7 Usc 136

Page 245

§ 136g

TITLE 7—AGRICULTURE
EFFECTIVE DATE

For effective date of section, see section 4 of Pub. L.
92–516, set out as a note under section 136 of this title.

§ 136g. Inspection of establishments, etc.
(a) In general
(1) For purposes of enforcing the provisions of
this subchapter, officers or employees of the Environmental Protection Agency or of any State
duly designated by the Administrator are authorized to enter at reasonable times (A) any establishment or other place where pesticides or
devices are held for distribution or sale for the
purpose of inspecting and obtaining samples of
any pesticides or devices, packaged, labeled, and
released for shipment, and samples of any containers or labeling for such pesticides or devices,
or (B) any place where there is being held any
pesticide the registration of which has been suspended or canceled for the purpose of determining compliance with section 136q of this
title.
(2) Before undertaking such inspection, the officers or employees must present to the owner,
operator, or agent in charge of the establishment or other place where pesticides or devices
are held for distribution or sale, appropriate credentials and a written statement as to the reason for the inspection, including a statement as
to whether a violation of the law is suspected. If
no violation is suspected, an alternate and sufficient reason shall be given in writing. Each such
inspection shall be commenced and completed
with reasonable promptness. If the officer or employee obtains any samples, prior to leaving the
premises, the officer or employee shall give to
the owner, operator, or agent in charge a receipt
describing the samples obtained and, if requested, a portion of each such sample equal in
volume or weight to the portion retained. If an
analysis is made of such samples, a copy of the
results of such analysis shall be furnished
promptly to the owner, operator, or agent in
charge.
(b) Warrants
For purposes of enforcing the provisions of
this subchapter and upon a showing to an officer
or court of competent jurisdiction that there is
reason to believe that the provisions of this subchapter have been violated, officers or employees duly designated by the Administrator are
empowered to obtain and to execute warrants
authorizing—
(1) entry, inspection, and copying of records
for purposes of this section or section 136f of
this title;
(2) inspection and reproduction of all records
showing the quantity, date of shipment, and
the name of consignor and consignee of any
pesticide or device found in the establishment
which is adulterated, misbranded, not registered (in the case of a pesticide) or otherwise
in violation of this subchapter and in the
event of the inability of any person to produce
records containing such information, all other
records and information relating to such delivery, movement, or holding of the pesticide or
device; and
(3) the seizure of any pesticide or device
which is in violation of this subchapter.

(c) Enforcement
(1) Certification of facts to Attorney General
The examination of pesticides or devices
shall be made in the Environmental Protection Agency or elsewhere as the Administrator
may designate for the purpose of determining
from such examinations whether they comply
with the requirements of this subchapter. If it
shall appear from any such examination that
they fail to comply with the requirements of
this subchapter, the Administrator shall cause
notice to be given to the person against whom
criminal or civil proceedings are contemplated. Any person so notified shall be
given an opportunity to present the person’s
views, either orally or in writing, with regard
to such contemplated proceedings, and if in
the opinion of the Administrator it appears
that the provisions of this subchapter have
been violated by such person, then the Administrator shall certify the facts to the Attorney
General, with a copy of the results of the analysis or the examination of such pesticide for
the institution of a criminal proceeding pursuant to section 136l(b) of this title or a civil
proceeding under section 136l(a) of this title,
when the Administrator determines that such
action will be sufficient to effectuate the purposes of this subchapter.
(2) Notice not required
The notice of contemplated proceedings and
opportunity to present views set forth in this
subsection are not prerequisites to the institution of any proceeding by the Attorney General.
(3) Warning notices
Nothing in this subchapter shall be construed as requiring the Administrator to institute proceedings for prosecution of minor violations of this subchapter whenever the Administrator believes that the public interest
will be adequately served by a suitable written
notice of warning.
(June 25, 1947, ch. 125, § 9, as added Pub. L. 92–516,
§ 2, Oct. 21, 1972, 86 Stat. 988; amended Pub. L.
100–532, title III, § 302, Oct. 25, 1988, 102 Stat. 2669;
Pub. L. 102–237, title X, § 1006(b)(1), (3)(H), (I),
Dec. 13, 1991, 105 Stat. 1895, 1896.)
Editorial Notes
PRIOR PROVISIONS
A prior section 9 of act June 25, 1947, was classified to
section 135g of this title prior to amendment of act
June 25, 1947, by Pub. L. 92–516.
AMENDMENTS
1991—Subsec. (a)(2). Pub. L. 102–237, § 1006(b)(3)(H),
substituted ‘‘the officer or employee’’ for ‘‘he’’ before
‘‘shall’’ in fourth sentence.
Subsec. (c)(1). Pub. L. 102–237, § 1006(b)(3)(I), substituted ‘‘the person’s’’ for ‘‘his’’ in third sentence.
Subsec. (c)(3). Pub. L. 102–237, § 1006(b)(1), substituted
‘‘the Administrator’’ for ‘‘he’’ before ‘‘believes’’.
1988—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 100–532, § 302(a), substituted
‘‘(1) For purposes of’’ for ‘‘For purposes of’’, inserted
‘‘of the Environmental Protection Agency or of any
State’’, substituted ‘‘at reasonable times (A)’’ for ‘‘at
reasonable times,’’, added cl. (B), and substituted ‘‘(2)
Before’’ for ‘‘Before’’.

