The Environmental Protection Agency is putting new restrictions on three widely used pesticides, citing the need to protect threatened and endangered species in critical habitats. The new label changes to malathion, chlorpyrifos and diazinon follow a final opinion issued last week from the National Marine Fisheries Service as part of an Endangered Species Act review, Todd Neeley reports for DTN/The Progressive Farmer. Few of the restrictions will apply to users in the Corn Belt; the new rules are mostly for those on the coasts and in the Northeast.
"Though the agency already has banned ag uses of chlorpyrifos, the EPA announcement could be emblematic of the future of ag chemicals as ESA reviews continue," