Public Comments for Atrazine Reregistration Due Today
Today is the last day to submit comments on EPA’s decision to reopen the finalized atrazine reregistration, which included adding label mitigation measures. In response, IFCA has submitted comments to EPA. If you would like to view those comments, please click here.
We encourage, managers, salesman, and everyone at ag retail facilities to submit comments on the reregistration of atrazine. This decision, if approved, will dramatically affect how we apply atrazine in the state of Illinois moving forward.
We encourage members to submit individual, personal comments to EPA on this decision. We also have drafted comments for members to copy and paste within EPA’s comment page if you wish to do so. Those comments can be found directly below. Click here to be post a comment to EPA.
For nearly 60 years, atrazine has been a reliable and proven herbicide for effective and efficient sustainable farming practices in Illinois. EPA’s Proposed Revisions impose complex mitigation requirements on watersheds with predicted aquatic atrazine concentrations that exceed the proposed new concentration equivalent level of concern (“CE-LOC”) of 3.4 µg/L, with additional requirements for watersheds whose predicted concentrations exceed the proposed new 90th percentile level of 9.8 µg/L. Estimates of banning atrazine would cost farmers between $26 and $58 per acre. I'm deeply concerned that the net effect of the proposed label changes significantly limits atrazine’s use which will lead to Illinois ag retailers and farmers reducing their use of conservation tillage and cover crops. With less technology to manage the development or presence of weed resistance to herbicides, Illinois farmers will increasingly rely on mechanical tillage as their primary means for controlling weeds. The risk of this occurring is very real and very serious and will have negative consequences for aquatic health due to the effects of erosion and nutrient over-enrichment. I strongly feel the agency’s efforts to regulate atrazine use to reduce its runoff to protect aquatic health could very well be unintentionally causing harm to aquatic species.