EPA year of trouble for NW farmers

By Oregonians for Food and Shelter

epabllbrd

It appears that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is getting more active in the waning days of the current administration. From suing an Oregon farmer for stabilizing a stream bank to potentially placing major restrictions on important pesticide tools to funding billboards in Washington State that target agriculture,  the EPA is clearly ramping up their activities around pesticides and farming practices.

While we all want to protect the environment, many of EPAs recent actions appear to be responses to activists activities more than scientifically based regulatory changes. That is why it is more important than ever to participate in the EPA rulemaking process when the opportunity arises. The simplest way to do that is through commenting on proposed regulations. While this might not always seem effective, the EPA is required to respond to public concerns, and comments from growers can go a long way in shaping the final policies. We also know that anti-pesticide groups always participate in the comment periods, and we must provide balance.

Right now there is an open comment period on a draft report on pollinators and imidacloprid. We encourage you to participate in this opportunity and have made it easy by providing a template for comments. You can view the template and submit comments to EPA by visiting HERE.


Disclaimer: Articles featured on Oregon Report are the creation, responsibility and opinion of the authoring individual or organization which is featured at the top of every article.