| Abstract |
This project supports EPA's mission to protect human health and to safeguard the natural environment-air, water, and land-upon which life depends. Specifically, the author addresses EPA's responsibility to prevent pollution and reduce the impacts from pollution to communities and ecosystems (Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) Goal 4, 'Safe Communities'). To achieve this goal, EPA's Office of Prevention, Pesticides, and Toxic Substances (OPPTS) requires scientifically credible information and methods for use in assessing health and ecological risks from products used in commerce, including chemical pesticides and genetically engineered plants. OPPT regulates chemical and biological pesticides primarily under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) administered through the Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP). Other acts and programs, especially the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), and the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA) are administered by OPPTS's Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics (OPPT) to provide for protection of the environment from chemical and biological pesticides. In the past, protection of ecological resources has received minimal attention under these regulations compared to concerns regarding impacts on human health. |
