State Restrictions on Federal Pesticide Labels Under Scrutiny

EPA's announcement of new dicamba regulations comes at a time when states' ability to restrict this kind of federal pesticide label may be under threat. In the past, states have used section 24(c) of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), to pass more restrictive state regulations on federal pesticide labels. For example, the state of Tennessee used Section 24(c) to limit the use of three dicamba herbicides to 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. in the state in 2018 -- even though the federal dicamba label only limited use from sunrise to sunset.That practice may no longer be routine, because EPA is worried that the FIFRA language does not actually support it, state pesticide regulators told DTN."What we've heard is that the purpose of Section 24(c) is to allow additional uses of a federal pesticide, as opposed to restrict uses," said Leo Reed, American Association of Pesticide Control Officials (AAPCO) board director from Indiana. "And states have been using it to restrict federal labels, and EPA is leery of continuing that process."