Volume 141, No. 81 covering the 1st Session of the 104th Congress (1995 - 1996) 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.
“MINOR CROP PROTECTION ASSISTANCE ACT” mentioning the Environmental Protection Agency was published in the Senate section on pages S6743-S6744 on May 16, 1995.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
MINOR CROP PROTECTION ASSISTANCE ACT
Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, today I rise to join my colleagues as a cosponsor of the Minor Crop Protection Assistance Act. This legislation will provide much needed relief to the food and horticultural industries so important to the economy of my State and the Nation.
This purpose of this legislation is simple: It is all about economics. This legislation seeks to provide some relief to producers of minor crops who face the imminent threat of losing access to vital, and safe crop protection tools due to market forces. Currently, registration of pesticides under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act [FIFRA] with EPA is an intensive process, involving as many as 120 data requirements. Chemical manufacturers are forced to make the decision to cancel, or not reregister, crop protection tools for use on minor crops because the resulting
[[Page S6744]] sales revenues will not support the high costs of reregistration. The result is that many safe minor crop protection chemicals have been dropped from production, despite the essential role they play for our minor crop growers.
The production of the minor commodities, as they are called, is in fact of major importance to Washington State. In Washington, 90 percent of our agricultural industry is in minor crops. Most notable are hops, apples, small fruits, vegetables, and hay. Washington alone produces 77 percent of all commercially consumed hops in the United States. Hops growers have five pesticides available to them, and four of these are in danger of being lost due to the high cost of reregistration. If only one pesticide is available, pests will quickly develop their resistance and this compound will become obsolete as a tool for crop protection. Another example comes from the hay producers in Washington. The hay we grow makes up one-third of the world's hay market. We export 75 percent of our product. One particular pesticide which is essential to the growth cycle is in danger of not being reregistered. If it goes, with it will go our global market share.
This purpose of this bill is not an issue of public health or public safety, this is an issue of economics. It is designed to preserve safe minor use pesticides and to encourage the development of environmentally sound pest management tools. We need to provide the economic incentive for pesticide manufacturers to pursue the costly reregistration of products with limited market potential.
The Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Agriculture recognize this situation. They have worked with a coalition of minor crop producers and my colleagues, Senator Lugar and Senator Inouye, on this legislation. Accordingly, this bill streamlines the registration and reregistration process, and provides new incentives to the pesticide industry to pursue minor crop registrations. Most importantly, this bill reinforces EPA's authority to deny reregistration of minor use pesticides out of concern for public safety. In the Administrator's judgment, if a pesticide puts the public at too great a risk, the incentives for development, registration, or reregistration can be revoked.
A safe food supply is very important to me. Minor crops, which in large part are fruits and vegetables, are staples in the diets of infants and children, and they also receive large applications of pesticides. In its 1993 report, ``Pesticides in the Diets of Infants and Children,'' the National Academy of Sciences found that current pesticide standards may be inadequate to protect infants and children from pesticide exposure and recommends policies to increase protection.
While this legislation addresses a market issue, it leaves us with the responsibility of addressing the complex issue of food safety and the adequacy of the current pesticide regulatory system. In no way are we relieved of dealing with pesticide issues in a comprehensive manner.
I am very interested in promoting the development of newer, safer pesticides, and encouraging farmers to decrease their use of dangerous pesticides. Our efforts in this bill should go hand in hand with incentive-based approaches that encourage integrated pest management, and even organic production practices. I look forward to working with my colleagues to address the shortcomings of our current pesticide regulatory system, and to encourage innovative approaches for the future.
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