[5]
Regulatory Update
By Oregonians for Food and Shelter [6],
This week, EPA opened a comment period [7] on the process for agricultural conservation programs, agronomists, consultants, or commodity boards to apply for certification in Endangered Species Act (ESA) mitigation for pesticides. Certification would allow producers working with these programs to qualify for additional mitigation points, or even exemption from point requirements entirely, for any pesticide applications requiring additional ESA-related mitigations. EPA’s proposed certification process was developed in response to feedback during the development of the Insecticide and Herbicide Strategies that the agency should provide pathways for reducing the burden on producers, and reward those who have already voluntarily participated in conservation programs.
Unfortunately, the proposed certification process released by EPA appears to be a complex exercise, taking an estimated 56 hours with input from multiple technical staff to complete. EPA is accepting comments until March 6th. OFS will be commenting with suggestions about ways that EPA could streamline the process; contact Dani ([email protected]) to learn more.