On November 16, 2022, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released an Endangered Species Act (ESA) Workplan Update that outlines steps the agency is taking to increase protections for wildlife and provide regulatory certainty for pesticide users. In this announcement, EPA proposes a list of FIFRA Interim Ecological Mitigation measures that they will include on future conventional and biological pesticide labels. For each pesticide label approval, EPA will consider these mitigations and propose, based on the risks and benefits of the particular pesticide, which specific measures to include on the pesticide label.
 
IFCA and our national partner CropLife America is asking our members to let EPA know how these measures could affect your operation and ability to control the pests that threaten your crops.
 
We also ask that EPA work closely with the USDA Office of Pest Management Policy (OPMP) when implementing these measures. OPMP can provide guidance on how the proposed mitigations will impact growers, which is why their consultation is critical. Not all of the possible mitigations may be applicable to your operation, but EPA needs to hear from you about what it could mean for your business.
 
Comments on the proposed set of interim mitigation measures and the proposed revisions to label language included in the Workplan Update appendix are due on or before February 14, 2023. Comments can be submitted at EPA-HQ-OPP-2022-0908.  Please let us know if you or your members would like to submit comments to EPA.  Click Here to review comments have already put together.