133 1 so appropriated, and no fee other than reasonable fees for 2 registration of pesticides under section 3 shall be required to 3 be paid to the Federal Government in connection with any 4 activity under this Act.” 5 AMENDMENTS TO OTHER ACTS 6 SEC. 3. The following Acts are amended by striking out 7 the terms "economic poisons" and "an economic poison" 8 wherever they appear and inserting in lieu thereof "pesti9 cides" and "a pesticide" respectively: 10 11 127 13 14 15 16 17 (1) The Federal Hazardous Substances Act, as amended (15 U.S.C. 1261 et seq.); (2) The Poison Prevention Packaging Act, as amended (15 U.S.C. 1471 et seq.); and (3) The Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, as amended (21 U.S.C. 301 et seq.). EFFECTIVE DATES OF PROVISIONS OF ACT SEC. 4. (a) Except as otherwise provided in the Fed 18 eral Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, as amended 19 by this Act, and as otherwise provided by this section, the 20 amendments made by this Act shall take effect at the close 21 of the date of the enactment of this Act, provided if regu22 lations are necessary for the implementation of any pro23 vision that becomes effective on the date of enactment, such 24 regulations shall be promulgated and shall become effec25 tive within 90 days from the date of enactment of this Act. 134 1 (b) The provisions of the Federal Insecticide, Fungi 2 cide, and Rodenticide Act and the regulations thereunder 3 as such existed prior to the enactment of this Act shall re4 main in effect until superseded by the amendments made by 5 this Act and regulations thereunder: Provided, That all pro6 visions made by these amendments and all regulations there7 under shall be effective within four years after the enact8 ment of this Act. 9 (c)(1) Two years after the enactment of this Act the 10 Administrator shall have promulgated regulations providing 11 for the registration and classification of pesticides under the 12 provisions of this Act and thereafter shall register all new 13 applications under such provisions. 14 (2) After two years but within four years after the en 15 actment of this Act the Administrator shall register and 16 reclassify pesticides registered under the provisions of the 17 Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act prior 18 to the effective date of the regulations promulgated under 19 subsection (c)(1). 20 (3) Any requirements that a pesticide be registered for use only by a certified applicator shall not be effective until 22 four years from the date of enactment of this Act. 21 23 (4) A period of four years from date of enactment shall 24 be provided for certification of applicators. (A) One year after the enactment of this Act the 1 2 3 4 5 6 བ 7 8 9 10 11 12 135 Administrator shall have prescribed the standards for the certification of applicators. (B) Within three years after the enactment of this Act each State desiring to certify applicators shall submit a State plan to the Administrator for the purpose provided by section 4(b). (C) As promptly as possible but in no event more than one year after submission of a State plan, the Administrator shall approve the State plan or disapprove it and indicate the reasons for disapproval. Consideration of plans resubmitted by States shall be expedited. (5) One year after the enactment of this Act the Admin13 istrator shall have promulgated and shall make effective 14 regulations relating to the registration of establishments, per15 mits for experimental use, and the keeping of books and rec16 ords under the provisions of this Act. 19 17 (d) No person shall be subject to any criminal or civil 18 penalty imposed by the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, as amended by this Act, for any act (or 20 failure to act) occurring before the expiration of 60 days 21 after the Administrator has published effective regulations 22 in the Federal Register and taken such other action as may 23 be necessary to permit compliance with the provisions under 24 which the penalty is to be imposed. 25 (e) For purposes of determining any criminal or civil 136 1 penalty or liability to any third person in respect of any act 2 or omission occurring before the expiration of the periods 3 referred to in this section, the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, 4 and Rodenticide Act shall be treated as continuing in effect Passed the House of Representatives November 9, 1971. Hon. WARREN G. MAGNUSON, THE GENERAL COUNSEL OF THE TREASURY, Chairman, Committee on Commerce, U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C. DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: The proposed "Federal Environmental Pesticide Control Act of 1971", H.R. 10729, has recently come to our attention. Since enactment of the bill would necessitate some action by this Department, we would like to offer our views on it. The bill would amend the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (7 U.S.C. 135 et seq.), by expanding the comprehensive program for the control and use of pesticides, including Federal and State cooperation. Section 2 (aa) defines the term "State" as "a State, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, and American Samoa." This would extend the coverage of the Act to a geographical area greater than that comprising the Customs territory of the United States (the States, the District of Columbia and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico). Therefore, we recommend that subsection 16 (c) be amended to define "State" for the purposes of that subsection to include the States, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. Section 16 (c), like the existing law (7 U.S.C. 135h), provides that the Secretary of the Treasury shall notify the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency of the arrival of pesticides and devices, and deliver samples to the Administrator, upon his request. Because acute dermal or inhalation toxicity of many of those substances may be hazardous to the persons handling them, we would expect to make regulations under the authority of section 16(e) to insure the safety of Customs officers taking samples. Section 16(c) would also provide that the Secretary of the Treasury may deliver a pesticide or device in violation of the provisions of the Act to the consignee pending examination and decision, on execution of a bond for the full amount of the invoice value plus duty. On refusal to return the pesticide or device to the custody of the Secretary of the Treasury, when demanded, the consignee shall forfeit the full amount of the bond. As worded, this provision would allow for no reduction of the claim for liquidated damages, such as presently provided for in section 1623 (c), Tariff Act of 1930, under which the Secretary of the Treasury may cancel any charge against a bond upon payment of a lesser amount. As primary administrative and enforcement responsibility properly is to be exercised under the bill by the Administrator, Environmental Protection Agency, it is suggested that section 16 (e) be changed to read: "(e) Regulations.-The Administrator shall prescribe regulations for the enforcement of this section, and the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Administrator, shall prescribe conforming regulations for Customs enforecment and sampling procedures at ports of entry." Since the Bureau of Customs does not have the expertise to determine if a pesticide or device complies with the requirements of the Environmental Protection Agency, you may wish to consider inclusion of a provision similar to the following: "Every person importing a pesticide or device into the United States shall furnish Customs at the port of entry a certificate of compliance in the form prescribed by the Administrator, certifying that such pesticide or device conforms to all Federal requirements prescribed under this Act, or that nonconforming articles will be brought into compliance under procedures prescribed in regulations of the Administrator." The Department defers to the Environmental Protection Agency, which has primary administrative and enforcment responsibilities, on the merits of the bill. The Department does not anticipate any unusual difficulties in carrying out at ports of entry its supporting enforceent responsibilities. The Department has been advised by the Office of Management and Budget that there is no objection from the standpoint of the Administration's program to the submission of this report to your Committee. Sincerely yours, 85-424 O - 72 - 6 SAMUEL R. PIERCE, Jr., General Counsel. |