US EPA plans to revise crop grouping to expand opportunities for minor crops

U.S. EPA is making available for public comment a proposed rule to revise the pesticide crop grouping regulations that allow the establishment of tolerances (maximum residue levels) for groups of related crops. The proposed revisions will expand the number of crops that can have tolerances established and thus will allow minor-use growers a wider choice of pest control tools, including lower-risk pesticides, to be used on minor crops, both domestically and in countries that export food to the United States.
 

Crop groupings allow petitioners to request tolerances for multiple related commodities based on research data on a representative crop. This is the fourth in a series of revisions to the crop groupings. The proposed revisions, published in a November 14, 2014,Federal Register Notice, would revise the existing leafy vegetable and brassica vegetable crop groups, as well as establish new crop groups, including: stalk, stem and leaf petioles; tropical fruit, inedible peel; and tropical fruit, edible peel.
 

This proposed crop group rule is in response to several petitions submitted to EPA by U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Interregional Research Project Number 4 (IR-4). IR-4 helps growers by conducting research to support tolerances for products and crops that pesticide companies do not find profitable enough to support investment in the research.
 

Comments on the proposed rule will be accepted until January 13, 2015.