The Pesticide Policy Coalition, of which GCSAA is a member, released a press release March 30 in support of the decision by the EPA to deny the petition from environmental groups to ban agricultural use of chlorpyrifos. The agency says it will address the questions raised in the petition during a broader review of the pesticide that it expects to finish in 2022, which was what the PPC and others requested in public comments.

Below is the Pesticide Policy Coalition press release:

WASHINGTON (March 30, 2017) – Members of the Pesticide Policy Coalition (PPC) today praised the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s decision to deny a petition to remove the crop protection tool chlorpyrifos from the market.

“We need to provide regulatory certainty to the thousands of American farmers that rely on chlorpyrifos, while still protecting human health and the environment,” EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt stated in the announcement. “By reversing the previous administration’s steps to ban one of the most widely used pesticides in the world, we are returning to using sound science in decision-making.”

PPC is a coalition of food, agriculture, pest management, and related organizations that support transparent, fair, and science-based regulation of pest management. PPC members heralded the announcement.

“The National Corn Growers Association supports transparent, science-based oversight of pesticides. We are encouraged by the EPA’s decision because it signals a return to those standards and procedures. Farmers need access to many crop protection tools to ensure all tools can remain effective,” said NCGA President Wesley Spurlock, a farmer from Stratford, Texas.

“As USDA has noted, chlorpyrifos has been used as part of environmentally-friendly integrated pest management programs for nearly 50 years. It is widely and safely used for a range of crops, including alfalfa, citrus, vegetables, soybeans, [and] almonds… [and] also protects hundreds of thousands of acres of grass seed production,” said American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall.

“Farmers count on the continual advancement of crop protection technology to stay ahead of crop threats, and that advancement hinges on a predictable regulatory process. EPA heeded the concerns laid out by stakeholders, state regulators, trading partners and even USDA in the public record. Today’s decision reinforces the strength, objectivity and consistency of EPA’s pesticide registration and registration-review process,” stated Jay Vroom, president and CEO of CropLife America (CLA).

About the Pesticide Policy Coalition

PPC is a coalition of food, agriculture, pest management, and related organizations that support transparent, fair and science-based regulation of pest management. PPC members include nationwide and regional farm, commodity, specialty crop, and silviculture organizations; cooperatives; food processors and marketers; pesticide manufacturers, formulators and distributors; pest- and vector-control operators; research organizations; and other interested parties. PPC serves as a forum for the review, discussion, development, and advocacy of pest management policies and issues important to its members.