General Food Safety Legislative Summary

"Regulatory Fairness and Openness Act of 1999" - H.R. 1592/S.1464

SPONSORS:  H.R.1592 - Representative Richard Pombo (R-CA). There are 163 cosponsors of this bill. S.1464 - Senator Chuck Hagel. There are 21 cosponsors of this bill.

Purpose:  These bills attempt to provide congressional guidance to the Environmental Protection Agency as it implements the provisions of the Food Quality Protection Act of 1996. The FQPA requires that the EPA reassess tolerance levels to pesticides and reevaluate each pesticide's use through the employment of new risk assessment criteria. The EPA will review these maximum allowable tolerance levels and may change the levels should they find that the current levels are unsafe. The new risk assessment criteria will also be used to examine new pesticides and new uses for already registered pesticides. This legislation is aimed at ensuring that any changes made regarding pesticides and tolerance levels to pesticide residues by the EPA do not unnecessarily disrupt American agriculture, industry and foreign trade. The Regulatory Fairness and Openness Act of 1999 requires that before the EPA issues any documents recommending or mandating the revocation or denial of a current acceptable tolerance level, it must issue a "transition analysis" report. This transition analysis will explain the steps and the results of the reassessment and will explain the level of certainty of the results. Furthermore, the analysis will make clear the figures and the data used in the evaluation and will specify any assumptions used during the process. The transition analysis will also include an assessment of the probable consequences of new policies. This will include an explanation of available alternatives to the pesticide as well as an impact analysis. Some factors which the transition analysis will consider include whether a regional shift of production will occur in the US, whether the change will cause an increase in imports and how pest control and pest crop damage will be impacted.

Status:  H.R.1592 was referred to the both the House Committee on Commerce and the House Committee on Agriculture for each to address the specific provisions of the bill which fall under its jurisdiction on April 28, 1999. On May 6 1999, the bill was referred to the Subcommittee on Department Operations, Oversight, Nutrition and Forestry and an Executive Comment was requested from both the EPA and the USDA. On May, 17 1999, this bill was also referred to the House Subcommittee on Health and Environment. S.1464 has been referred to the Senate Agriculture Committee and is awaiting further action.

NFPA Position:  NFPA is currently reviewing the provisions of H.R.1592 and S.1464.

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