Gray to Chair National Pesticide Panel

News Date July 09, 2007

A North Dakota official will chair an advisory panel to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on pesticide regulation and enforcement.
        
The Association of American Pesticide Control Officials (AAPCO) has appointed Jim Gray, pesticide, feed and fertilizer team leader in the North Dakota Department of Agriculture, as chairman of the Working Committee on Pesticide Operations and Management of the State FIFRA Issues Research and Evaluation Group. FIFRA is the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act, the nation's principal law governing pesticides.
        
"The appointment clearly indicates the respect Jim commands in the pesticide regulatory community," said Agriculture Commissioner Roger Johnson. "He has been a leader in the development of pesticide labeling that is recognized in both the U.S. and Canada, and he is a recognized authority on pesticide registration and regulatory issues."
        
Created by AAPCO and EPA in 1978, the State FIFRA Issues Research and Evaluation Group is a forum for the states and the EPA to exchange information, enabling the states to play a meaningful role in developing pesticide policies and regulations. The working committee is made up of representatives from 12 states who work with the EPA to resolve pesticide policy and regulatory issues, such as certification, registration, labeling and enforcement.
        
A native of Trimont, Minn., Gray graduated from Bemidji State University in 1991 with a degree in environmental studies and later earned a master's degree in environmental toxicology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He was a senior weed biologist for Dow AgroSciences in Indianapolis, Ind., before joining NDDA. Last year, the North American Free Trade Agreement Technical Working Group on Pesticides, appointed Gray a member of the Subcommittee on Pesticide Harmonization--NAFTA Labels, a joint U.S.-Canadian technical team working to allow U.S. farmers and ranchers access to the Canadian pesticide market. (Contact: Ted Quanrud, 701/328-2233)