Sacramento-The battle between the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) and the producer of a fertilizer made from worm castings that is also naturally resistant to pests now involves the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The issue whether Wormgold should be registered as a pesticide is now in the courts. But DPR has produced a letter from EPA’s office of pesticide programs stating that the biochemical classification committee determined that Wormgold should be re-classified as long ago as 2001 as “not a biochemical” and that the registrant may not make any pesticidal claims either on the product label or in any advertising until registered by the agency. DPR also produced an 18-page “proposed decision of hearing officer” justifying a $100,000 fine stating that the producer had reaped “significant benefit” of at least $1.6 million while under warning by DPR, and that the conduct “contravenes the core purpose” of the registration requirement. “The registration process is designed to test the efficacy and safety of the product, thereby protecting public health, environmental and consumer concerns. The conduct herein prevented that from happening,” the hearing officer concluded.
Transparency Across the Fertilizer Value-Chain