EPA Rejects Bid to Limit 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic Acid Pesticide

The Environmental Protection Agency denied a petition for the EPA to revoke all pesticide tolerances for 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) under section 408(d) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA), it said in a Federal Register notice to be published April 18. The petition was filed November 6, 2008, by the Natural Resources Defense Council. The NRDC had claimed that EPA's conclusion in the 2005 Reregistration Eligibility Decision (RED) for 2,4-D, which allowed 2,4-D to be reregistered and its tolerances retained, was based on a deficient risk. But the EPA said many of NRDC's claims fail to state a sufficient ground for revocation and instead merely critique the manner in which the risk assessment underlying the 2,4-D RED was done. Those claims that do allege relevant statutory grounds for revocation the EPA said it finds to be without merit.