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Report Contributors:
Jeffrey Harris
Jee Kim
Calvin Lin
Kalpana Ramakrishnan
Denton Stafford
Steven Weber
Abbreviations
EPA	U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
FIFRA	Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act
OECA	Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance
OIG	Office of Inspector General
Cover photo: Pesticide products. (EPA photo)
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Washington, DC 20460
(202) 566-2391
www.epa.gov/oig
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U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Inspector General
At a Glance
15-P-0099
February 23, 2015
Why We Did This Review
This is a quick reaction report
that addresses lapses in the
U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency's (EPA's) pesticide
inspections in North Dakota.
This issue came to our attention
during the course of ongoing
work to assess the EPA's
oversight of state inspections
required by the Federal
Insecticide, Fungicide, and
Rodenticide Act (FIFRA).
FIFRA regulates the sale and
use of pesticides in the United
States through the registration
and labeling of pesticide
products. Pesticides are widely
used in agricultural, commercial
and household settings and have
the potential to pollute air, water
and land. An EPA inspector or a
credentialed state inspector
conducts inspections of pesticide
establishments and imported
pesticides to ensure compliance
with FIFRA.
This report addresses the
following EPA goal or
cross-agency strategy:
• Ensuring the safety of
chemicals and preventing
pollution.
Quick Reaction Report: EPA Pesticide Inspections
Must Resume in North Dakota to Determine Compliance
and Protect Human Health and the Environment
What We Found
EPA Region 8 is not conducting inspections at
establishments that produce pesticides in North
Dakota. Further, North Dakota does not have a
state inspector with qualifications equivalent to a
federal inspector to conduct inspections on the
EPA's behalf. As a result, federal inspections of
establishments that produce pesticides in
North Dakota have not occurred for 14 years.
EPA Region 8 staff stated that FIFRA
inspections have not been conducted because North Dakota officials do not
want federal inspections conducted in their state. The failure to conduct
inspections increases the risk that pesticides are not in compliance with federal
law, which could result in potential risks from toxics being undetected and
adverse human health and environmental impacts occurring.
The long-standing lapse
in conducting FIFRA
inspections in North
Dakota may result in
exposure to unsafe
pesticides and pose risks
to human health and the
environment.
Since 2011, EPA Region 8 has also failed to conduct inspections of pesticides
imported into North Dakota. Since that time, approximately 1,300 pesticide
imports to the United States have come through North Dakota and none have
been inspected. EPA Region 8's failure to inspect imported pesticides to ensure
compliance with federal law creates a potential risk not only for residents in
North Dakota but residents in other states and locations in the United States.
Recommendations and Planned Corrective Actions
We recommend that the Regional Administrator, Region 8, immediately initiate
FIFRA producer establishment and import inspections in North Dakota,
establish an inspection plan, and compile a list of the number of producer
establishments and import inspections conducted annually in Region 8. We also
recommend that the Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance review
Region 8's fiscal year 2015 End-of-Year report and confirm that inspections in
North Dakota have been initiated.
The agency agreed with our recommendations and has proposed acceptable
Send all inquiries to our public	corrective actions. All recommendations are resolved,
affairs office at (202) 566-2391
or visit http://www.epa.gov/oiq.
The full report is at:
www.epa.qov/oiq/reports/2015/
20150223-15-P-0099.pdf
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UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20460
THE INSPECTOR GENERAL
February 23, 2015
MEMORANDUM:
SUBJECT: Quick Reaction Report: EPA Pesticide Inspections Must Resume in North Dakota to
Determine Compliance and Protect Human Health and the Environment
Report No. 15-P-0099
This is a quick reaction report prepared by the Office of Inspector General (OIG) of the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). This report addresses EPA Region 8's failure to ensure
that Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act inspections are fully implemented in
North Dakota. This report represents the opinion of the OIG and does not necessarily represent the final
EPA position. Final determinations on matters in this report will be made by EPA managers in
accordance with established audit resolution procedures.
The offices responsible for the issues evaluated in this report are the Office of Enforcement and
Compliance Assurance's Office of Compliance and EPA Region 8's Office of Enforcement,
Compliance and Environmental Justice.
You are not required to provide a written response to this final report because you provided agreed-to
corrective actions and planned completion dates for the report recommendations. The OIG may make
periodic inquiries on your progress in implementing these corrective actions. Should you choose to
provide a final response, we will post your response on the OIG's public website, along with our
memorandum commenting on your response. You should provide your response as an Adobe PDF file
that complies with the accessibility requirements of Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as
amended.
FROM: Arthur A. Elkins Jr.
