7 U.S.C. § 136d — Administrative review; suspension

(a) Existing stocks and information. (1) Existing stocks: When a pesticide's registration is suspended or canceled, the EPA Administrator may still let people sell and use existing stock. The EPA decides how much, under what conditions, and for what uses — but only if doing so fits the purpose of the law. (2) Information: If a registrant learns new facts about a pesticide's unreasonable effects on the environment, the registrant must tell the EPA. (b) Cancellation and change in classification. If a pesticide, its labeling, or other required material doesn't follow the law — or if normal use causes unreasonable harm to the environment — the EPA can send a notice saying it plans to either (1) cancel the registration or change its classification, explaining why, or (2) hold a hearing to decide. This notice goes to the registrant and is made public. When deciding whether to send the notice, EPA must weigh the effect on farm prices and the farm economy. At least 60 days before sending or publishing the notice, EPA must give the Secretary of Agriculture a copy plus an analysis of that economic impact. If the Secretary writes back within 30 days, EPA must publish the Secretary's comments and its own response in the Federal Register. If the Secretary doesn't respond in 30 days, EPA can move ahead without waiting out the rest of the 60 days. These time limits can be shortened or changed if EPA and the Secretary agree. But if EPA finds that suspending a pesticide right away is needed to stop an imminent hazard to human health, EPA can skip the required notice to the Secretary of Agriculture and skip sending the question to the Scientific Advisory Panel, and instead follow the emergency suspension process in subsection (c). For pesticides used in public health, the Secretary of Health and Human Services should provide benefits and use information the same way the Secretary of Agriculture does for farm pesticides. The proposed cancellation or classification change becomes final 30 days after the registrant receives the notice (or after it's published, whichever is later) — unless the registrant fixes the problem or someone harmed by the notice asks for a hearing. If a hearing happens, the decision after it is final. Before taking final action, EPA must consider limiting the pesticide's use instead of canceling it outright, explain its reasons for any restriction, weigh the impact on farm prices and the economy, and publish that analysis in the Federal Register. (c) Suspension. (1) Order: If EPA decides it must act to stop an imminent hazard while a cancellation case is pending, it can suspend the registration right away by order. Except under the emergency rule in paragraph (3), EPA must have already issued (or issue at the same time) a notice of intent to cancel under subsection (b), and must notify the registrant before suspending, explaining why it believes there's an "imminent hazard." The registrant then gets a fast-tracked hearing under paragraph (2). (2) Expedited hearing: If the registrant doesn't ask for a hearing within 5 days of getting the notice, the suspension order takes effect and can't be challenged in court. If a hearing is requested, it must start within 5 days unless the registrant and EPA agree to a later date. The hearing follows the federal rules for formal agency hearings, though the judge doesn't have to be a certified administrative law judge. The judge has 10 days after the hearing to send recommended findings to EPA, and EPA then has 7 days to issue a final suspension decision. (3) Emergency order: If there's an emergency that doesn't allow time for a hearing first, EPA can suspend a pesticide before even notifying the registrant. EPA can issue this emergency order before starting the cancellation notice process in (b), but must issue that (b) notice within 90 days — or the emergency order expires. The hearing rules in paragraph (2) still apply, except (A) the suspension stays in effect while that hearing process plays out, and (B) only the registrant and EPA participate in the hearing, though anyone harmed can file written arguments and becomes a party for purposes of judicial review under section 136n(b). (4) Judicial review: A final suspension decision reached after a hearing can be reviewed under section 136n, even if the related cancellation case isn't finished yet. A suspension order issued before any hearing can be immediately challenged in federal district court by the registrant (or someone else, with the registrant's agreement) — but the court can only decide whether the order was arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or issued without following the required procedures. If the court finds a problem, it can only pause the suspension until EPA makes its final cancellation decision. This court case can run alongside the administrative hearing, and simply filing it doesn't automatically pause the suspension unless the court orders that. (d) Public hearings and scientific review. When a hearing is held under (b), it's to gather evidence on the issues raised by objections or by EPA itself. Any party can ask the