Comment submitted by James Skillen, RISE (Responsible Industry for a Sound Environment)

July 10, 2008 Office of Pesticide Programs Regulatory Public Docket (7502P) U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20460-0001 RE: EPA-HQ-OPP-2005-0327 Pesticide Management and Disposal; Standards for Pesticide Containers and Containment: Proposed Amendments To Whom It May Concern: RISE (Responsible Industry for a Sound Environment)®, on behalf of its member companies, would like to submit the followings comments in support of EPA’s proposed amendments. Statement of Interest RISE is a national not-for-profit trade association representing over 220 producers and suppliers of specialty pesticide and fertilizer products to both the professional and consumer (do-it-yourself) markets. Established in 1991, RISE serves as a resource and provides current and accurate information on issues and research affecting the specialty pesticide and fertilizer industries. RISE member companies manufacture over 90 percent of domestically produced conventional specialty pesticides utilized in the United States, including consumer household, lawn and garden, professional pest control, golf course and other professional turf and lawn care, greenhouse and nursery, mosquito repellents and control products. Pesticide labels supplied and used in these market segments are greatly affected by the Container and Containment rule. Comments on the Proposed Amendments We support the decision to extend the compliance date associated with this rulemaking until August 17, 2010. We support the decision to amend Section 152.3 to add a new definition for “released for shipment.” We also support the decision to change the phrase “distributed or sold” in §156.159 to “released for shipment.” We support the decision to add a list of container types eligible for exemption in Section 156.140. The agency recognized these container types to be “inherently nonrefillable” and we agree. Finally, the agency inserted a provision in Section 156.140 for modification; EPA may, “on its own initiative or based on data or information submitted by any person, modify or waive the requirements of this section or permit or require alternative labeling statements.” We support this amendment as well; it represents a common sense approach to the regulation and offers a path forward for the new innovative products of tomorrow. We request the Agency consider addressing this issue in its upcoming guidance documents by either exempting these package types or making the "non-refillable container" statement optional for these package types. While the final rule does permit registrants to seek waivers for some of the requirements, it would be overly burdensome to registrants to formally request waivers, and for Agency personnel to review and respond to each waiver request, for the thousands of registrations currently utilizing non-refillable packaging. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me. We appreciate your kind attention to our comments. Sincerely, James M. Skillen James M. Skillen Director of Science and Regulatory Affairs (202) 872-3845 jskillen@pestfacts.org