TO:
Cynthia Giles, Assistant Administrator
Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance
Shaun McGrath, Regional Administrator
EPA Region 8
We will post this report to our website at http://www.epa.gov/oig.
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Purpose, Scope and Methodology
During our ongoing evaluation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's
(EPA's) oversight of state implementation of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide,
and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), we discovered lapses in conducting federal
inspections in North Dakota. The EPA has a responsibility for determining
compliance with FIFRA regulations at producer establishments and for pesticide
imports.
We conducted this performance audit from September through December 2014 in
accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards. Those
standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain sufficient,
appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable basis for our findings and
conclusions based on our audit objectives. We believe that the evidence obtained
provides a reasonable basis for our conclusions based on our audit objectives.
To evaluate Region 8's oversight of FIFRA, we reviewed FIFRA regulations,
agency policy and guidance documents, and Region 8 inspection data. We
conducted interviews with officials from the EPA's Office of Enforcement and
Compliance Assurance (OECA), Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution
Prevention, and Region 8; and the North Dakota Department of Agriculture.
Background
EPA's Responsibility to Conduct Producer Establishment and
Import Inspections
The EPA has primary responsibility for determining compliance with FIFRA
regulations at producer establishments1 and for pesticide imports inspections. The
EPA uses establishment inspections to identify areas of potential future harm to
humans and the environment, such as the identification of the establishment
involved in a recall or stop sale order. These inspections can result in enforcement
action, including suspension or cancellation of a pesticide product use or sale. In
addition, these inspections collect and develop evidence to support legal actions
when violations of the Act are found at establishments that produce, distribute and
sell pesticides.
Import inspections are done to ensure that imported pesticides comply with the
requirements of FIFRA. Pesticides found not in compliance are detained and
brought into compliance, or refused entry.
'North Dakota, like other states, has state pesticide regulations. North Dakota conducts producer establishment
inspections following its state regulations and using state credentials. However, these state-performed producer
establishment inspections cannot be substituted for or conducted in lieu of federal inspections. In addition to other
substantive legal differences between the state and federal standards, the reach of the state law applies only within
the state and access to proprietary business information by the state is limited.
15-P-0099
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Federal-Credentialed State Inspectors
According to OECA managers, FIFRA producer establishment and import
inspections must be conducted by either an EPA inspector or a qualified state
inspector (also called "federal credentialed"). States need federal credentials to
conduct inspections on behalf of the EPA when there is no state authority to
conduct the inspection or when the EPA requests that states use federal authorities
despite having state authority to inspect.
Significant Long-Standing Lapses in EPA Region 8 FIFRA Producer
Establishment and Import Inspections in North Dakota
According to EPA Region 8 FIFRA managers, the region has not conducted
FIFRA producer establishment inspections in North Dakota for at least 14 years.
In contrast, Region 8 conducts inspections of all pesticide-producing facilities in
Colorado on a 3-year review cycle. We were told that while the North Dakota
Department of Agriculture conducts its own state inspections of pesticide
producer establishments, these inspections cannot replace federal inspections.
Given the lapse in Region 8 FIFRA producer establishment inspections, there is
increased risk to human health and the environment in that pesticides being
produced, mixed, formulated or repackaged in North Dakota may not be in
compliance with all FIFRA rules for safe packaging, handling, labeling and
sampling to verify that each compound matches its label.
The last FIFRA import inspection conducted by a Region 8 inspector in North
Dakota was in 2010. Since 2011, the EPA has received approximately 1,300
notices that pesticides were coming into North Dakota from other countries and
none have been inspected, according to the region's data. EPA Region 8 staff
explained that FIFRA import inspections are "inspections of opportunity."2
Failure to conduct import inspections increases the risk that pesticide products
entering the United States through North Dakota are not in compliance with
FIFRA rules for registration, labeling and sampling to verify the compound
matches its label. Also, without such inspections, residents in other states and
locations in the United States in addition to North Dakota could be at risk.
EPA Region 8 staff stated that producer establishment and import inspections
have not been conducted in North Dakota because North Dakota officials do not
want federal inspections conducted in their state. The North Dakota Director of
the Pesticides and Fertilizer Division asserted that its state producer establishment
inspections were sufficient to ensure FIFRA compliance, and that Region 8
2According to Region 8, inspectors should conduct import inspections based on issues or concerns with 'Notices of
Arrivals' of imported pesticides or if Region 8 is following up on a request from another region or EPA headquarters
related to a particular shipment or shipper. According to the agency's 2013 FIFRA Inspection Manual, upon receipt
of the Notice of Arrival, the region should determine whether to inspect and/or sample based on: (1) pesticides
suspected of noncompliance, (2) pesticides with a violative history, or (3) first-time import of a pesticide to the
region.