hearing examiner to subpoena witnesses or documents, if the request is relevant and reasonably scoped. The hearing examiner follows the spirit of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure to protect witnesses or documents, and can require someone requesting testimony to pay reasonable fees and costs. A contested subpoena can be enforced by a federal district court. Any party can ask the hearing examiner to send scientific-fact questions to a National Academy of Sciences committee before the hearing record closes; the examiner may do so if needed. No committee member can have a financial or other conflict of interest. The committee must report back in writing within 60 days; the report becomes public and part of the hearing record. EPA must arrange with the National Academy of Sciences for objective scientific review and other advisory services it needs. Within 90 days after the hearing (including the Academy's report), EPA must review everything and either withdraw its original notice, or issue an order canceling the registration, changing the classification, denying registration, or requiring changed labeling or packaging. That order must be based only on substantial evidence in the hearing record and must explain its factual findings in detail. (e) Conditional registration. (1) EPA must issue a notice of intent to cancel a conditional registration (issued under section 136a(c)(7)) if the registrant either (A) hasn't started and pursued the actions needed to meet a condition of registration, or (B) still hasn't met the condition by the deadline. EPA may still allow existing stock of the pesticide to be sold or used after cancellation, on terms EPA sets, if that's consistent with the law and won't cause unreasonable harm. (2) A proposed cancellation under this subsection becomes final 30 days after the registrant gets the notice, unless someone harmed by it asks for a hearing. If a hearing happens, it follows subsection (d)'s rules, but the only questions are whether the registrant tried to meet the condition in time, whether the condition was actually met in time, and whether EPA's plan for existing stock fits the law. The decision after the hearing is final. The hearing and decision must happen within 75 days of the hearing request. (f) General provisions. (1) Voluntary cancellation: (A) A registrant can ask anytime to cancel its own registration or drop specific uses. (B) Before acting on the request, EPA must publish notice in the Federal Register and take public comments for 30 days. (C) For a pesticide registered for a minor agricultural use, if canceling it would hurt the pesticide's availability, EPA must (i) publish notice and make reasonable efforts to tell affected users, and (ii) wait 180 days after publication before deciding — unless the registrant agrees to skip the wait, or EPA decides continued use would cause unreasonable harm to the environment. (D) After following these steps, EPA may approve or deny the request. (2) Publication of notice: A notice denying registration, or of intent to cancel or suspend, must be published in the Federal Register and sent by certified mail to the registrant's address on file. If the mail can't be delivered after reasonable effort, the notice counts as received on the date it was published in the Federal Register. (3) Transfer of registration for minor agricultural uses: (A) During that same 180-day period, the registrant can tell EPA it has agreed to transfer the registration to someone else (including a user of the pesticide) instead of canceling it. (B) The transfer application must reach EPA within 30 days of that notice; if it does, EPA must approve the transfer instead of the cancellation, unless continuing the use would cause unreasonable harm to the environment. (C) Once the transfer is approved and completed, EPA can't cancel the use or undo the transfer for 180 days, unless continued use would cause unreasonable harm. (D) The new registrant takes on any outstanding data requirements tied to the pesticide. (4) Using data for a voluntarily canceled pesticide: If someone applies to register a pesticide for a minor use, and another registrant then voluntarily cancels registration of an identical or very similar pesticide for the same kind of use, EPA must keep processing the pending application as though the cancellation hadn't happened — unless EPA decides the minor use might cause unreasonable environmental harm. To use this rule, the applicant must promise to meet any outstanding data requirements on EPA's schedule. (g) Notice for stored pesticides with canceled or suspended registrations. (1) Anyone who possesses a pesticide whose registration has been canceled or suspended — producers, exporters, registrants, applicants, permit holders, commercial applicators, distributors, or sellers — must tell EPA and the relevant state and local officials: (A) that they have it, (B) how much they have, and (C) where it's stored. (2) EPA must send a copy of each such notice to the EPA regional office covering the storage location. (h) Judicial review. Final orders EPA issues under this section can be reviewed in court under section 136n.