(1) Regulatory levels recommended by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
for enforcement by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and U.S. Department
of Agriculture (USDA) when pesticide residues occur in food or feed commodities
for reasons other than the direct application of the pesticide. As opposed to
"tolerances," which are established for residues occurring as a
direct result of proper usage, action levels are set for inadvertent residues
resulting from previous legal use or accidental contamination. (2) In the
Superfund program, the existence of a contaminant concentration in the
environment high enough to warrant action or trigger a response under the
Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA) of 1986 and the National
Oil and Hazardous Substances Contingency Plan. The term is also used in other
regulatory programs.