EPA SEEKS PUBLIC COMMENT ON NEW PLAN TO STREAMLINE TRACKING OF BILINGUAL LABELING ADOPTION AND RELEASES UPDATED BILINGUAL LABELING RESOURCES  

The U.S Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is taking public comments on a new, streamlined approach for how the agency plans to track the adoption of bilingual pesticide labeling. The agency is also announcing updates to the Bilingual Labeling Questions and Answers (Q&A) webpage, which provides guidance on bilingual labeling requirements for various types of pesticide products. 

The Pesticide Registration Improvement Act of 2022 (PRIA 5) requires that some sections of end-use pesticide product labeling be translated into Spanish. Label translations are being implemented on a rolling schedule from December 2025 to 2030, with the translations for the most hazardous and toxic pesticide products required first. All end-use pesticide labels must have translations by 2030.   

Proposed Plan to Track Adoption of Bilingual Labelling 

PRIA 5 requires that EPA track the adoption of bilingual labeling. EPA previously proposed and received comments on using the annual paper maintenance fee filling form to track adoption of bilingual labeling. Under that proposal, as registrants filled out the worksheet to calculate their maintenance fee payments, they also would have marked a checkbox to indicate whether each of their products included bilingual labeling.  

In an effort to streamline the reporting process, EPA is now proposing to track adoption through its electronic MyPeST app. Under this proposal, activities for registrants would be similar to activities in the initial proposal: registrants would still check a box next to each pesticide product indicating whether it includes the required bilingual labeling. However, MyPeST would display product information—such as product type and signal word—to help registrants determine their products’ compliance dates. Additionally, EPA is proposing adding another checkbox to MyPeST to indicate that a pesticide product will not be released for shipment, to better distinguishing between noncompliance and circumstances where the bilingual labeling requirements are not applicable.