Agri-Pulse reports:
Washington, DC — EPA’s Office of Pesticide Programs needs a centralized database of past registration decisions and a more customer-friendly workforce, according to a review announced by the agency on Thursday.
Those were just a couple of recommendations in the wide-ranging report. When screening pesticide applications, OPP staff “often spend valuable time reassessing issues that were previously addressed in similar reviews”. A centralized, searchable decision database “could improve consistency, reduce duplication of effort, and speed up review timelines,” the Censeo Consulting report said.
The report also says OPP “should promote a culture in which staff actively support, inform, and engage with applicants, maintaining regulatory rigor while focusing on being responsive, transparent, and helpful.”
OPP “has made meaningful strides in improving core operations, such as replacing its outdated internal systems with a modern internal tracking system,” OPP said in releasing the report. But it added that the assessment “identified challenges and barriers that continue to impact efficiency and predictability.”
