By Mary Hightower
University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture
Fast Facts
- Fungicide proposal joins previous EPA herbicide, insecticide strategies
- Submit public comments online
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The public has until June 29 to submit public comment about the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed fungicide strategy, which is meant to reduce pesticide exposure to endangered species.
The fungicide proposal joins EPA’s 2024 herbicide and 2025 insecticide strategies.
Brigit Rollins of the National Ag Law Center. (NALC photo)
“These are the policy proposals EPA has been working on since 2022,” said Brigit Rollins, staff attorney for the National Agricultural Law Center. That was the year it published Balancing Wildlife Protection and Responsible Pesticide Use: How EPA’s Pesticide Program Will Meet its Endangered Species Act Obligations.
The document outlines EPA’s plan to introduce new mitigation measures to pesticide labels aimed at reducing exposure to threatened and endangered species. According to EPA, the new policy approach is needed to address what it describes as a decades-old challenge to satisfy the agency’s obligations under both the Endangered Species Act and the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, or FIFRA.
When a pesticide comes up for approval or renewal, EPA must conduct what’s known as a Section 7 consultation — a mandatory action under the Endangered Species Act. The consultation helps predict whether an action or product might affect an endangered or threatened species, or its designated critical habitat.
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