SEPA InSight POLICY PAPER
This supplement to EPA InSight contains up tc-date policy Information from the
Administrator/Deputy Admin straScr to a^S E^A employees.
FOOD SAFETY-AN URGENT NEED FOR CHANGE • October 1993
T
EPA 175-N-93-024V/
Below is the opening statement by Administrator
Carol Browner to the U.S. Senate Labor and Human
Resources Committee (Senator Edward Kennedy,
D-MA, Chairman); the Health and Environment
Subcommittee of the U.S. House Committee on En-
ergy and Commerce (Representative Henry Waxman,
D-CA, Chairman); and the Department Operations
and Nutrition Subcommittee of the U.S. House Com-
mitteeonAgriculture(RepresentativeCharlieStenholm,
D-TX, Chairman)— September 21-22, 1993.
It is an honor to appear before you to present
the Administration's view on pesticide use and pro-
tecting this country's food supply. I want to particu-
larly thank Senator Kennedy, Congressman Waxman,
and Congressman Stenholm for all their leadership on
these issues.
I would also like to begin by acknowledging
that food safety is not an easy issue. It's an emotional
subject — and it should be. The package that we will
present represents the efforts of a wide variety of
people, including my colleagues, Deputy Secretary
Rominger from the Department of Agriculture, and
Food and Drug Administration Commissioner David
Kessler. Our goal was to harness the expertise, the
urgent concern, the very best science, and our most
passionate caring for the benefit of our children and all
Americans.
Our proposal is a giant step forward, an oppor-
tunity to break the logjam of competing and vested
interests to ensure a rigorous standard for food safety
that all Americans can rely on to reduce the many
health risks posed by pesticides and improve the safety
of our food supply, especially for children. The
solution that we put forward suggests two substantial
changes in tvvo la vs First, to is; ure n. greater degree
of safety ir the b< d we eat \ re rr ust eform the
, and Cosmetic Act. But, the risks
of pesticide use extend far beyond the dinner table. We
need to protect the farmers, the farm workers, and
homeowners who handle pesticides. We need to
reduce the dangers of pesticide runoff into our ground-
water. And we need to decrease the threat to the plants
and animals with which we share our world. For this
reason, we must also reform the Federal Insecticide,
Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, or FIFRA.
Let me describe the major provisions of the
proposal.
First, we propose to take special steps to
protect children. We have already committed to
implementing recommendations made by the Na-
tional Academy of Sciences in June in the report
entitled, "Pesticides in the Diet of Infants and Chil-
dren." We propose that the law be changed to require
the Environmental Protection Agency to make a spe-
cific finding of safety for every pesticide used on every
food, particularly those eaten in large quantities by
infants and children. This will require us to account
specifically for the unique diets and susceptibility of
children. The National Academy of Sciences also
suggested we look at exposure to pesticides in lawn
care chemicals, drinking water, and insecticides used
in the home. We'll follow this recommendation as
well. I feel strongly that these steps are absolutely
necessary to ensure a new level of protection for our
children.
Second, we propose to establish a uniform,
health-based standard that applies to all pesticides, all
foods, and all risks to human health. We propose to
regulate pesticide residue levels in food to ensure a
reasonable certainty of no harm to consumers.
Third, we call for strict new deadlines to
ensure that all pesticides comply with the new stan-
o
*
JL
-------
dard within seven years. Within six months of enact-
ment, EPA will identify all pesticides suspected of
being high risk. Within three years, all high-risk
pesticides that do not meet the health standard will be
off the market. Within seven years, all remaining
pesticides that do not meet the strict, health-based
standard will be off the market. These deadlines will
put the burden squarely on industry to prove that
pesticides are safe.
The fourth part of the Administration's pro-
posal is to make good on our June 25th pledge to
encourage a dramatic reduction in pesticide use. EPA
and the Department of Agriculture will develop, within
one year, specific goals for reducing pesticide use by
the end of the decade. We will include farmers,
environmentalists, and other interested parties in es-
tablishing these goals and developing implementation
plans.
We are also proposing that, by the year 2000,
75 percent of America's farmland would be using IPM
(integrated pest management) methods. We are con-
fident that we can reduce pesticide use and pesticide
risk without any decrease in the quality of our produce
or the output of our farms.
Let me briefly mention three other provisions
in the proposal:
First, under current law, pesticide registra-
tions are good in perpetuity. We propose that pesticide
registrations be renewed every 15 years. This require-
ment will ensure that all pesticides conform to the
latest scientific standards, and it will promote the
development of safer alternatives.
Second, we would make the registration of
these safer pesticides a top priority.
And third, we would prohibit the export of
pesticides that had been banned in the U.S. because of
health concerns.
Before I close, I would like to add a personal
observation. I come from Florida, where agriculture
is a key industry. In carrying out my responsibilities
in Florida as the head of that state's environmental
agency, I worked very closely with the farming com-
munity. It was my experience that farmers wanted to
use fewer pesticides to protect public health and ithat,
by working together, we could achieve changes in the
farming practices for sustainable agriculture.
I also want to say that it's vitally important to
me as the mother of a 5-1/2-year old to have confi-
dence in the food on our dinner table. I'm proud to say
that this package offers a higher level of protection
than any pesticide package ever presented by any
administration. It has been a pleasure to work with
Secretary of Agriculture Mike Espy and his col-
leagues and FDA Commissioner Kessler and his
colleagues on this very important matter.
Now, the Administration looks forward to
working with farmers, consumer advocates, and the
Congress to achieve our shared goals, to protect our
health, and to safeguard the environment we will p>ass
on to future generations.
NOTE: EPA InSight Policy Papers are available on Email (at the Email menu, type VTX, press Enter,
then 2 and Enter, and 4 and Enter).
Beginning November 1993, the Policy Papers will also be available on all EPA LAN systems. Once this
happens, we plan to reduce paper distribution significantly.
------- |