September Update for Board of Pesticides Control

Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry sent this bulletin at 09/30/2026 04:22 PM EDT

View as a webpage  /  ShareBoard of Pesticides ControlBoard of Pesticides Control UpdateStay up to date with the latest from the Board of Pesticides Control. This update covers everything you need to know about upcoming meetings, new rules, and important reminders to keep you and your community safe. We’re here to keep you informed, and we’d like to hear your thoughts—drop us an email anytime at pesticides@maine.gov.In this Update:Upcoming Board MeetingsProduct Registration InformationBPC Reminders and UpdatesToxicology CornerEnforcement ReminderEPA Extends Comment Period on Glyphosate Human Health Open Literature Search DocumentEPA and HHS Announce New Scientific Partnership to Strengthen Glyphosate ReviewUpcoming Board MeetingsThe next Board Meeting is October 2, 2026 it will be hybrid at the Deering Building in Room 101 in Augusta, ME 04330, and on Microsoft Teams. The meeting starts at 9:00 AM. For more information, visit the Board Meetings Page.Upcoming Credit MeetingsThe following program has been approved for pesticide recertification credits. More recertification opportunities may be found on the BPC Credit Calendar.October 6, 2026 – Pesticides & The EnvironmentLocation: Online WebinarApproved for 3 pesticide creditsFor More Information and RegistrationNovember 12, 2026 – National Right-of-Way- Applicator WebinarLocation: Online WebinarApproved for 6 pesticide creditsFor More Information and RegistrationNovember 16-17, 2026 – Ag Aviation ExpoLocation: Savannah Convention Center, 1 International Drive, Savannah, GAApproved for 1 – 2 credits per sessionSessions available: Precision Agriculture, Low Altitude & FAA Update Session, Aerial Application Technology Research Session, Turning an Airplane SafelyFor More Information and Registration Please contact Tom Hardman, thardman@agaviation.org, (202) 794-9010Product Registration InformationThe BPC maintains a list of registered products on the front page of its website. For a list of the current Maine registrations.BPC Reminders and UpdatesLicense Renewal ReminderLicensing season has arrived and the first round of renewal notifications have been sent out to those with expiring ABA and PPA licenses. Renewal notifications for commercial applicators will be sent out at the end of the month. Sign into the portalfor information on your license expiration date and continuing education credits needed for renewal. Renewal fee amounts can be found on the website. For help logging into your portal, contact BPC at pesticides@maine.gov or 207-287-2731.Obsolete Pesticide Collection Events – LAST CHANCE FOR NOVEMBER!The Maine Board of Pesticides Control and Maine Department of Environmental Protection are hosting their annual Obsolete Pesticide Collection Programs in Maine. The events will take place in November at locations in Presque Isle, Bangor, Augusta, and Portland. This event is FREE for Maine residents, homeowners, and family-owned farms. Any pesticides or adjuvants are accepted. Registration prior to the event is required, and accepted participants will be notified of specific event details. This event is ONLY for pesticides. BPC will not accept oils, paints, or other hazardous materials. Registrations must be received by October 5th, 2026 to participate. Please see the attached event flyer for more details. Interested individuals can visit the BPC website to sign up or contact the BPC at 207-287-2731 or pesticides@maine.gov.Toxicology CornerDr. Doug Van HoewykThis month, the EPA announced that it will be reviewing the registration of glyphosate, the active ingredient in many herbicidal products. The review will include the re-evaluation of both glyphosate and the “toxicology of glyphosate formulations.” This distinction is critical. Many ready-to-use glyphosate products contain less than 2% of the active ingredient glyphosate. Thus, the formulation can contain 98% inerts, which are not required to be listed on the label. This is because the information is deemed proprietary and viewed as confidential business information (CBI). However, the EPA does evaluate inerts in glyphosate formulations, which is a requirement before registering a product. The EPA’s assessment of the product formulation- including inerts- is used to determine the product’s signal word, first aid requirements, and precautionary statement sections found on the label.Inert or “Other” Ingredients Fact Sheet – NPICIndividual Inert Ingredient Database – EPAEnforcement ReminderAs we enter the time of year when soil fumigations are typically applied, the BPC enforcement team would like to make a few reminders to applicators that use these products. Soil fumigants are used to improve yields for crops like potatoes, but their nature as a gas, they come with the risk of exposure to handlers, workers, and bystanders, especially in fields with homes nearby. Common product names include Vapam (active ingredient Metam Sodium) and PIC-CLOR 60 (active ingredient Chloropicrin). Please remember:That applicators MUST notify BPC in advance of soil fumigations. All soil fumigant products include a section called NOTICE TO STATE AND TRIBAL LEAD AGENCIES, which requires the following information be provided to certain states, including Maine:Location of the application blocks,Fumigant(s) applied including EPA registration number,Applicator and property owner contact information, andTime period that fumigation may occurFailure to comply with this requirement is considered a violation of label directions.All soil fumigants are Restricted Use Pesticides and must only be purchased and used by licensed applicators.Follow all mandatory Good Agricultural Practices and pay particular attention to plant residue on the field before applying. From the labels:“Crop residue that is present must lie flat to permit the soil to be sealed effectively and limit the natural “chimneys” that may occur in the soil when plant residue is present. These “chimneys” allow the soil fumigants to move through the soil quickly and escape into the atmosphere. This may create potentially harmful conditions for workers and bystanders and limits the efficacy of the fumigant.”Be mindful of temperature inversions, which have been known to cause fumigant gas to move rapidly off field and could expose people nearby. Check the weather conditions estimated before and after the application.If you have any questions about the use of soil fumigants, please reach out to BPC staff at 207-287-2731 or pesticides@maine.govEPA Extends Comment Period on Glyphosate Human Health Open Literature Search DocumentEPA is extending the public comment period on the glyphosate open-literature search protocol by 60 days. The extension ensures the full universe of relevant science is on the table, and gives researchers, farmers, families, and every stakeholder more time to make sure their evidence is heard.The Trump EPA is committed to the most rigorous, transparent glyphosate review in the agency’s history. That is why Administrator Zeldin and Secretary Kennedy signed a Memorandum of Understanding bringing the scientific resources of HHS directly into EPA’s review, from NIEHS and the National Toxicology Program to NCI, NIOSH, CDC, and FDA. Through this partnership, we will continue to follow the science wherever it leads, show our work, and deliver the safest and healthiest outcome for the American people. EPA released the open literature search on August 25, 2026, with a comment period closing on September 24, 2026. Upon publication of the Federal Register notice extending the comment period, comments can be submitted to docket  EPA-HQ-OPP-2009-0361. Comments must be submitted at regulations.gov by November 23, 2026.  EPA Launches New Email Subscription Feature to Help Pesticide Users with Endangered Species Act RequirementsEPA is announcing a new email subscription feature to help pesticide users quickly receive updates from the Bulletins Live! Two system, including notifications about new Pesticide Use Limitation Areas (PULA) and changes to existing PULAs. EPA developed this feature in direct response to requests from pesticide users who asked for better access to Bulletins Live! Two updates. With this feature, whenever Endangered Species Act requirements are updated in Bulletins Live! Two, subscribed pesticide users will receive an email with the latest information, saving them time and making their jobs easier. Pesticide labels can direct users to the Bulletins Live! Two system for additional, area-specific measures needed to protect threatened and endangered (listed) species and their designated critical habitat. Because EPA continually updates the system—including adding and revising PULAs for different geographic areas—a pesticide user might not see restrictions for a product today but could in the future. The new subscription feature will help pesticide users learn about relevant updates in near real time, so they can act quickly and with confidence based on Bulletins Live! Two information delivered directly to them. With this new email subscription feature, subscribers will receive: Notifications of major Bulletins Live! Two system updates Announcements of new PULAs Alerts about changes to existing PULAs To subscribe, please visit EPA’s website.EPA and HHS Announce New Scientific Partnership to Strengthen Glyphosate ReviewSeptember 22, 2026Contact InformationEPA Press Office (press@epa.gov) WASHINGTON —The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) today announced a new interagency Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to strengthen scientific coordination and expand the evidence available to EPA’s ongoing registration review of glyphosate under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA).Under the MOU, the agencies will exchange scientific information, identify research gaps, and expand research into potential human health effects. EPA retains sole authority for registration decisions under FIFRA, and the MOU creates no new authority for either agency.