Conservation Corner- What’s the Buzz about ESA?

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is under court order to comply with the Endangered Species Act for all registered pesticides. Their new compliance strategies have Illinois farmers earning “points” to use their preferred pesticide; how many “points” will depend on the crop, the location of the field, and more. 

History of Endangered Species Act

The Endangered Species Act (ESA) was first enacted by Congress in 1973 and applies to all federal agencies. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been sued numerous times by environmental groups for failure to comply with the ESA. A large case known as the “Megasuit” was filed in 2011 and in 2022 the EPA announced their renewed commitment to comply with the ESA. All of these events have led to the recent conversation around “The Strategies,” a series of guidelines the EPA will use in the registration and re-registration process of herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, and rodenticides. In addition, the EPA released a Vulnerable Species Pilot (VSP) in June of 2023 highlighting 27 species including the Rusty Patched Bumble Bee found in Illinois, with the goal of adopting meaningful protections for species likely to be impacted by pesticide use. 

The final Herbicide Strategy was released on August 20, 2024. We are currently in a public comment period for the Draft Insecticide Strategy (deadline to submit is September 23, 2024), and we expect an update to the VSP by the end of September. 

In addition to working with other stakeholders, IL Corn has been at the table engaging directly with lead EPA and US Fish & Wildlife Services officials. These conversations have led to positive changes to the final Herbicide Strategy and draft Insecticide Strategy. IL Corn understands the EPA is under a court order to comply with the ESA for all registered pesticides. We have worked to be proactive and provide tangible suggestions and real-world examples in hopes of finding the most balanced outcome for both farmers and the risk to threatened and endangered species. 

What does this mean for a farmer or applicator? 

As the Insecticide Strategy is still in its draft form, we will focus on the Herbicide Strategy and what we know for sure. It’s first worth noting that these documents are truly strategies and not “rules”. They are meant to provide guidance to the EPA as a pesticide is registered or re-registered. As a product goes through that process these strategies will influence changes to the label and applicator/farmer requirements. When a label is up for review it will also have a public comment period where these suggested changes can be questioned or changed. 

Going forward, farmers/applicators will need to read the label as currently expected and may be directed to additional online resources such as Bulletins Live! 2 (BLT) or the Mitigation Menu. Then, depending on where the field’s geographical area is located in proximity to any threatened or endangered species or habitat you may find additional guidance provided. Based on the product being used, crop its being applied to, and type of application method you will be instructed on the number of mitigation points you need and any buffer requirements. 

You can think about the ESA as two buckets, one for spray drift and another for run off & erosion. The spray drift bucket is looking at downwind buffer requirements. Things such as relative humidity, boom height, nozzle droplet size, existing downwind buffers/vegetation will all factor into any reduction in buffer requirement needed. The runoff & erosion bucket has a points system that necessary points can be achieved through mitigation practices. Again, based on location, product used, application type, etc. you may need to achieve anywhere between 3-9 points. In Illinois, 91 of our 102 counties are considered “moderate vulnerability” awarding them 2 points, dry land non-irrigated fields are awarded another 3 points, and fields with subsurface tile drainage receive another 1 point. Things like cover crops, waterways, multiple practices, no-till, strip-till, field slope, annual application rate reduction, etc. are all worth additional points. 

IL Corn will continue to save you a seat at the table in these conversations as the Insecticide Strategy is finalized and the draft Fungicide Strategy is released. We understand this will require additional planning and time to ensure the products you want to use are able to be done in compliance but are working to make sure any changes are as practical and implementable as possible.