Pesticide Registration

Emergency Exemption Database

A state or federal agency can request emergency exemptions when a serious pest problem jeopardizes production of agricultural goods or public health but no pesticides are currently registered for that situation. Read more about emergency exemptions.

Database Information

Our Emergency Exemption database provides information about actions received since October 1997. This database is updated approximately every two weeks.

Search the Section 18 Database.

The database can be searched by

  • commodity (site),
  • chemical,
  • applicant, or
  • any combination of these three search criteria.

Enter one or more letters of the site or chemical name in the appropriate box to search by site or chemical. The more letters you enter, the more targeted the search. Applicants can be selected from the drop down list. Chemicals are listed by their common chemical name.

"Search by site" uses the Food and Feed Vocabulary to find a matching search term to your entry and returns a list of all crop/animal terms that correspond to the search term. If the search returns more than one crop/animal term, then you must select a term from the list that more closely matches your search term. The search automatically selects Section 18 Emergency Exemption records for crop groups and subgroups that include the selected crop term.

If you are searching for records about a unique, non-food site such as birds, flightless, residential areas and find no records, you may want to contact Tawanda Maignan (maignan.tawanda@epa.gov), or at 703- 308- 8050.

The database may also be searched by a specific date or a date range. If you enter a specific date, the search will identify all Section 18 actions from that date to the most recent update of the database. 

How to Interpret the Search Results

The search results display eight fields for each record for Section 18 Emergency Exemption:

  • Chemical - The pesticide's common chemical name.
  • Site - The crop/animal or site for which the pesticide is approved for use under the conditions of the Section 18 Emergency Exemption.
  • Pest - The pests the pesticide is intended to control.
  • Applicant - The state or federal agency that requested the Section 18 emergency exemption.
  • Received Date - When we received the Section 18 Emergency Exemption.
  • Response Date - When we responded to the applicant or the date the applicant withdrew the exemption request.
  • Status - Action taken on the application.
  • Tolerance Publication - The date the tolerance was published for this use in the Federal Register.
  • Tolerance Expiration - The date the tolerance expires.