Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regulates pesticides in groundwater with authority given to it by the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, the Clean Water Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act. EPA is working on the draft Final Rule document for the Pesticides and Ground Water State Management Plan Regulation which details the preferred approach to protecting groundwater resources from pesticide contamination.

Each state is to prepare Pesticide Management Plans (PMPs) for the protection of groundwater from specific pesticides. Should any state elect not to, then the specific pesticides will not be allowed to be manufactured, sold, or used within that state. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), in cooperation with the Texas Groundwater Protection Committee and its member agencies, is responsible for drafting PMPs. Texas' pesticide specific PMPs will be reviewed for approval by USEPA Region 6's Pesticide Programs.

Photo Courtesy of Texas Department of Agriculture

• EPA's Office of Pesticide Programs provides electronically delivered updates on OPP's activities. The updates typically include information on new pesticides, phasing out of older ones, as well as pesticide-related rules and programs.
• EPA's Region 6 Pesticide Programs
• Pesticide.net is updated by a legal firm and includes numerous pesticide issue updates, regulations, laws, Federal Register, guidance documents and more.