Pesticide Update
EPA Seeks Comments on Nominations to FIFRA Scientific Advisory Panel
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is seeking public comments on experts nominated to serve on the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act Scientific Advisory Panel (FIFRA SAP).
The FIFRA SAP provides independent scientific advice, information, and recommendations to the EPA Administrator on pesticides and pesticide related issues. Independent peer review helps ensure pesticide registration decisions are based on sound, unbiased science. Taking public input on potential committee reviewers remains vital to forming a balanced and robust peer review panel. This practice ensures the agency benefits from a wide array of scientific viewpoints and real-world perspectives, supporting review processes that are fair, rigorous, and reflective of the best available science.
The FIFRA SAP is composed of a permanent panel of seven scientists appointed by the EPA Administrator to serve staggered terms of three to six years. These experts are appointed from a pool of candidates provided by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Science Foundation (NSF).
In April 2026, EPA requested nominations from NIH and NSF to fill vacancies on the FIFRA SAP due to expiring terms. Specifically, EPA requested nationally recognized experts with expertise in ecological and human exposure assessment, including environmental fate and transport of chemicals, and New Approach Methodologies (NAMs), including in vitro to in vivo extrapolation (IVIVE). Experts with specific experience in risk assessment, dose-response analysis, cheminformatics, bioinformatics, and genomics are preferred. NIH and NSF provided the agency with a total of 28 nominees, of which, 16 are interested and available to actively participate in FIFRA SAP meetings.
Consistent with this Administration’s commitment to transparency, biographies of the interested and available candidates will be available in docket EPA-HQ-OPP-2026-5679, and through the FIFRA SAP website. Public comments on these experts will be used to assist the agency in appointing two new FIFRA SAP members to fill vacancies by October 2026. All comments must be submitted to the docket within 21 days from the publication of the Federal Register Notice.
Prospective candidates for membership on the FIFRA SAP are asked to submit confidential financial information, and fully disclose, among other financial interests, the candidate's employment, stocks and bonds, and where applicable, sources of research support. EPA will evaluate the nominees’ financial disclosure forms to assess whether there are financial conflicts of interest or the appearance of a loss of impartiality. EPA will also review any prior involvement with the development of documents likely to be under consideration by the FIFRA SAP (including previous scientific peer reviews) before a nominee is considered for appointment.
EPA will consider public comments on the FIFRA SAP membership candidates and will then release a list of selected candidates after conducting ethics reviews and reviewing technical expertise and public feedback.
For additional information, please see the FIFRA SAP website, or contact Tamue L. Gibson, Designated Federal Officer, at gibson.tamue@epa.gov or 202-564-7642.
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