Water Quality Data Submissions for Registration Review

When designing the registration review program, the Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP), working with the Office of Water, EPA regions, and state partners, developed guidance intended to encourage submission and use of water quality data during registration review. Based on feedback from EPA regions and state partners, this guidance has been updated in an effort to obtain additional data. See "OPP Guidance for Submission of State and Tribal Water Quality Monitoring Data". The revised guidance clarifies where and when to submit data and how OPP uses monitoring data in its risk assessment process.

OPP recognizes that the types of water quality data collected might be different among monitoring programs. In order to be most useful for risk assessment purposes, the guidance notes key elements to submit for surface water and groundwater monitoring data. Submission of these data to OPP for pesticide cases undergoing registration review will ensure that Clean Water Act Section 303(d) impaired waterbody listing data, and other relevant information for these and other water bodies, can be obtained and considered during the registration review process.

Data may be submitted to OPP at any time during the registration review process. However, data are of most value approximately six months before we initiate work on the draft risk assessment. OPP and OW will notify EPA Regional pesticides and water staff on a yearly basis, targeting the first quarter of the fiscal year, of the draft risk assessments that OPP intends to release for public comment that year.