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Quick Reaction Report: 

EPA Pesticide Inspections 

Must Resume in North Dakota 

to Determine Compliance and 

Protect Human Health and 

the Environment 

Report No. 15-P-0099 February 23, 2015

 

U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL

Enforcement and Compliance 
Report Contributors:

Jeffrey Harris

Jee Kim

Calvin Lin

Kalpana Ramakrishnan

Denton Stafford

Steven Weber

Abbreviations

EPA U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

FIFRA Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act

OECA Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance

OIG Office of Inspector General

Cover photo: Pesticide products. (EPA photo)

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 15-P-0099

February 23, 2015

Why We Did This Review

This is a quick reaction report 

that addresses lapses in the 

U.S. Environmental Protection 

Agency’s (EPA’s) pesticide 

inspections in North Dakota.

This issue came to our attention

during the course of ongoing 

work to assess the EPA’s

oversight of state inspections

required by the Federal 

Insecticide, Fungicide, and 

Rodenticide Act (FIFRA).

FIFRA regulates the sale and 

use of pesticides in the United 

States through the registration 

and labeling of pesticide 

products. Pesticides are widely 

used in agricultural, commercial 

and household settings and have 

the potential to pollute air, water 

and land. An EPA inspector or a 

credentialed state inspector 

conducts inspections of pesticide 

establishments and imported 

pesticides to ensure compliance 

with FIFRA.

This report addresses the 

following EPA goal or 

cross-agency strategy:

 Ensuring the safety of 

chemicals and preventing 

pollution.

Send all inquiries to our public 

affairs office at (202) 566-2391

or visit http://www.epa.gov/oig.

The full report is at:

www.epa.gov/oig/reports/2015/

20150223-15-P-0099.pdf

 

Quick Reaction Report: EPA Pesticide Inspections 

Must Resume in North Dakota to Determine Compliance 

and Protect Human Health and the Environment

 What We Found

EPA Region 8 is not conducting inspections at

establishments that produce pesticides in North 

Dakota. Further, North Dakota does not have a 

state inspector with qualifications equivalent to a 

federal inspector to conduct inspections on the 

EPA’s behalf. As a result, federal inspections of 

establishments that produce pesticides in 

North Dakota have not occurred for 14 years. 

EPA Region 8 staff stated that FIFRA 

inspections have not been conducted because North Dakota officials do not 

want federal inspections conducted in their state. The failure to conduct 

inspections increases the risk that pesticides are not in compliance with federal 

law, which could result in potential risks from toxics being undetected and 

adverse human health and environmental impacts occurring. 

Since 2011, EPA Region 8 has also failed to conduct inspections of pesticides

imported into North Dakota. Since that time, approximately 1,300 pesticide

imports to the United States have come through North Dakota and none have

been inspected. EPA Region 8’s failure to inspect imported pesticides to ensure 

compliance with federal law creates a potential risk not only for residents in 

North Dakota but residents in other states and locations in the United States.

Recommendations and Planned Corrective Actions

We recommend that the Regional Administrator, Region 8, immediately initiate

FIFRA producer establishment and import inspections in North Dakota,

establish an inspection plan, and compile a list of the number of producer 

establishments and import inspections conducted annually in Region 8. We also 

recommend that the Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance review 

Region 8’s fiscal year 2015 End-of-Year report and confirm that inspections in 

North Dakota have been initiated.

The agency agreed with our recommendations and has proposed acceptable 

corrective actions. All recommendations are resolved.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Office of Inspector General

At a Glance

The long-standing lapse

in conducting FIFRA 

inspections in North 

Dakota may result in 

exposure to unsafe 

pesticides and pose risks

to human health and the 

environment.
February 23, 2015

MEMORANDUM: 

SUBJECT: Quick Reaction Report: EPA Pesticide Inspections Must Resume in North Dakota to 

Determine Compliance and Protect Human Health and the Environment 

Report No. 15-P-0099

FROM: Arthur A. Elkins Jr.

TO: Cynthia Giles, Assistant Administrator

Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance

Shaun McGrath, Regional Administrator

EPA Region 8

This is a quick reaction report prepared by the Office of Inspector General (OIG) of the 

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). This report addresses EPA Region 8’s failure to ensure 

that Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act inspections are fully implemented in 

North Dakota. This report represents the opinion of the OIG and does not necessarily represent the final 

EPA position. Final determinations on matters in this report will be made by EPA managers in 

accordance with established audit resolution procedures. 

The offices responsible for the issues evaluated in this report are the Office of Enforcement and 

Compliance Assurance’s Office of Compliance and EPA Region 8’s Office of Enforcement, 

Compliance and Environmental Justice.

You are not required to provide a written response to this final report because you provided agreed-to 

corrective actions and planned completion dates for the report recommendations. The OIG may make 

periodic inquiries on your progress in implementing these corrective actions. Should you choose to 

provide a final response, we will post your response on the OIG’s public website, along with our 

memorandum commenting on your response. You should provide your response as an Adobe PDF file 

that complies with the accessibility requirements of Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as 

amended. 