§ 136h

TITLE 7—AGRICULTURE

Subsec. (b)(1). Pub. L. 100–532, § 302(b), amended par.
(1) generally, substituting ‘‘entry, inspection, and copying of records for purposes of this section or section
136f of this title’’ for ‘‘entry for the purpose of this section’’.
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
EFFECTIVE DATE OF 1988 AMENDMENT
Amendment by Pub. L. 100–532 effective on expiration
of 60 days after Oct. 25, 1988, see section 901 of Pub. L.
100–532, set out as a note under section 136 of this title.
EFFECTIVE DATE
For effective date of section, see section 4 of Pub. L.
92–516, set out as a note under section 136 of this title.

§ 136h. Protection of trade secrets and other information
(a) In general
In submitting data required by this subchapter, the applicant may (1) clearly mark any
portions thereof which in the applicant’s opinion are trade secrets or commercial or financial
information and (2) submit such market material separately from other material required to
be submitted under this subchapter.
(b) Disclosure
Notwithstanding any other provision of this
subchapter and subject to the limitations in
subsections (d) and (e) of this section, the Administrator shall not make public information
which in the Administrator’s judgment contains
or relates to trade secrets or commercial or financial information obtained from a person and
privileged or confidential, except that, when
necessary to carry out the provisions of this
subchapter, information relating to formulas of
products acquired by authorization of this subchapter may be revealed to any Federal agency
consulted and may be revealed at a public hearing or in findings of fact issued by the Administrator.
(c) Disputes
If the Administrator proposes to release for inspection information which the applicant or registrant believes to be protected from disclosure
under subsection (b), the Administrator shall
notify the applicant or registrant, in writing, by
certified mail. The Administrator shall not
thereafter make available for inspection such
data until thirty days after receipt of the notice
by the applicant or registrant. During this period, the applicant or registrant may institute
an action in an appropriate district court for a
declaratory judgment as to whether such information is subject to protection under subsection
(b).
(d) Limitations
(1) All information concerning the objectives,
methodology, results, or significance of any test
or experiment performed on or with a registered
or previously registered pesticide or its separate
ingredients, impurities, or degradation products,
and any information concerning the effects of
such pesticide on any organism or the behavior
of such pesticide in the environment, including,
but not limited to, data on safety to fish and
wildlife, humans and other mammals, plants,

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animals, and soil, and studies on persistence,
translocation and fate in the environment, and
metabolism, shall be available for disclosure to
the public. The use of such data for any registration purpose shall be governed by section 136a of
this title. This paragraph does not authorize the
disclosure of any information that—
(A) discloses manufacturing or quality control processes,
(B) discloses the details of any methods for
testing, detecting, or measuring the quantity
of any deliberately added inert ingredient of a
pesticide, or
(C) discloses the identity or percentage
quantity of any deliberately added inert ingredient of a pesticide,
unless the Administrator has first determined
that disclosure is necessary to protect against
an unreasonable risk of injury to health or the
environment.
(2) Information concerning production, distribution, sale, or inventories of a pesticide that
is otherwise entitled to confidential treatment
under subsection (b) of this section may be publicly disclosed in connection with a public proceeding to determine whether a pesticide, or any
ingredient of a pesticide, causes unreasonable
adverse effects on health or the environment, if
the Administrator determines that such disclosure is necessary in the public interest.
(3) If the Administrator proposes to disclose
information described in clause (A), (B), or (C) of
paragraph (1) or in paragraph (2) of this subsection, the Administrator shall notify by certified mail the submitter of such information of
the intent to release such information. The Administrator may not release such information,
without the submitter’s consent, until thirty
days after the submitter has been furnished such
notice. Where the Administrator finds that disclosure of information described in clause (A),
(B), or (C) of paragraph (1) of this subsection is
necessary to avoid or lessen an imminent and
substantial risk of injury to the public health,
the Administrator may set such shorter period
of notice (but not less than ten days) and such
method of notice as the Administrator finds appropriate. During such period the data submitter may institute an action in an appropriate district court to enjoin or limit the proposed disclosure. The court may enjoin disclosure, or limit the disclosure or the parties to
whom disclosure shall be made, to the extent
that—
(A) in the case of information described in
clause (A), (B), or (C) of paragraph (1) of this
subsection, the proposed disclosure is not required to protect against an unreasonable risk
of injury to health or the environment; or
(B) in the case of information described in
paragraph (2) of this subsection, the public interest in availability of the information in the
public proceeding does not outweigh the interests in preserving the confidentiality of the information.
(e) Disclosure to contractors
Information otherwise protected from disclosure to the public under subsection (b) of this
section may be disclosed to contractors with the
United States and employees of such contrac-