15-P-0099
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officials were also in agreement. However, EPA Region 8 has the responsibility to
conduct FIFRA producer establishment and import inspections in all of
Region 8's states, including North Dakota. The state's preference that federal
inspections not be carried out in North Dakota should not be accepted by
Region 8.
North Dakota Does Not Have a Federal-Credentialed State Inspector
North Dakota does not currently have a federal-credentialed state inspector and
has not had one since the inspector with credentials retired in 2013.3 A 2013 EPA
memorandum on this issue states, "due to the interstate nature of FIFRA, it would
be inefficient to have a state-by-state, patchwork approach to inspection
authorities and especially detrimental should there be an exigent need for Federal
inspection. Therefore, all State Lead Agencies must have at least one inspector
with a Federal credential." The same 2013 memorandum regarding the use of
credentials by state inspectors says that "the failure to have at least one inspector
with a Federal credential may affect inspection-related funding under a
cooperative agreement." EPA Region 8 has not reduced funding under the
Region 8 cooperative agreement with North Dakota since the position's vacancy
in 2013. The North Dakota Director agreed that the state needs a federal-
credentialed inspector for import inspections. According to EPA Region 8 staff, in
accordance with the 2015 Cooperative Agreement between EPA Region 8 and
North Dakota, the state agreed to add at least one federal-credentialed inspector
and has verbally agreed to adding two additional federal-credentialed inspectors.
Recommendations
We recommend that the Regional Administrator, Region 8:
1.	Immediately initiate FIFRA producer establishment and import
inspections in North Dakota that are conducted by Region 8 inspectors or
by federal-credentialed North Dakota inspectors.
2.	Establish and submit to OECA a multi-year inspection plan for producer
establishments operating in North Dakota and for pesticide imports
entering the United States through North Dakota.
3.	Compile a list of the number of producer establishment and import
inspections that are conducted in the state annually in Region 8's
North Dakota End-of-Year report.
3 The March 24, 2006, cooperative agreement between EPA Region 8 and North Dakota states: "It is agreed that it is
in the best interest of this cooperative effort for EPA to authorize employees of the North Dakota Department of
Agriculture to conduct inspections using EPA credentials."
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We recommend that the Assistant Administrator for Enforcement and Compliance
Assurance:
4. Review Region 8's fiscal year 2015 North Dakota End-of-Year report and
confirm that FIFRA producer establishment and import inspections in
North Dakota have been initiated.
Agency Comments and OIG Evaluation
The EPA agreed with our findings and recommendations and provided corrective
actions and estimated completion dates for the report recommendations. All
recommendations are resolved and no final response from the agency is required.
15-P-0099
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Status of Recommendations and
Potential Monetary Benefits
RECOMMENDATIONS
POTENTIAL MONETARY
BENEFITS (In $000s)
Rec.
No.
No.
Subject
Status1
Action Official
Immediately initiate FIFRA producer establishment
and import inspections in North Dakota that are
conducted by Region 8 inspectors or by federal-
credentialed North Dakota inspectors.
Establish and submit to OECA a multi-year
inspection plan for producer establishments
operating in North Dakota and for pesticide imports
entering the United States through North Dakota.
Compile a list of the number of producer
establishment and import inspections that are
conducted in the state annually in Region 8's
North Dakota End-of-Year report.
Review Region 8's fiscal year 2015 North Dakota
End-of-Year report and confirm that FIFRA
producer establishment and import inspections in
North Dakota have been initiated.
Planned
Completion
Date
Claimed
Amount
Ag reed-To
Amount
Regional Administrator, 9/30/15
Region 8
Regional Administrator, 4/15/15
Region 8
Regional Administrator, 3/15/16
Region 8
Assistant Administrator for 4/15/16
Enforcement and
Compliance Assurance
1 0 = Recommendation is open with agreed-to corrective actions pending.
C = Recommendation is closed with all agreed-to actions completed.
U = Recommendation is unresolved with resolution efforts in progress.
15-P-0099
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Appendix A
Distribution
Office of the Administrator
Assistant Administrator for Enforcement and Compliance Assurance
Regional Administrator, Region 8
Agency Follow-Up Official (the CFO)
Agency Follow-Up Coordinator
General Counsel
Associate Administrator for Congressional and Intergovernmental Relations
Associate Administrator for Public Affairs
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Enforcement and Compliance Assurance
Deputy Regional Administrator, Region 8
Director, Office of Compliance, Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance
Director, Office of Enforcement, Compliance and Environmental Justice, Region 8
Audit Follow-Up Coordinator, Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance
Audit Follow-Up Coordinator, Region 8
15-P-0099
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