\n<\/p>\n
In the notice that it was eliminating the regulations, USDA officials wrote that \u201cupon reviewing these regulations, USDA has determined that they should be rescinded due to their obsolescence.\u201d The agency hadn\u2019t been collecting the records since 2012 due to funding constraints, they wrote. They added that 23 states have their own recordkeeping regulations, and some pesticide applicators keep records to comply with a different rule, the EPA\u2019s Worker Protection Standard (WPS). However, that leaves 27 states without state-level regulations, and the WPS requirements are different<\/a> and don\u2019t apply to all farms.<\/p>\n In rescinding the regulations, the USDA did not follow the typical rulemaking process of proposing a change, taking public comment, and then finalizing it.<\/p>\n In the notice, the agency officials said the regulations are \u201cnot a priority\u201d and that \u201cto the extent there is any uncertainty about the costs and benefits [of the regulations], it is the policy of USDA to err on the side of deregulation.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat says it all,\u201d Feldman said. \u201cFederal agencies should be erring on the side of protecting public health and the environment, not erring to protect a political motive to deregulate.\u201d<\/p>\n