Agencies Seek Public Comment on Proposed Improvements in ESA Pesticides Consultations
Aug 9th
EPA, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the National Marine Fisheries Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are seeking comment on their joint proposal to enhance opportunities for stakeholder input during pesticide registration reviews and endangered species consultations. Comments are due sixty days after EPA publishes Federal Register notice of this proposal.
Click here to read EPA’s website for this proposal, and to obtain a copy of it.
EPA Partially Denies Chlorpyrifos Petition
Aug 2nd
In a letter dated July 16, 2012, EPA partially denied NGO petitions to regarding the insecticide chlorpyrifos. This September 12, 2007 petition was submitted jointly by the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Pesticide Action Network North America. The petition requested that EPA revoke all tolerances and cancel all registrations for chlorpyrifos, pursuant to 21 U.S.C. section 346a(d) (section 408(d)) of the Federal Food Drug and Cosmetic Act. EPA states in the conclusion to its July 16th letter that
Enviros File ESA Listing Petition that Affects Pesticides
Jul 26th
On July 11, 2012, the Center for Biological Diversity filed with the Department of the Interior/FWS a “Petition to List 53 Amphibians and Reptiles in the United States as Threatened or Endangered species Under the Endangered Species Act,” available online at http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/campaigns/amphibian_conservation/pdfs/Mega_herp_petition_7-9-2012.pdf . The Petition claims that pesticides are among the reasons why many amphibians and reptiles are endangered or threatened . CBD’s website at http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/campaigns/amphibian_conservation/index.html, states that
EPA Exempts Naturally Occurring Soil Bacterium from EDSP
Jul 19th
EPA has exempted Agrobacterium radiobacter, strains K84 and K1026, from the requirements of EPA’s Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program. A. radiobacter is a naturally occurring soil bacterium present in many soil types and roizospheres worldwide. During its Pesticides Review Case 4104, Docket Number EPA-HQ-2009-0878, EPA determined that neither the microorganisms nor the adenine compound they produce are anticipated to produce in humans or any other organism an effect similar to that produced by a naturally occurring estrogen, androgen, or thyroid hormone.
Click here to read EPA Administrative Order exempting A. radiobacter from the EDSP.
Court Denies EPA and Industry Motions to Stay ESA Pesticides Litigation
Jul 13th
Environmental NGOs have sued EOS in a Seattle, Washington federal district court claiming that EPA has not taken any steps to implement the measures recommended in NMFS’ ESA consultation biological opinions for diazinon, malathion, chlorpyrifos, carbaryl, carbofuran, and methomyl. Dow and CropLife America intervened in the case, and moved to stay it pending a decision in a related case they have appealed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. EPA separately moved to stay the Seattle case on several grounds, including the pending Fourth Circuit appeal; alleged settlement negotiations; and ongoing National Academy of Sciences review of the ESA consultation process involving EPA, NMFS and FWS.
NMFS Issues Final Biological Opinion for Thiobencarb
Jul 6th
On July 2, 2012, EPA received the National Marine Fisheries Service’s final Biological Opinion relative to the potential effects of the pesticide thiobencarb on federally listed threatened or endangered Pacific salmon and steelhead and their designated critical habitat. Thiobencarb is an herbicide used in growing rice. The Biological Opinion provides a nine-month timeframe for implementation. EPA states that it will consider the opinion and take appropriate steps to protect threatened and endangered species from pesticide risks.
NAS/NRC Plans to Publish FIFRA/ESA Consultations Final Report by End of 2012
Jul 6th
NAS/NRC representatives have informed CRE that the report in NAS/NRC’s review of Ecological Risk Assessment under FIFRA and ESA should be published by the end of 2012. The NAS/NRC Review Committee intends to publish its report in final form, without allowing public comment on a draft report. The Committee’s website for this project is available online at http://www8.nationalacademies.org/cp/projectview.aspx?key=49396.
Endocrine Society Asks EPA to Adopt New Principles for Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals
Jun 28th
The Endocrine Society has issued a Statement of Principles on endocrine-disrupting chemicals and public health protection. It recommends that EPA and other agencies adopt these principles in their screening for and regulation of endocrine disrupting chemicals. These principles include the following.
• Basic scientists actively engaged in the development of new knowledge in relevant disciplines should be involved in evaluating the weight-of-evidence of EDC studies, as well as in the design and interpretation of studies that inform the regulation of EDCs.
• State-of-the-art molecular and cellular techniques, and highly sensitive model systems, need to be built into current testing, in consultation with the appropriate system experts.
EPA Responds to NMFS’ Thiobencarb BiOp
Jun 22nd
In a letter dated June 18, 2012, EPA objected to several aspects of the National Marine Fisheries Service’s May 11, 2012 draft biological opinion regarding the effects of the herbicide thiobencarb on endangered and threatened pacific salmonids. EPA also asked NMFS to respond to public comments on the BiOp in a transparent manner: In EPA’s own words:
EPA believes that public transparency and accountability are core values for our agencies. EPA recommends that NMFS include a section in the fmal BiOp that responds to all the public comments received. More specifically, NMFS should: 1) indicate for each comment accepted how that acceptance is reflected in revisions to the draft BiOp and 2) for each comment rejected, the rationale for rejecting the comment and not revising the BiOp.
Congressional Letter Questions EPA on Clean Water Act Guidance
Jun 15th
In a June 12, 2012, letter to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, Reps. Bob Gibbs (R-OH), chairman of the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee’s water panel, and Andy Harris (R-MD), chairman of the House science panel’s environment subcommittee, ask several questions regarding two studies that EPA intends to use to support the scientific and economic basis for EPA’s pending final guidance clarifying the scope of the Clean Water Act. Among other questions, the Congressmen’s letter asks EPA whether it plans to classify the pending economic and scientific studies as “highly influential scientific assessments,” a category of studies that EPA and White House guidelines generally subject to heightened peer review scrutiny. EPA sent its final guidance to the White House Office of Management & Budget on Feb. 21 for OMB review.