EPA Releases New Calculator and Updated Data for Occupational Pesticide Seed Treatment Exposure

This original message was published by the EPA on January 19, 2022. Click here for more information.

 

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released a new calculator and updated worker exposure data used to assess occupational safety for new seed treatment pesticides, new seed treatment uses of registered pesticides, and existing seed treatment pesticides currently undergoing review.

The new calculator provides an estimate of exposure and risk based on seed treatment exposure scenarios, exposure routes, and applicable personal protective equipment (PPE). It uses the most recent and robust exposure data available to EPA. Users of the calculator can observe how different inputs can affect occupational seed treatment exposures and risks by entering different seed treatment application rates and by reviewing the outputs at differing levels of PPE.

The updated worker exposure data released today include new exposure estimates based on studies from the Agricultural Handler Exposure Task Force (AHETF) that monitored dermal and inhalation exposure for workers in commercial seed treatment facilities, for workers conducting on-farm seed treatment, and for workers loading and planting treated seed. The updated exposure values are the result of a multi-year effort on the part of the AHETF and EPA to review available seed treatment data to ensure the final dataset represents modern seed treatment processes and equipment and allows for more robust data analysis.

By using more recent and robust exposure data, the public and stakeholders will have more confidence and certainty in occupational pesticide seed treatment risks assessments. Additionally, the standardized data provides the agency with more efficiency in completing risk assessments and ensure transparency to the public and affected stakeholders.

EPA’s updated worker exposure data and calculator will help state and local governments, pesticide manufacturers, academics, and others evaluate the potential for health effects to a person who might be exposed to pesticides as part of their work.

Separately, the agency is currently developing a response to a petition submitted by the Center for Food Safety regarding treated seed. This update to the occupational pesticide seed treatment exposure data and calculator does not affect the ongoing review or response to the petition.

Learn more about the calculator and how EPA assesses pesticide risks on our website.

EPA Releases New Calculator and Updated Data for Occupational Pesticide Seed Treatment Exposure

This original announcement was published by the EPA on January 19, 2022. Click here for more information. 

 

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released a new calculator and updated worker exposure data used to assess occupational safety for new seed treatment pesticides, new seed treatment uses of registered pesticides, and existing seed treatment pesticides currently undergoing review.

The new calculator provides an estimate of exposure and risk based on seed treatment exposure scenarios, exposure routes, and applicable personal protective equipment (PPE). It uses the most recent and robust exposure data available to EPA. Users of the calculator can observe how different inputs can affect occupational seed treatment exposures and risks by entering different seed treatment application rates and by reviewing the outputs at differing levels of PPE.

The updated worker exposure data released today include new exposure estimates based on studies from the Agricultural Handler Exposure Task Force (AHETF) that monitored dermal and inhalation exposure for workers in commercial seed treatment facilities, for workers conducting on-farm seed treatment, and for workers loading and planting treated seed. The updated exposure values are the result of a multi-year effort on the part of the AHETF and EPA to review available seed treatment data to ensure the final dataset represents modern seed treatment processes and equipment and allows for more robust data analysis.

By using more recent and robust exposure data, the public and stakeholders will have more confidence and certainty in occupational pesticide seed treatment risks assessments. Additionally, the standardized data provides the agency with more efficiency in completing risk assessments and ensure transparency to the public and affected stakeholders.

EPA’s updated worker exposure data and calculator will help state and local governments, pesticide manufacturers, academics, and others evaluate the potential for health effects to a person who might be exposed to pesticides as part of their work.

Separately, the agency is currently developing a response to a petition submitted by the Center for Food Safety regarding treated seed. This update to the occupational pesticide seed treatment exposure data and calculator does not affect the ongoing review or response to the petition.

Learn more about the calculator and how EPA assesses pesticide risks on our website.

EPA Renews Enlist Product Registrations with New Control Measures, Providing Growers with Certainty for the 2022 Growing Season

This original announcement was published by the EPA on January 11, 2022. Click here for more information. 

 

Today, EPA is issuing seven-year registrations for two herbicide products, Enlist Duo and Enlist One, to ensure growers have access to effective pesticide tools for the 2022 growing season. The new product labels, which incorporate robust control measures to protect non-target plants and animals, meet Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) standards and comply with the Endangered Species Act (ESA).

Enlist Duo and Enlist One are herbicides used to control weeds in conventional and genetically-modified corn, cotton, and soybean crops. Both products, registered in 2014 and 2017, respectively, were set to expire in January 2022 if the Agency did not renew their product registrations. Based on EPA’s thorough analysis of scientific data, evaluation of cost-benefit information, and discussions with industry stakeholders, the Agency has determined that Enlist products, with the new protective measures in place, should remain available to most American farmers.

To evaluate the proposed uses of the Enlist products, EPA evaluated the potential effects of these products on federally threatened or endangered (listed) species, and their designated critical habitats, and initiated ESA consultation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

EPA determined that the use of Enlist Duo and Enlist One are likely to adversely affect listed species but will not lead to jeopardy of listed species or to the destruction or adverse modification of designated critical habitats. EPA also anticipates that the new protective measures will reduce the potential for “take.”

In addition to EPA’s effects determination, EPA also completed a comprehensive ecological risk assessment that assessed the risks of 2,4-D choline salt (2,4-D), an active ingredient in both Enlist products, and glyphosate dimethylammonium salt (glyphosate), an active ingredient in Enlist Duo.

