FAIRFAX, VA — The following is a letter from Gene Harrington, vice president of Government Affairs for the National Pest Management Association (NPMA), to association members:
On Feb. 4, the U.S. Senate approved legislation retaining the food uses for the fumigant sulfuryl fluoride. The measure is contained in the much larger, 950-page plus Farm Bill Conference Report, which passed the House last week and is expected to be signed into law soon by President Obama. The inclusion of the sulfuryl fluoride provision in the Farm Bill Conference Report represents a significant legislative victory for NPMA — one that would not have been possible without your lobbying your federal lawmakers about the importance of retaining sulfuryl fluoride’s food uses.
The legislation effectively reverses a proposed order revoking or withdrawing sulfuryl fluoride’s food tolerances that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) put forward in January 2011 under the threat of activist group litigation. The activists claimed that sulfuryl fluoride’s tolerances were not permissible because the “risk cup” for sulfuryl fluoride was already filled with fluoride in drinking water and dental care products.
Congratulations on a big legislative triumph. We will let you know when the President signs the Farm Bill Conference Report into law. Below is the sulfuryl fluoride language.
SEC. 10015. REGULATION OF SULFURYL FLUORIDE.
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency shall exclude nonpesticideal sources of fluoride from any aggregate exposure assessment required under section 408 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 346a) when assessing tolerances associated with residues from the pesticide.
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