AGENCY FINALIZES BAN ON PESTICIDE.

Byline: Daily News Staff and Wire Reports

The Environmental Protection Agency on Monday took the unprecedented step of banning a popular but dangerous pesticide specifically to protect children.

The agency's decision to ban methyl parathion on many California crops follows years of highly political debate but hardly quells the controversy. Officials still have many more pesticides to review, under a 1996 law inspired by the recognition that children are particularly vulnerable to pesticide poisoning.

``Children are not little adults,'' EPA Administrator Carol Browner said. ``Not only are their bodies still developing, making them more susceptible to this potential chemical corruption, but they tend to eat proportionately more of these foods than adults.''

Even before officials announced the ban, unhappy environmental groups promised to file suit Tuesday. The groups, whose own highly publicized studies a decade ago prompted the initial concern about children's unique vulnerabilities, contend the Clinton administration softened rules to placate farmers.

The environmental groups want regulators to more rapidly address the most dangerous of the 9,600 allowed pesticide uses. The 1996 Food Quality Protection Act orders those evaluations finished by 2006.

No matter how it plays out in the courts, the EPA's action will set some California farmers scrambling to find replacements for methyl parathion, most often applied on peaches, plums, grapes and apples.

San Joaquin Valley tree fruit farmer Lance Shebelut said the EPA has taken away two of his biggest weapons in fighting a damaging pest known as the coddling moth.

``When we ship overseas and you can't have a single coddling moth in your apples, if they find one you are banned,'' Shebelut said. ``There are some real challenges for us apple growers.''

Shebelut farms 500 acres of Fuji, Gala and Pink Lady apples in Madera County. Although he isn't fond of using pesticides, Shebelut said consumers demand near perfect-looking fruit, with no signs of worm damage. He's trying non-chemical alternatives but says they aren't working as well.

Ventura County farmers, however, are not likely to feel much of an impact from the ban.

David Buettner, chief deputy agricultural commissioner, noted that some crops affected by the ban, for example, apples, are not a major industry in Ventura County. In addition, farmers only use the chemical treatments as a drastic measure.

County farmers applied methyl parathion only 10 times and azinphos-methyl 17 times in 1995, the most recent available records show.

Farmers spread about 153,000 pounds of methyl parathion on California crops in 1997. Farmers also are expected to apply about 193,000 pounds of azinphos methyl this year, the other dangerous chemical that EPA regulators put a clamp on Monday.