The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released for public comment a draft strategy for herbicide use, outlining actions to protect over 900 listed threatened species and designated critical habitats.
Agricultural use of herbicides in the lower 48 states is far higher than in any other sector and any other type of pesticide, and the new strategy is designed to be one of the agency’s main policies to address the issue, the EPA said in a notice Monday.
“Ensuring safe use of herbicides is an important part of EPA’s mission to protect the environment,” said Jake Li, deputy assistant administrator for pesticide programmes at the Office of chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention.
“This strategy reflects one of our biggest steps to support farmers and other herbicide users with tools for managing weeds, while accelerating EPA’s ability to protect many endangered species that live near agricultural areas.”
Under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), the EPA is obligated to take action to protect species listed as threatened, but the agency is lagging behind in those requirements.
“EPA’s traditional chemical-by-chemical, species-by-species approach to meeting these obligations is slow and costly,” the agency said.
“As a result, EPA has completed its ESA obligations for less than 5% of its actions, creating legal vulnerabilities for the Agency, increased litigation, and uncertainty for farmers and other pesticide users about their continued ability to use many pesticides.”
The new strategy for herbicides is part of a new multichemical, multispecies approach to meeting its obligations that the EPA is considering one of its “most significant proposals to help overcome these challenges”.
It proposed to identify and begin mitigation actions even before it finalises consultation under the ESA in order to be in compliance with regulations, and also said the new strategy would help establish a more effective relationship with the US Fish and Wildlife Service, which has authority over most of the species standing to benefit from the strategy.
In the strategy the EPA outlines actions and practices growers and other users can take, with a focus on providing flexibility.
“The strategy also gives credit to landowners who are already implementing certain measures to reduce pesticide runoff. For example, existing vegetated ditches and water retention ponds will qualify for credits that reduce the need for additional mitigation,” the EPA said.
The public consultation period will last for 60 days.
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