By Oregonians for Food and Shelter,
The US Environmental Protection Agency announced that it will be revoking all food tolerances for chlorpyrifos, effective 6 months after the final rule is published, which is expected soon. In addition, the agency will issue a Notice of Intent to Cancel under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), to cancel registered food uses of chlorpyrifos associated with the revoked tolerances. This will prohibit uses of chlorpyrifos on US food crops. The decision does not impact non-food, non-feed uses, which are still under review, with a decision expected in 2022.
This EPA ruling will become effective much sooner than Oregon Department of Agriculture’s planned phase-out of chlorpyrifos, and will certainly impact a number of Oregon’s agricultural industries. OFS worked hard to get support for a bill in the 2021 session, asking the state to invest in research on alternatives to chlorpyrifos. This was unfortunately not funded. The timeline for viable alternatives is even shorter now, and we will continue to advocate for significant state investments in the identification of alternatives. We also hope to see a federal level response to this need, given the impacts this regulatory decision will have across the US.
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