Chemigation is just what it sounds like – the application of chemicals or pesticides through an irrigation system – and many nurseries use it. At the request of the State FIFRA Issues Research and Evaluation Group, which is comprised of state pesticide regulators, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is working towards a new set of guidelines for the labeling of chemigation products. These rules would replace the existing guidance on this subject, which dates back to 1987. The first step? EPA has posted a chemigation labeling discussion paper at www.epa.gov/pesticides/regulating/labels/projects.htm. Anyone interested is invited to give “preliminary, informal comments on the best approaches to take in developing useful guidance on chemigation labeling,” the EPA said. Instructions:

Comments on this paper should be submitted by February 6, 2009, to: [email protected]. Do not submit information considered to be Confidential Business Information or otherwise protected from disclosure. Any comments submitted may be made available to the public. To assist the Agency in responding to comments, please include your name, organizational affiliation, and a telephone number.

Once these comments are received the EPA will begin drafting a specific proposal which will go out for public notice and more comment.