Pesticides: Reregistration Delays Jeopardize Success of Proposed Policy
Reforms (Testimony, 10/29/93, GAO/T-RCED-94-48).

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will not be able to reregister
all pesticides by 1998, though required by law.  As of September 1993,
EPA had reregistered only 250 of the 20,000 older pesticides now
registered.  EPA estimates that it may not complete reregistration until
2006.  Moreover, EPA has been slower than expected in reregistering
pesticides used on food.  Finally, EPA has not included all costs in its
estimate of the $20 million deficit it has projected to complete
reregistration.  EPA's schedule for reregistering lawn care pesticides
has slipped, by as much as four years.  But even after these substances
have been reregistered, their safety may still be in doubt.  Until EPA
has set guidelines for assessing the health effects of pesticides
applied to lawns, the agency will not be able to guarantee the safety of
persons exposed to them--particularly children, who tend to have more
contact with treated lawns than do adults.

--------------------------- Indexing Terms -----------------------------

 REPORTNUM:  T-RCED-94-48
     TITLE:  Pesticides: Reregistration Delays Jeopardize Success of 
             Proposed Policy Reforms
      DATE:  10/29/93
   SUBJECT:  Pesticides
             Consumer protection
             Safety standards
             Environmental policies
             Contaminated foods
             Agricultural products
             Health hazards
             Toxic substances
             Environmental monitoring
             Pesticide regulation

             
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