The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is charged with regulating the sale and use of pesticides in the United States. In order to evaluate the risks of pesticide use and the benefits derived from pesticide use, and to evaluate the potential ramifications of regulatory decisions about the sale and use of pesticides, regulators must have information about how, where, when, why, and how much each pesticide is used in the United states The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the role of use-related information in the regulatory process in terms that can be understood by the educated lay public. It will summarize the types of use-related data used by EPA in pesticide risk assessment and risk management It will describe where the data come from, and how the Agency employs these data. Section III describes how EPA organizes and evaluates pesticide use data. Following the description of the nature of the data, where it comes from and how it is analyzed, the next three sections describe the role of use-related data in human health risk assessments, including drinking water, and ecological risk assessments, and the role of use-related information in risk management decisions. The final discussion of future steps for improving the quality and quantity of pesticide use data, and strengthening the Agency's analytical approaches, highlights the limitations of the available use-related data and EPA's proposed revision to its public participation process.

"August 21, 2000." At head of title: Office of Pesticide Programs Science policy. Microfiche.