EPA Seeks Consistent Approach to Gauge Whether Pesticides Pose Risk to Aquatic Life

摘要

The Environmental Protection Agency has scheduled a national stakeholders meeting Dec. 1 aimed at determining how to achieve common, consistent methods for determining whether pesticides pose a risk to aquatic life (75 Fed. Reg. 67,088).rnSuch methods would integrate approaches for federal and state regulators and meet mandates of both the Clean Water Act and the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, according to the agency's notice in the Nov. 1 Federal Register.rnStakeholders had identified a need for consistent and timely federal input that would allow EPA, states, tribes, and the public to gauge whether pesticides represent a concern for aquatic life, for example, based on water quality monitoring results.rnAccordingly, EPA's Office of Pesticide Programs and Office of Water, with support from the Office of Research and Development, are evaluating methods for developing common characterizations of the effects of pesticides on aquatic plants and organisms, including fish, EPA said.