EPA’s ecological assessment found direct risks to non-listed and listed plants from pesticide runoff (i.e., pesticide carried off the application site following rainfall or irrigation) and risks to animals that rely on these affected plants for diet or habitat, including non-listed and listed animals and some designated critical habitats. EPA’s ecological assessment also found direct effects to bees and listed species that use corn, cotton, and soybean fields for diet and/or habitat.

Based on these findings, EPA is requiring the implementation of a variety of protective measures as a condition of the product registrations. Some of the protective measures EPA is taking include:

  • Prohibiting Enlist product application when rainfall is expected to occur within 48 hours and when soil can no longer absorb water;
  • Prohibiting irrigation that would result in runoff within 48 hours of application of the Enlist herbicide products;
  • Requiring users to select from a list of runoff reduction measures to reduce 2,4-D and glyphosate concentrations in runoff, while also providing users with flexibility;
  • Minimizing Enlist product application when soybean and cotton crops are in bloom to reduce risks to insect pollinators, such as honey bees; and
  • Requiring the registrant to develop and provide mandatory education and training materials that emphasize the importance of pollinators and pollinator habitat for species including, but not exclusive to, monarch butterflies.

EPA will also be prohibiting the use of Enlist Duo and Enlist One in counties where EPA identified risks to on-field listed species that use corn, cotton or soybean fields for diet and/or habitat. EPA does not expect this measure to disrupt the use of Enlist products for most American farmers—the counties where use will be prohibited by these new measures represents approximately three percent of corn acres, eight percent of cotton acres, and two percent of soybean acres nationally.

The “likely to adversely affect” (LAA) determination means that EPA reasonably expects that at least one individual animal or plant, among a variety of listed species, may be exposed to the pesticide at a sufficient level to have an effect, which will be adverse. The LAA threshold for a Biological Evaluation (BE) is very sensitive because the likely “take” of even one individual of a species, which includes unintentional harm or death, triggers an LAA determination. This is the case even if a species is almost recovered to a point where it no longer needs to be listed. As a result, there is a high number of “may affect” and LAA determinations in these BEs. An LAA determination, however, does not necessarily mean that a pesticide is putting a species in jeopardy. Jeopardy determinations will be made by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service in the course of formal consultation that evaluates any effects of the pesticides on entire species.

To view the final registration for Enlist Duo and Enlist One, go to docket EPA-HQ-OPP-2021-0957.

To learn more about Enlist Duo and Enlist One, read EPA’s Q&A.

EPA Proposes Rule to Improve Several Pesticide Crop Groupings

This original announcement was published by the EPA on January 11, 2022. Click here for more information.

 

Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is opening a 60-day comment period requesting public comments on the sixth proposed rule in an ongoing series of revisions to the pesticide crop grouping regulations.

Crop groups are established when residue data for certain representative crops are used to establish pesticide tolerances for a group of crops that are botanically or taxonomically related. EPA sets these tolerances, which are the maximum amount of a pesticide allowed to remain in or on a food, as part of the process of regulating pesticides that may leave residues in food.

Specifically, EPA is proposing to amend Crop Group 6: Legume Vegetables; Crop Group 7: Foliage of Legume Vegetables; Crop Group 15: Cereal Grains; and Crop Group 16: Forage, Fodder, and Straw of Cereal Grains. The proposed rule includes changes to the terminology in the names of Crop Groups 6, 7 and 16, and the addition of commodities and modifications that increase efficiencies in assessing the risks of pesticides used on crops grown in and outside of the United States. The crop groups will now include certain minor or specialty crops, many of which have become more popular since the crop groups were first established.

With these revisions, EPA seeks to:

  • Enhance the Agency’s ability to conduct food safety evaluations for tolerance-setting purposes;
  • Promote global harmonization of food safety standards;
  • Reduce regulatory burden; and
  • Ensure food safety for agricultural goods.

The comment period for the proposed rule will be open in docket EPA-HQ-OPP-2006-0766 at www.regulations.gov.

Federal Interagency Working Group to Hold Public Meeting on Endangered Species Pesticide Issues

This original announcement was published on January 6, 2022. Click here for more information.

 

A federal interagency working group (IWG) is holding a public listening session on January 27, 2022, to hear stakeholder perspectives on improving the Endangered Species Act (ESA) section 7 consultation process for federal pesticide decisions. At the listening session, the IWG is seeking perspectives on three questions:

  • How could pesticide mitigation measures for ESA species be adopted and implemented in a timely and effective manner?
  • What are other priority actions the IWG should consider pursuing to improve the pesticide consultation process?
  • What future opportunities, if any, should the IWG consider for stakeholder engagement?

Members of the public may register to speak on any or all of the questions. The IWG will use the registration information to allocate the amount of time per speaker.

The IWG, created under the 2018 Farm Bill, consists of five federal agencies: The White House Council on Environmental Quality, Department of Agriculture, Department of Commerce, Department of the Interior, and Environmental Protection Agency. The IWG is charged with identifying and implementing improvements to the pesticide consultation process, including by engaging with stakeholders. The upcoming listening session is one way the IWG is fulfilling our duty to stakeholders.

Logistics

The January 27, 2022 meeting will be held via webinar from 1:00 – 3:00 PM (ET). A meeting link and agenda will be sent to everyone who registers for the event.

Register Now

Members of the public may register to speak at the meeting on any or all of the three questions by indicating which question(s) they want to speak on. Please register to speak by 5:00 PM (ET) January 20, 2022. Attendees who do not wish to speak at the meeting can select the “Attend and listen-only” option.