American Forest and Paper Association on Legislation to Clarify Regulation of Pesticides Introduced in the Senate

August 9, 2010 by timbercommunity

American Forest and Paper Association President and CEO Donna Harman today issued the following statement regarding the introduction of the bill introduced by Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Blanche Lincoln and Ranking Member Saxby Chambliss, which would eliminate duplicative regulation on the use of pesticides.

“I applaud Chairman Lincoln and Ranking Member Chambliss for introducing this bill, which promotes healthy forests, effective forest management, and prevention of invasive species and pests outbreaks through reasonable and safe use of pesticides without costly, duplicative regulations.

 
“The Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) provides the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) the authority to regulate the sale and safe use of pesticides through a comprehensive registration and labeling protocol.  Moreover, forest managers follow best management and sustainable forest practices.  Together these obviate the need for duplicative Clean Water Act permits for forest management pesticide use.  The EPA considered Clean Water Act (CWA) permits unnecessary and duplicative for these activities until a recent Sixth Circuit opinion.

 
“If the EPA were to require CWA permitting of these activities, it could significantly impact forestry and the forest products industry.
“Chairman Lincoln and Ranking Member Chambliss show great leadership in introducing this legislation to protect the forests of our nation,
while minimizing unnecessary duplication in regulatory mandates.  We look forward to working with them on this issue.”