The American Association of Pesticide Control Officials (AAPCO) held its annual spring meeting March 1-4 in Alexandria, Va., and Chava McKeel, director of government affairs, represented GCSAA at the meeting. AAPCO is an organization of pesticide regulatory officials from states, U.S. territories, federal agencies and Canadian provinces, who administer and enforce pesticide laws and regulations.

Some of the keynote speakers at the AAPCO meeting included: Kyle Kunkler, US EPA, Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention; Director Ed Messina, US EPA, Office of Pesticide Programs; Loren Denton, CITD Director – US EPA, Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance; and Julie Van Alstine, Acting Director, USDA, Office of Pest Management Policy.

Key discussion topics included:

Pesticide Registration discussion: The process of registration of pesticides is the fundamental mechanism for effective pesticide regulation. Registration decisions regarding active ingredients, safety precautions, directions for use, environmental protections and cautionary language affect every aspect of state pesticide regulatory programs. EPA is implementing process improvements and new approaches to labeling, such as digital labeling and structured labeling. State lead agencies are co-regulatory partners with EPA and understanding current and future registration process and activity will benefit state regulatory programs. This panel provided information on current registration activities, how process improvements may affect registration processes, and how State Lead Agencies, registrants and EPA can work together to more effectively implement registration decisions.

ESA Panel discussion: Representatives of EPA, NASDA Foundation, AAPCO SFIREG and Industry provided updates and current activities that their groups had been working on regarding ESA and pesticides. The discussion included updates from the EPA and the SFIREG Endangered Species Strategy Implementation (ESI) working committee on recent areas of focus; summary of events from the ESA National Forum; details about NASDA Foundation ESA training plans for pesticide inspectors and investigators; and an industry perspective on steps and challenges encountered when complying with new ESA label requirements.

GCSAA has plans to host an ESA compliance webinar this spring. Be on the lookout for a date and time of the webinar on the GCSAA website.

For more information about the AAPCO meeting, reach out to Chava McKeel at (800) 472-7878, ext. 3619.