing sector and developing integrated strategies to address these areas
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Compliance Data Quality Assurance

administering the Discharge Monitoring Report - Quality Assurance (DMRQA) program for monitoring the data quality submitted under the requirements of the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits
assuring the quality and integrity of test data submitted to the Agency under FIFRA and TSCA in support of pesticide regulation and industrial chemical production, including conducting laboratory inspections and data audits under the Good Laboratory Practice Standards
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Media Program Expertise

providing expertise on CAFO requirements and inspections
providing expertise on DMR-QA
providing expertise on FIFRA compliance
providing expertise on GLP quality assurance programs
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