View Rule

In an advance notice of proposed rulemaking issued in 2009, EPA sought public comment on a variety of approaches under consideration, including disclosure based on hazard and broader disclosure of inert ingredient identities. EPA initiated this rulemaking in response to two petitions filed under the Administrative Procedures Act seeking disclosure of selected inert ingredients on pesticide labels (based on the hazard of that ingredient). The petitioners asserted that such a rulemaking would assist consumers and users of pesticides in making informed decisions and reduce the presence of potentially hazardous ingredients in pesticides. On May 22, 2014, EPA informed the petitioners that the Agency had determined to no longer pursue a rulemaking, because EPA believed that it could achieve greater risk reduction through a series of non-rule actions designed to reduce the presence of hazardous inert ingredients in specific pesticide products. The Agency was sued by the petitioners claiming "unreasonable delay." On September 15, 2014, the court decided in EPA favor (Center for Environmental Health, et al., v. Gina McCarthy, United States District Court, Northern District of California).