- Mission [1]
- The Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) Scientific Advisory Panel (SAP) supports EPA s Goal 4 -- Healthy
Communities and Ecosystems. The FIFRA SAP is a statutory advisory committee created on November 28, 1975 pursuant to section
25(d) of FIFRA (as amended by Public Laws 94-140, 95-396, 96-539, 98-201, and 100-532). Under FIFRA (section 25(d)), the EPA
is required to submit certain regulatory actions to the SAP for comment as to the impact on human health and the environment
(e.g., regulatory actions under sections 6(b), 6(c), and 25(a) of FIFRA). In addition, the FIFRA SAP provides advice, information,
and recommendations on: methods to ensure that pesticides do not cause “unreasonable adverse effects on the environment” (as
defined in Section 2 (bb) of FIFRA); EPA analyses, reports and guidelines to improve the effectiveness and quality of scientific
analyses made by the Agency; and other major scientific studies and issues. In general, the FIFRA SAP serves as the main organization
for scientific peer review supporting the EPA Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention (OCSPP). For example, implementation
of the Food Quality Protection Act of 1996 (Public Law 104-170) required the development of a number of risk assessment methodologies
to support the Agency’s goals for clean and safe water and safe food. The FIFRA SAP conducted a number of reviews over a relatively
short time frame to support the Agency’s efforts in this area. Overall, the FIFRA SAP provides scientific peer review which
is a critical component of EPA’s use of the best available science. Peer reviews conducted by the Scientific Advisory Panel
relate to the Agency's Strategic Plan through Sub-objective 4.1.3: Protect Human Health from Pesticide Risk and Sub-objective
4.1.4: Protect the Environment from Pesticide Risk by ensuring that sound science supports the implementation of statues and
regulatory actions regarding the safe use of pesticides. The FIFRA Scientific Advisory Panel held 5 review sessions in FY
2011 and published 5 reports providing Panel recommendations and advice to the Agency on a range of scientific issues. This
year, the Panel addressed methodology issues, modeling issues, and chemical specific issues related to human health and ecological
risks.
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