Year: 1999
Type: article
Abstract: Congress passed the Endangered Species Act (ESA) in 1973 to protect animals and plants that are threatened or endangered of becoming extinct and to protect the habitat in which they live.The ESA requires that federal agencies ensure that any actions authorized by that agency, such as the registration of pesticides by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), do not result in harm to any threatened or endangered species or their habitat.Because some pesticides may harm such species, the EPA has been developing an Endangered Species Protection Program to protect these species and their habitats from the effects of pesticides.EPA began to develop the program in 1982.However, EPA was not able to put the program in place as originally planned because implementation was far more complex and time-consuming than anticipated.As a result, the program was deferred.Since deferral of the program, EPA has extensively revised the Endangered Species Protection Program.In the revised program, EPA will concentrate on the species themselves rather than on clusters of pesticide use sites.EPA is also concerned about the impact to pesticide users.To minimize these impacts, EPA developed a new approach which will emphasize lower application rates as opposed to complete prohibitions of use.In the case of a public health emergency, a state or federal public health agency may request an emergency exemption or may qualify for a crisis exemption under Section 18 of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA).After considering a variety of different approaches, EPA believes that the best approach would be to require registrants of affected pesticide products to place a generic statement on the label, which will instruct pesticide users to determine if any use limitations are contained in a county bulletin.The label will not list the counties in which limitations on pesticide use apply nor will it require the user to obtain a bulletin.The user simply has to find out what use limitations exist, if any, for that particular pesticide in the county in which they intend to use the product.EPA is working to determine the best way to distribute bulletins and information identifying which counties are and are not affected.One approach is the use of an Endangered Species Hotline (1-800-447-3813) to be included on affected pesticide labels.EPA is concerned about the accuracy of the maps which describe where the threatened and endangered plants and animals live.EPA has been working closely with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the states in revising the maps to ensure their accuracy.EPA will rely as much as possible on revised maps submitted by the states, although the final maps ultimately will be subject to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service approval.Until an enforceable program is in place, EPA is relying on educational efforts which
Author: Howard M. Deer
Institution: Utah State University
Language: English
Subfield: Food Science
Domain: Life Sciences
SDG: Life on land
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W39450083