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EPA updates its herbicide strategy

The Environmental Protection Agency has updated its herbicide strategy and an ag policy specialist says the update is more workable than the draft.

The EPA released a draft herbicide strategy last summer to respond to courts requiring the agency to become more compliant with the Endangered Species Act.

Richard Gupton with the Ag Retailers Association tells Brownfield the EPA now recognizes different agricultural and geographic issues.

“Having more flexibility or adjustments to whatever mitigation efforts are put forward are going to be important,” he says. “Any issue to address endangered species needs to be more state and localized.”

Gupton says the EPA will use a simplified approach to describe the amount of mitigation that’s needed, compared to point system that was previously proposed. He also says they more narrowly defined pesticide use limitation areas.

“By working with state experts and others with the most up-to-date data about where the endangered species are and where they plan on going and having more narrowly defined PULAs is going to be critical.”

Gupton says the EPA also addressed questions related to tile drainage, but he says there are unanswered questions like the risk determinations of products.

“Are they accurate with how they’re doing these risk assessments in the first place, coming up with some of these proposals to protect endangered species? It’s my understanding the EPA will continue discussions with stakeholders on the herbicide strategy as well as later this year dealing with risk assessment.”

Gupton says no public comments are being taken on the updates and the EPA will release the final herbicide strategy in August. Read more.