The Weed Science Society of America (WSSA) continues to encourage the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to add drift reduction adjuvants (DRAs) to the agency’s approved mitigation options for Endangered Species Act (ESA) compliance. The EPA is currently finalizing its Herbicide Strategy on how to meet ESA obligations and expects to publish it before September. However, DRAs weren’t among the mitigation options included in a draft Herbicide Strategy that the EPA released in April for public comment.
“Drift reduction adjuvants are among the most practical, affordable, and efficient ways to reduce off-target pesticide movement and can thus greatly help to protect endangered species,” says Greg Dahl, WSSA President. “Pesticide applicators already use DRAs on more than one hundred million acres annually in the United States, and their performance and environmental protection benefits have been well demonstrated, documented and realized.”
Earlier this month, WSSA sent a letter to the EPA’s Deputy Assistant Administrator for Pesticide Programs urging that DRAs be approved as a mitigation option. In it, WSSA expressed support for multiple organizations representing land and plant management stakeholders who also strongly advised the inclusion of DRAs as an ESA mitigation option. These organizations include the Council of Producers & Distributors of Agrotechnology (CPDA), CropLife America, and National Alliance of Independent Crop Consultants (NAICC) among others.
“WSSA and its affiliated Weed Science Societies are proud to support the proposal that CPDA, CLA, NAICC and a great many other organizations have made to EPA about drift reduction adjuvants being added to its list of mitigation options for growers and applicators to protect endangered species,” says Greg Dahl, WSSA President. “We continue to make ourselves available to the EPA to provide the best scientific data to support DRAs as a mitigation option for ESA compliance, and we thank the Agency for its consideration to incorporate our recommendation into their final Herbicide Strategy.”
Voluntary compliance is important to obtain the best results from pesticide regulation, adds Dahl. “The addition of DRAs to spray mixtures is convenient, inexpensive and already widely used,” he says. “Many pesticide retailers, crop advisors, growers and applicators have familiarity with these products. This would provide them with a method to recognize the mitigation that they are taking to provide protection for endangered species. It could also encourage them to undertake additional mitigations that the EPA might recommend.”
To learn more about DRAs and WSSA Science Policy, select this link.
