Upcoming EPA changes and how they will affect pesticide use in agriculture

FIFRA and ESA

The Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) governs the registration, distribution, sale and use of pesticides in the U.S. FIFRA gives to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) the authority to regulate pesticide enforcement. However, the EPA must meet obligations under other acts, including the Endangered Species Act (ESA) (Figure 1). 

The ESA is overseen by the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). The ESA establishes protections for fish, wildlife and plants that are listed as threatened or endangered and provides for adding and removing species from the list of threatened and endangered species, and preparing and implementing plans for their recovery. The ESA also provides for interagency cooperation and for issuing permits for otherwise prohibited activities, provides for cooperation with states and implements the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna. 

Figure 1. ESA regulates the protection and conservation of threatened and endangered species. FIFRA and ESA are independent laws. Although, they are laws regulated by Congress, FIFRA must meet obligations under ESA and others, such as FQPA and FFDCA. 

Recent history between FIFRA and ESA 

It has been estimated the EPA has met the obligations of the ESA for less than 5% of the thousands of pesticide actions in the last decades, resulting in more than 20 lawsuits against the EPA, covering more than a thousand pesticide products. The reasons for this failure are multifold, including the unusual complexity of ESA pesticide reviews. The entire process, including consulting with federal wildlife agencies to adopt protections, can take at least four years for a single pesticide and up to 15 years in rare cases. FIFRA requires that the EPA reevaluate every pesticide every 15 years, including the hundreds that affect species listed under the ESA. ESA obligations also exist for many registrations of new pesticides, new uses of existing pesticides and amendments to pesticide labels. Thousands of FIFRA actions will require an ESA review over the next decades. 

EPA Work Plan

To regain the trust of stakeholders and federal partners, the EPA developed a work plan with four overlapping strategies and actions to protect endangered species through pesticide registration and registration review decisions. These strategies are: (1) meet ESA obligations for FIFRA Actions, (2) improve approaches to ESA mitigation, (3) improve interagency consultation process and (4) improved stakeholder engagement. 

Mitigation Projects

The work plan of the EPA identifies several pilot projects to provide earlier protections for listed species. One project is called Pilot Species. This project, a collaboration of EPA, FWS, NMFS and USDA, aims to create mitigations on the pesticide label to avoid or minimize pesticide  exposure to species listed as endangered, identify areas in which to prioritize mitigations and increase the longevity of effective mitigations. The EPA selected glyphosate (herbicide), imidacloprid (insecticide) and pyraclostrobin (fungicide) to run the pilot. The FWS and NMFS chose 12 species that live in different habitats and are exposed to pesticides in different ways (Table 1).  

Table 1. Endangered species use on the federal mitigation pilot project.

Species common name	Classification
Chinook salmon	Fish
Desert pupfish	Fish
Elkhorn coral	Coral
Fat threeridge	Mussel
Gulf moccasinshell	Mussel
Mitchell’s satyr butterfly	Insect
Poweshiek skipperling	Insect
Prairie bush clover	Plant
Rayed bean	Mussel
Rusty patched bumble bee	Insect
Santa Cruz long-toed salamander	Salamander
Topeka shiner	Fish

A second project, the Vulnerable Species Pilot Project will be conducted by the EPA. This project will focus on implementing protections from multiple pesticides within a group (mode of action) to protect a particular species. For example, the EPA may implement specific restrictions to protect the rusty patched bumble bee from all insecticides used within or near the species range. This effort should ensure that EPA adopts meaningful protections for species likely to be affected by pesticide use by incorporating mitigations into applicable registration and registration review decisions, even if consultation with the FWS and NMFS has not been completed or even begun. The initial set will include 26 species (Table 2). 

Table 2. Endangered species that will be used on EPA’s Vulnerable Species Pilot Project.

Species common name	Classification	Species common name	Classification
Avon park harebells	Plant	Rayed bean	Mussel
American burying beetle	Insect	Riverside fairy shrimp	Shrimp
Attwater’s prairie chicken	Bird	Rusty patched bumble bee	Insect
Buena Vista Lake ornate shrew	Rodent	San Diego fairy shrimp	Shrimp
Florida ziziphus	Plant	Scaleshell mussel	Mussel
Garrett’s mint	Plant	Scrub blazingstar	Plant
Leedy’s roseroot	Plant	Scrub mint	Plant
Madison cave isopod	Crustacean	Short-leaved rosemary	Plant
Okeechobee gourd	Plant	Taylor’s checkerspot	Insect
Ouachita rock pocketbook	Mussel	White bluffs bladderpod	Plant
Ozark cavefish	Fish	Winged mapleleaf	Mussel
Palmate-bracted bird’s beak	Plant	Wireweed	Plant
Poweshiek skipperling	Insect	Wyoming toad	Toad

The result will develop a list of suitable mitigation measures aimed at reducing the effects of pesticides on endangered species. 

West Virginia Endangered Species

The list of endangered species in West Virginia includes amphibians (1), birds (1), clams (14), crustaceans (3), fishes (2), flowering plants (6), insects (1), mammals (4) and snails (1) (Table 3). 

Table 3. Endangered species in West Virginia.

