Welcome to the Department of Pesticide Regulation

January 1, 2005
Pesticide Registration Branch
California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR)


POLICY AND PROCEDURAL CHANGES and OTHER ITEMS OF INTEREST in 2004

(Note: The California Notices to Registrants mentioned below are found on our website at www.cdpr.ca.gov under Programs and Services,
Registration Branch.)

Application Form for Amending Pesticide Products. An application form was developed for for amendments to product registrations which require scientific data. This was a result of the 2003 regulation which requires a fee for certain amendments. The form is now available on the Registration Branch website.(PDF 25kb)

Fee Changes for Pesticide Product Registrations. Effective January 1, 2004, the registration application fee was changed to $750 per product and an application fee of $100 for product amendments requiring scientific data was added. Product renewals are now $750 per product. This was the result of a 2003 law allowing fee amounts for product registration and mill assessments to be set by regulation. Details are in California Notice to Registrants 2003-7.

Workshop for Antimicrobial Product Registrations. On April 26-27, 2004, the Registration Branch conducted the third DPR-sponsored workshop on registration requirements. This workshop emphasized requirements and procedures for registering antimicrobial products (sanitizers, disinfectants, etc.) in California, including enforcement and worker safety topics. The workshop was attended by over 100 company representatives. A few workbooks are still available and can be obtained for a charge by contacting Ms. Rosie Rein at rrein@cdpr.ca.gov . DPR is planning future workshops in 2005 emphasizing other types of products. Please watch our website for announcements.

E-mail Tracking of Submissions. Yes, we have finally implemented the e-mail notification program for tracking submissions! This was the result of the Business Process Group recommendations. It is an automatic notification generated by our electronic tracking system. The process will electronically notify an applicant, by email, of their submission's progress. To receive an email notification, the applicant must specifically sign up when submitting a registration request. For details, see California Notice to Registrants 2004-14.

Reevaluation of Certain Active Ingredients. California Notices to Registrants 2004-4 and 2004-8 and 2004-11 give the status of active ingredients which are currently in the DPR Reevaluation process.

Warranty and Liability Statements on Labels. Although most product labels contain acceptable warranty or liability statements regarding use of the product, some statements have been extended so that they are no longer acceptable to DPR. Statements that relieve or contradict the uses approved on the label are not allowed by DPR. In addition, DPR does not allow a signed waiver of liability to be part of a pesticide label, including those registered under Section 24c. For details and examples, see the most recent version of California Notice to Registrants 2004-3 dated October 8, 2004.

Residue Data Requirements Discontinued. DPR is no longer requiring submission or evaluation of most types of residue chemistry data for food or feed use products. Residue data currently submitted will be filed in the DPR library unevaluated. Although certain types of residue data, such as residue analytical method, are still required when applicable to a registration action, most other data types including crop field trials have been discontinued. This important change in data requirements is outlined in California Notice to Registrants 2004-7.

Worker Health and Safety Branch Changes in Submission Reviews. Changes in routing procedures for product registration and amendments have resulted in the Medical Toxicology Branch conducting many of the evaluations that were formerly done by the Worker Health and Safety Branch. For more information, contact your DPR registration specialist.

Groundwater Protection Data - Evaluation Methodology Change. The Environmental Monitoring Branch evaluates required groundwater protection data for new agricultural use products in accordance with California's groundwater protection law, also known as AB2021. Until recently, staff used a deterministic methodology devised by Wilkerson and Kim to conduct DPR evaluations. To estimate the potential of a pesticide to leach to groundwater, DPR will now be using a probabilistic modeling approach developed by DPR staff.

Review of Additional Data Discontinued. Data sent in over the last several years as "additional data only" will not be evaluated by DPR and is being shredded or, upon request, returned to the submitter. This applies only to data that was not submitted to support a registration action or fulfill conditions, report adverse effects, or in response to a request by DPR. The Registration Branch is sending individual letters to the affected companies. DPR is also asking that companies not submit additional data unless it fits into one of these categories or unless the company feels the data is essential to maintain their product's registration.

U.S. EPA Data Evaluation Reports (DER) submissions to DPR. When applying for product registration or product amendment which requires scientific data, applicants are encouraged to submit the applicable U.S. EPA Data Evaluation Report (DER). When possible, DPR intends to use the federal DER and only refer to the underlying data on an "as-needed" basis. More information is in California Notice to Registrants 2004-6.

Sample Letter of Authorization. The Registration Branch has provided a sample Letter of Authorization to assist both the applicant and the company writing the authorization letter. To obtain registration, and for many amendments, scientific data are required to be submitted. In lieu of submitting the data, an applicant may rely on data submitted to DPR by another company, if a current letter of authorization is submitted by the owner of data. Details, including a sample letter, are available in California Notice to Registrants 2004-10

Registration Desk Manual. The Registration Branch Desk Manual, which is an internal working guide for the DPR Pesticide Use Specialist (Registration Specialist), is available on the Registration Branch website. Please note that updates are made as time permits. Contact your specialist and use the laws and regulations for complete information about requirements.

California Notices to Registrants - Discontinue hard copy mailings. DPR has discontinued mailing registrants a hard copy of the California Notices to Registrants. These are available on our website. You can sign up to automatically receive these through the Listserver.

Information available on DPR Website (www.cdpr.ca.gov) The DPR home page contains a lot of information, with more being added on a regular basis. The Registration Branch website has recently been reformatted and, along with the main DPR home page, still allows access to many data bases, including products registered in California, products entering the scientific evaluation process, proposed registration actions, press releases, California Notices to Registrants, proposed regulations, and more.