We will post this report to our website at http://www.epa.gov/oig.

THE INSPECTOR GENERAL

UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20460
15-P-0099 1

Purpose, Scope and Methodology

During our ongoing evaluation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s 

(EPA’s) oversight of state implementation of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, 

and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), we discovered lapses in conducting federal

inspections in North Dakota. The EPA has a responsibility for determining 

compliance with FIFRA regulations at producer establishments and for pesticide 

imports.

We conducted this performance audit from September through December 2014 in 

accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards. Those 

standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain sufficient, 

appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable basis for our findings and 

conclusions based on our audit objectives. We believe that the evidence obtained 

provides a reasonable basis for our conclusions based on our audit objectives.

To evaluate Region 8’s oversight of FIFRA, we reviewed FIFRA regulations, 

agency policy and guidance documents, and Region 8 inspection data. We 

conducted interviews with officials from the EPA’s Office of Enforcement and 

Compliance Assurance (OECA), Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution 

Prevention, and Region 8; and the North Dakota Department of Agriculture. 

Background

EPA’s Responsibility to Conduct Producer Establishment and 

Import Inspections

The EPA has primary responsibility for determining compliance with FIFRA 

regulations at producer establishments1and for pesticide imports inspections. The 

EPA uses establishment inspections to identify areas of potential future harm to 

humans and the environment, such as the identification of the establishment 

involved in a recall or stop sale order. These inspections can result in enforcement 

action, including suspension or cancellation of a pesticide product use or sale. In 

addition, these inspections collect and develop evidence to support legal actions 

when violations of the Act are found at establishments that produce, distribute and 

sell pesticides.

Import inspections are done to ensure that imported pesticides comply with the 

requirements of FIFRA. Pesticides found not in compliance are detained and

brought into compliance, or refused entry. 

 

1North Dakota, like other states, has state pesticide regulations. North Dakota conducts producer establishment 

inspections following its state regulations and using state credentials. However, these state-performed producer 

establishment inspections cannot be substituted for or conducted in lieu of federal inspections. In addition to other 

substantive legal differences between the state and federal standards, the reach of the state law applies only within 

the state and access to proprietary business information by the state is limited.
15-P-0099 2

Federal-Credentialed State Inspectors

According to OECA managers, FIFRA producer establishment and import 

inspections must be conducted by either an EPA inspector or a qualified state 

inspector (also called “federal credentialed”). States need federal credentials to 

conduct inspections on behalf of the EPA when there is no state authority to 

conduct the inspection or when the EPA requests that states use federal authorities 

despite having state authority to inspect.

Significant Long-Standing Lapses in EPA Region 8 FIFRA Producer 

Establishment and Import Inspections in North Dakota

According to EPA Region 8 FIFRA managers, the region has not conducted

FIFRA producer establishment inspections in North Dakota for at least 14 years.

In contrast, Region 8 conducts inspections of all pesticide-producing facilities in 

Colorado on a 3-year review cycle. We were told that while the North Dakota 

Department of Agriculture conducts its own state inspections of pesticide 

producer establishments, these inspections cannot replace federal inspections. 

Given the lapse in Region 8 FIFRA producer establishment inspections, there is 

increased risk to human health and the environment in that pesticides being 

produced, mixed, formulated or repackaged in North Dakota may not be in 

compliance with all FIFRA rules for safe packaging, handling, labeling and 

sampling to verify that each compound matches its label.

The last FIFRA import inspection conducted by a Region 8 inspector in North 

Dakota was in 2010. Since 2011, the EPA has received approximately 1,300 

notices that pesticides were coming into North Dakota from other countries and 

none have been inspected, according to the region’s data. EPA Region 8 staff 

explained that FIFRA import inspections are “inspections of opportunity.”

2

Failure to conduct import inspections increases the risk that pesticide products

entering the United States through North Dakota are not in compliance with 

FIFRA rules for registration, labeling and sampling to verify the compound 

matches its label. Also, without such inspections, residents in other states and 

locations in the United States in addition to North Dakota could be at risk.

EPA Region 8 staff stated that producer establishment and import inspections

have not been conducted in North Dakota because North Dakota officials do not 

want federal inspections conducted in their state. The North Dakota Director of 

the Pesticides and Fertilizer Division asserted that its state producer establishment 

inspections were sufficient to ensure FIFRA compliance, and that Region 8 

 

2According to Region 8, inspectors should conduct import inspections based on issues or concerns with ‘Notices of 

Arrivals’ of imported pesticides or if Region 8 is following up on a request from another region or EPA headquarters 

related to a particular shipment or shipper. According to the agency’s 2013 FIFRA Inspection Manual, upon receipt 

of the Notice of Arrival, the region should determine whether to inspect and/or sample based on: (1) pesticides 

suspected of noncompliance, (2) pesticides with a violative history, or (3) first-time import of a pesticide to the 

region.
15-P-0099 3

officials were also in agreement. However, EPA Region 8 has the responsibility to

conduct FIFRA producer establishment and import inspections in all of 

Region 8’s states, including North Dakota. The state’s preference that federal 

inspections not be carried out in North Dakota should not be accepted by 

Region 8.

