The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
is a partner with state governments in the regulation
of pesticides. State agencies have primary responsibility
for regulating the use of pesticides, having entered into
cooperative agreements with EPA to receive federal funding
in exchange for conducting inspections and training and
certifying applicators. The EPA New England Office maintains
an oversight role for these cooperative agreements, but
the primary authority for most compliance and enforcement
actions regarding the use of pesticides rests with the
states themselves. EPA retains full authority over non-use
related pesticide issues.
In addition to our state oversight role, EPA New England
is responsible for conducting compliance monitoring
for Section 7 of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide
and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) which requires that all
establishments that produce pesticides, including
repackaging and re-labeling containers, must be registered
by EPA. That is done by Regional Offices. Once the
establishment is registered, all producers must submit
annual production data to EPA, on or before March 1st of
the next calendar year. For more information on this
topic, check EPA's website on Pesticides
Establishment Registration and Reporting.
Questions concerning specific state issues such as
the requirements for sale and use of pesticides within
a particular state should be directed to the State Lead
Agency (SLA) for pesticide control.
Questions concerning the federal registration status
of pesticides should be directed to EPA Headquarters
in Washington, D.C.. |