“REGULATORY FAIRNESS AND OPENNESS ACT OF 1999” published by Congressional Record on April 27, 1999

Volume 145, No. 58 covering the 1st Session of the 106th Congress (1999 - 2000) was published by the Congressional Record.

The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.

“REGULATORY FAIRNESS AND OPENNESS ACT OF 1999” mentioning the Environmental Protection Agency was published in the Extensions of Remarks section on pages E784 on April 27, 1999.

The publication is reproduced in full below:

REGULATORY FAIRNESS AND OPENNESS ACT OF 1999

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HON. ALLEN BOYD

of florida

in the house of representatives

Tuesday, April 27, 1999

Mr. BOYD. Mr. Speaker, crop protection tools are necessary for family farmers to provide a safe and reliable food supply to the consumer and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) must use sound science to evaluate and determine which products are dependable and safe. If this is not accomplished, safe and useful crop protection products will be unavailable for use by the family farmer and the quality and affordability of wholesome food supply will be jeopardized.

For this reason, I joined several of my colleagues today in introducing the Regulatory Fairness and Openness and Act of 1999. This bipartisan legislation will give EPA the ability to address potential problems with the registration and re-registration processes for crop protection tools during the implementation of the Food Quality Protection Act of 1996. This bill ensures that the EPA has the capability to adequately evaluate and analyze all available, accessible data and information and to use the best science to determine which crop protection tools will be available for the family farmer. This Act does not change the FQPA standards for pesticide evaluations, it clarifies the processes employed for evaluation in order to allow for full and scientifically correct compliance with the requirements of the FQPA.

Without the Regulatory and Openness Act of 1999, many crop protection tools will be eliminated for use by agriculture, putting the farmers in the United States at a competitive disadvantage with foreign imports. These imports do not have to meet the strict regulatory requirements that our farmers must follow.

Further, if the EPA eliminates crop protection tools without allowing time for the development of new alternatives, family farmers will lose crops to pest infestations and the consumer will lose the quality and quantity of food available to them. This bill encourages and supports research into expanded information gathering on the use of crop protection tools and research into the development of new alternatives for managing pests in agriculture.

I urge my colleagues to support this very important legislation. The Regulatory Fairness and Openness Act of 1999 is important not only for agricultural America, but for all Americans. Through complete and thorough risk assessments of crop protection tools using actual and relevant data and sound science, the EPA and family farmers can continue to provide our country's citizens with the safest, most abundant food supply in the world.

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SOURCE: Congressional Record Vol. 145, No. 58