EPA and States' Collective
Efforts Lead to Regulatory Action on Dicamba
For
Release: October 13, 2017
EPA has reached an
agreement with Monsanto, BASF and DuPont on measures to further minimize the
potential for drift to damage neighboring crops from the use of dicamba
formulations used to control weeds in genetically modified cotton and soybeans.
New requirements for the use of dicamba "over the top" (application
to growing plants) will allow farmers to make informed choices for seed
purchases for the 2018 growing season.
"Today's actions are
the result of intensive, collaborative efforts, working side by side with the
states and university scientists from across the nation who have first-hand
knowledge of the problem and workable solutions," said EPA
Administrator Scott Pruitt. "Our collective efforts with our state
partners ensure we are relying on the best, on-the-ground, information."
In a series of
discussions, EPA worked cooperatively with states, land-grant universities, and
the pesticide manufacturers to examine the underlying causes of recent crop
damage in the farm belt and southeast. EPA carefully reviewed the
available information and developed tangible changes to be implemented during
the 2018 growing season. This is an example of cooperative federalism that
leads to workable national-level solutions.
Manufacturers have
voluntarily agreed to label changes that impose additional requirements for
"over the top" use of these products next year including:
·
Classifying products as "restricted use," permitting
only certified applicators with special training, and those under their
supervision, to apply them; dicamba-specific training for all certified
applicators to reinforce proper use;
·
Requiring farmers to maintain specific records regarding the use
of these products to improve compliance with label restrictions;
·
Limiting applications to when maximum wind speeds are below 10
mph (from 15 mph) to reduce potential spray drift;
·
Reducing the times during the day when applications can occur;
·
Including tank clean-out language to prevent cross
contamination; and
·
Enhancing susceptible crop language and record keeping with
sensitive crop registries to increase awareness of risk to especially sensitive
crops nearby.
Manufacturers have agreed
to a process to get the revised labels into the hands of farmers in time for
the 2018 use season. EPA will monitor the success of these changes to help
inform our decision whether to allow the continued "over the top" use
of dicamba beyond the 2018 growing season. When EPA registered these products,
it set the registrations to expire in 2 years to allow EPA to change the
registration, if necessary.