Species common name	Classification	Species common name	Classification
Big Sandy crayfish	Crustaceans	Northern riffleshell	Clam
Candy darter	Fish	Pink mucket (pearlymussel)	Clam
Cheat Mountain salamander	Amphibian	Purple bean	Clam
Clubshell	Clam	Purple Cat’s paw (=Purple Cat’s paw pearlymussel)	Clam
Eastern prairie fringed orchid	Plant	Rayed Bean	Clam
Fanshell	Clam	Rough rabbitsfoot	Clam
Fiamond Darter	Fish	Round hickorynut	Clam
Flat-spired three-toothed snail	Snail	Rufa red knot	Bird
Gray bat	Mammal	Rusty patched bumble bee	Insect
Guyandotte River crayfish	Crustaceans	Shale barren rock cress	Plant
Harperella	Plant	Sheepnose Mussel	Clam
Indiana bat	Mammal	Small whorled pogonia	Plant
James spinymussel	Clam	Snuffbox Mussel	Clam
Longsolid	Clam	Spectaclecase (mussel)	Clam
Madison Cave isopod	Crustaceans	Tan riffleshell	Clam
Northeastern bulrush	Plant	Virginia big-eared bat	Mammal
Northern Long-Eared Bat	Mammal	Virginia spiraea	Plant

For example, the historical range of the rusty patched bumble bee (insect) included Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin. In West Virginia, the rusty patched bumble bee has been reported in Pocahontas, Greenbrier, Pendleton, Tucker, Grant and Mineral counties (Figure 2). 

Figure 2. Dark green spots are places where the rusty patched bumble bee had been detected in West Virginia and Virginia.

Updates in the near and medium future

Soon, pesticide applicators will be required to use Bulletins Live! to determine if there are endangered species and pesticide limitations in specific locations. The bulletin report will be part of the pesticide records. The bulletin report can be obtained up to six months before pesticide application, but the pesticide applicator should get the report for the month of application.

The following are steps to navigate and obtain the bulletin report: 

Step 1: Go to the Bulletins Live! Two website (https://www.epa.gov/endangered-species/bulletins-live-two-view-bulletins) and navigate to the intended location of the pesticide application. To find the location, use the “Location Search” tool at the top of the blue search window left of the map (Figure 3). The location also can be found manually by dragging the map to your location and using the “+” and “-” buttons in the upper lefthand corner to zoom in and out. Or use the lower lefthand “Find My Location” button if you are within the pesticide application area and your device’s privacy settings allow your location to be shared. 

Figure 3. Default map view of the Bulletins Live! Two. 

Step 2: You must select the month when you intend to make your pesticide application. Bulletins are available for the current month (default option) as well as for the next six months. You can’t select past months. Select a month from the second box in the blue search window left of the map. The “Application Month” box is below the “Location Search” box. 

Step 3: The search box for entering the EPA registration number is below the “Application Month” box. After typing in the EPA registration number, only the Pesticide Use Limitation Areas (PULAs) for that specific pesticide will appear on the map, and the product name(s) will appear in a box directly beneath the EPA registration number search box. It is not possible to search solely using the product name(s); the EPA registration number MUST be typed first to ensure the correct product is searched. The purpose of the product name(s) box is for a user to verify that the search using the EPA registration number was executed properly. If this does not appear, then the search was unsuccessful. The EPA registration numbers can have two or three sets of numbers. If your product’s registration number has two parts (e.g., 1234-12), it has a primary registration number. This is the number that should be entered into the product search in BLT. If your product’s registration number has three parts (e.g., 1234-12-123), you have a supplemental distributor product. These products have the same chemical composition and efficacy as primary products, but often have different brand or product names. Enter the first two parts of this registration number (e.g., 1234-12- 123) into the EPA registration search in Bulletins Live! Two. Don’t use the EPA establishment number or special need number. 

Step 4: Click on the “Printable Bulletin” button to obtain the bulletin report. The button changes color from red to green when all information is entered correctly. In the featured example, Dahmer, West Virginia, was used as the location, with May 2024 as the application month and the EPA registration number was 34704-904. When you click in the green “Printable Bulletin” button, you will download a PDF document.  

As you can observe on the ESA protection bulletin in Figure 4, the report indicates that, “Currently, no pesticide use limitations exist within the printed map view for the month/year and product you selected, beyond the instructions specified on the pesticide label. Follow the use instructions on your label.” 

Figure 4. Example of ESA protection bulletin using Dahmer WV, application month of May 2024, EPA registration number 34704-904 as examples.

In the second example, the EPA registration number was changed to 279-9614, the location and month were the same as the first example. When the product was changed, the map shows a limitation area. The PDF will give specific limitations (Figure 5). For example, for aerial applications using medium to coarse droplet sizes, a 75 foot in-field, wind-directional buffer for windspeeds equal to or greater than 10 miles per hour or a 100 foot in-field, wind-directional buffer for windspeeds 11 to 15 miles per hour is required (Figure 6).  

Figure 5. Example of ESA protection bulletin using Dahmer WV, application month of May 2024, EPA registration number 279-9614 as examples.

Figure 6. Pesticide use limitation in the ESA protection bulletin example using Dahmer WV, application month of May 2024, EPA registration number 279-9614 as examples.