AFBF, Other Groups Expand FQPA Lawsuit Against EPA

The complaint, filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., seeks to require the EPA to follow statutory requirements when it assesses and reassesses crop protection products under the 1996 Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA) and other food safety laws. The complaint asks the EPA to:

• Issue complete, updated regulations specifying the information the agency needs to evaluate crop protection products.

• Obtain updated scientific data on crop protection products before they are reassessed, instead of relying on unrealistic models and assumptions based on outdated information.

• And, adopt formal policies and procedures, including notice-and-comment rulemaking, before implementing FQPA requirements.

The amendments were added Monday to a lawsuit filed June 2 that asked the EPA to issue rules, nearly two years overdue, governing the use of pesticides under specific emergency conditions, such as sudden pest infestations that threaten entire crops.

The amended complaint supports the basic purpose of FQPA -- to employ sound science and accurate data to determine safe levels of pesticide use. The lawsuit claims, however, that the EPA has ignored laws requiring the agency to obtain data on actual pesticide use levels and disclose procedures it will use to set new standards.

"The unscientific manner in which the EPA is implementing our nation's food safety law means all pain and no gain for struggling farm families and American consumers," said AFBF President Dean Kleckner. "FQPA is a complex but delicate law. EPA needs to make clear that it is operating under established rules, not whim."

According to Kleckner, the lawsuit attempts to stop EPA's hasty rush to judgment in assessing many vital crop protection products that allow American farmers to produce a safe, abundant and affordable food supply.

"The EPA is taking shortcuts to implement FQPA," he said. "The greatest food safety risk Americans face today may be that the EPA has chosen to implement FQPA through assumptions and best guesses. Farmers are at risk. Consumers are vulnerable. All Americans deserve better."

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This page was last modified Wed Jun 09, 1999 at 01:00 am