North Dakota Does Not Have a Federal-Credentialed State Inspector

North Dakota does not currently have a federal-credentialed state inspector and 

has not had one since the inspector with credentials retired in 2013.

3 A 2013 EPA

memorandum on this issue states, “due to the interstate nature of FIFRA, it would 

be inefficient to have a state-by-state, patchwork approach to inspection 

authorities and especially detrimental should there be an exigent need for Federal 

inspection. Therefore, all State Lead Agencies must have at least one inspector 

with a Federal credential.” The same 2013 memorandum regarding the use of 

credentials by state inspectors says that “the failure to have at least one inspector 

with a Federal credential may affect inspection-related funding under a 

cooperative agreement.” EPA Region 8 has not reduced funding under the 

Region 8 cooperative agreement with North Dakota since the position’s vacancy 

in 2013. The North Dakota Director agreed that the state needs a federalcredentialed inspector for import inspections. According to EPA Region 8 staff, in 

accordance with the 2015 Cooperative Agreement between EPA Region 8 and 

North Dakota, the state agreed to add at least one federal-credentialed inspector 

and has verbally agreed to adding two additional federal-credentialed inspectors.

Recommendations

We recommend that the Regional Administrator, Region 8:

1. Immediately initiate FIFRA producer establishment and import 

inspections in North Dakota that are conducted by Region 8 inspectors or 

by federal-credentialed North Dakota inspectors.

2. Establish and submit to OECA a multi-year inspection plan for producer 

establishments operating in North Dakota and for pesticide imports 

entering the United States through North Dakota.

3. Compile a list of the number of producer establishment and import 

inspections that are conducted in the state annually in Region 8’s 

North Dakota End-of-Year report.

 

3 The March 24, 2006, cooperative agreement between EPA Region 8 and North Dakota states: “It is agreed that it is 

in the best interest of this cooperative effort for EPA to authorize employees of the North Dakota Department of 

Agriculture to conduct inspections using EPA credentials.”
15-P-0099 4

We recommend that the Assistant Administrator for Enforcement and Compliance 

Assurance:

4. Review Region 8’s fiscal year 2015 North Dakota End-of-Year report and 

confirm that FIFRA producer establishment and import inspections in 

North Dakota have been initiated.

Agency Comments and OIG Evaluation

The EPA agreed with our findings and recommendations and provided corrective 

actions and estimated completion dates for the report recommendations. All 

recommendations are resolved and no final response from the agency is required.
15-P-0099 5

Status of Recommendations and 

Potential Monetary Benefits

RECOMMENDATIONS

POTENTIAL MONETARY 

BENEFITS (in $000s)

Rec. 

No.

Page 

No. Subject Status1 Action Official

Planned 

Completion 

Date

Claimed 

Amount

Agreed-To 

Amount

1 3 Immediately initiate FIFRA producer establishment 

and import inspections in North Dakota that are 

conducted by Region 8 inspectors or by federalcredentialed North Dakota inspectors.

O Regional Administrator, 

Region 8

9/30/15

2 3 Establish and submit to OECA a multi-year 

inspection plan for producer establishments 

operating in North Dakota and for pesticide imports 

entering the United States through North Dakota.

O Regional Administrator, 

Region 8

4/15/15

3 3 Compile a list of the number of producer 

establishment and import inspections that are 

conducted in the state annually in Region 8’s 

North Dakota End-of-Year report.

O Regional Administrator, 

Region 8

3/15/16

4 4 Review Region 8’s fiscal year 2015 North Dakota 

End-of-Year report and confirm that FIFRA 

producer establishment and import inspections in 

North Dakota have been initiated.

O Assistant Administrator for

Enforcement and 

Compliance Assurance 

4/15/16

1 O = Recommendation is open with agreed-to corrective actions pending.

C = Recommendation is closed with all agreed-to actions completed.

U = Recommendation is unresolved with resolution efforts in progress.
15-P-0099 6

Appendix A

Distribution

Office of the Administrator 

Assistant Administrator for Enforcement and Compliance Assurance

Regional Administrator, Region 8

Agency Follow-Up Official (the CFO) 

Agency Follow-Up Coordinator 

General Counsel 

Associate Administrator for Congressional and Intergovernmental Relations 

Associate Administrator for Public Affairs 

Deputy Assistant Administrator for Enforcement and Compliance Assurance

Deputy Regional Administrator, Region 8

Director, Office of Compliance, Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance

Director, Office of Enforcement, Compliance and Environmental Justice, Region 8

Audit Follow-Up Coordinator, Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance

Audit Follow-Up Coordinator, Region 8