“FIFRA requires us to reexamine registered pesticides on a recurring cycle against the best available science, and that is exactly what we are doing with glyphosate,” said EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin. “This agreement with Secretary Kennedy and HHS gives our scientists access to research capacity at HHS that addresses potential gaps in the record. EPA will weigh what that work produces the way we weigh any other scientific evidence. We will evaluate the relevant evidence, address important scientific questions, and show our work, providing insight into how the science informs our decisions, as we always do, to conduct the most transparent and thorough review possible.”“Americans have a right to know what the best science tells us about the chemicals they encounter in their food, workplaces, and environment,” said HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. “We are bringing the scientific resources of HHS to the table to answer unresolved questions, strengthen the evidence, and give EPA the data it needs to conduct a rigorous review. We will ask the hard questions, demand sound science, and follow the evidence wherever it leads. This partnership advances President Trump’s Make America Healthy Again agenda by putting the health of the American people first.”Under the MOU, HHS and EPA will establish a joint technical working group that brings together experts from EPA, including the Office of Pesticide Programs, and HHS components, including the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), National Toxicology Program, National Cancer Institute, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Environmental Health, and Food and Drug Administration. The working group will identify priority scientific questions, coordinate research and information-sharing, and align its work with EPA’s registration-review schedule.The partnership will focus on key areas where additional research and scientific coordination can strengthen the evidence base available to EPA, including the toxicology of glyphosate formulations and surfactants, occupational epidemiology, human exposure and biomonitoring, and dietary exposure.As part of its registration review, EPA will systematically evaluate relevant peer-reviewed research published since its previous assessment and explain how the evidence informs its updated conclusions. EPA will screen the studies against the same criteria it applies to any other published literature and will address in the registration review record those it determines to be relevant and of sufficient quality.EPA’s human health risk assessment will address exposure to glyphosate-based formulations, dietary exposure including from preharvest applications, and occupational exposure, and will evaluate the available cancer, genotoxicity, reproductive, and developmental evidence. FIFRA and the Food Quality Protection Act require EPA to determine that there is a reasonable certainty of no harm from aggregate dietary exposure, with particular attention to infants and children. The working group will help EPA identify consequential data gaps that may warrant additional research, testing, or monitoring, including emerging areas such as the microbiome.The MOU also strengthens transparency around the agencies’ scientific collaboration. HHS and EPA intend, consistent with applicable law, to make appropriate working-group materials available on a rolling basis in Docket EPA-HQ-OPP-2009-0361 as they are finalized, while protecting confidential business information and other protected information.HHS will designate a senior NIEHS official to coordinate HHS participation, and EPA will designate senior officials from its Office of Pesticide Programs to coordinate EPA’s participation.EPA retains responsibility for registration decisions under FIFRA and final decision-making authority consistent with its statutory responsibilities. The MOU does not predetermine or direct the outcome of EPA’s glyphosate registration review or constrain EPA’s discretion under federal law.BackgroundEPA is currently reevaluating glyphosate through its pesticide registration-review process. EPA is updating its human health risk assessment and its evaluation of glyphosate’s carcinogenic potential, with completion anticipated in early 2027. EPA recently released for public comment a comprehensive open-literature search protocol that will help inform the updated human health risk assessment.The HHS-EPA MOU establishes a formal framework for the agencies to exchange scientific information, identify outstanding research questions, coordinate additional research, and bring HHS expertise and data to EPA’s review. The MOU creates no new authorities, and each agency will conduct its work under its existing statutory authorities.For additional information about EPA’s glyphosate registration review, visit Docket EPA-HQ-OPP-2009-0361.Maine State Government is an equal opportunity provider and employer.  Manage Preferences & Unsubscribe | Help | Credits | Contact Us

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