EPA UPDATE ON VERTEBRATE PESTICIDES

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regulates pesticides under the authority of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). Vertebrate pesticides are subsumed under the heading rodenticides” and, under FIFRA, are regulated similarly to other pesticides. Since its enactment in 1947, FIFRA has been amended many times (e.g., in 1959, 1964, 1972, 1978, and 1988.) These amendments generally have required progressively greater documentation of the effects of pesticides upon man, other nontarget species, and the environment prior to the issuance of full federal registration under Section 3 of FIFRA