Letter from Agricultural Organizations in Support of the Immediate Passage of the Reauthorization of the Pesticide Registration Improvement Act

Dear Chair Stabenow, Chair Scott, Ranking Member Boozman, and Ranking Member Thompson:

The organizations below are joined together in support of the immediate passage of the reauthorization of the Pesticide Registration Improvement Act (PRIA 5). PRIA 5 will provide the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with the resources it needs to process registrations, improve worker protections, and strengthen training for pesticide products for the benefit of farmers, farmworkers, household consumers and their pets, public health, and the environment.

In 2004, PRIA established a new section of the Federal Insecticide Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), which put in place a fee schedule for pesticide registration requests. PRIA provides for specific time periods for EPA to make a regulatory decision on pesticide registrations and tolerance actions submitted to the Agency. The goal of PRIA was to create a more predictable and effective evaluation system that promoted shorter decision review periods for reduced-risk applications. PRIA’s enactment spurred process improvements and provided the pesticide industry, user groups, and interested stakeholders with more clarity and certainty on the registration process.

Since PRIA was first enacted, management challenges and resource constraints have eroded the progress achieved under the original law. Consequently, reauthorizing PRIA is a critical component to reversing the steady decline of mission-critical funding for EPA’s pesticides program. Over the last decade, the program has lost over 200 full time equivalents while pesticide submissions have increased rapidly. Moreover, the Agency is struggling to resolve a backlog of over 11,000 related regulatory actions. Without adequate resources, innovations in conventional pesticides, antimicrobial disinfectant products, biopesticides, and emerging technologies could be delayed for years.

PRIA 5 reflects the input from regulated industry, environmental NGOs, and farmworker advocates who rely on EPA to serve as the leading authority on pesticide regulations. The Agency’s work impacts America’s growers, public health officials, pest control managers, lawn care professionals, golf course superintendents, restaurants, hospital, homeowners, treated wood preservers and countless others who cope with emerging public health hazards, pest threats and pest resistance.

The Agency’s capabilities administering the pesticide program are demonstrated in the resources and tools made available to EPA through PRIA. Accordingly, the undersigned strongly encourage Congress to pass the PRIA 5 reauthorization before the end of the 117th Congress.

Read the letter submitted by more than 30 groups, including CropLife America.