The Endangered Species Protection Program (ESPP) was established by the Agency in 1988, to meet obligations under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA, 1996) in compliance with the Endangered Species Act (ESA, 1973), with the goal to protect the species without placing unnecessary burden on agriculture and other pesticide users.  EPA are responsible for reviewing information and data to determine whether a pesticidal product can be registered for a particular use. In the registration review program, all conventional pesticides must undergo an Agency National Level Listed Species Biological Evaluation (BE). As part of that determination, EPA must determine if listed species or their designated critical habitat may be affected by use of the product. All pesticide products that EPA determines “may affect” a listed species or its designated critical habitat may be subject to further evaluation to determine if the action is likely to adversely affect (LAA) or not likely to adversely affect (NLAA) the species. All listed species that achieve a ‘Likely to be Adversely Affected (LAA)’ determination in the BE, are subject to formal consultation / review by the Fish and Wildlife Services and National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). The Services determine whether the action (in this case reregistration) has the potential to jeopardize the species. In the Services evaluation, the goal is to avoid or minimize potential effects on listed species or designated critical habitat at the population level, and depending on the findings, include reasonable and prudent measures (RPMs) or reasonable and prudent alternatives (RPAs) in its final opinion.  The presentation aims to highlight complexities associated with the current ESA evaluation process, with specific detail relating to the current Revised Methods for National Level Listed Species Biological Evaluation, issued by the Agency in March 2020. The assessment approaches and assumptions made by the Agency as part of the draft BE, will be reviewed to highlight areas where further refinement of the conservative assumptions may be necessary to realize more realistic outcomes, that provide a more sound basis for moving forward in the process. Such refinements may include for example, using realistic exposure scenarios that more accurately portray product use and improving the accuracy of crop and usage data layers.

US endangered species act and the revised method (2020) for national level listed species biological evaluations of conventional pesticides

ACS Fall 2021

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.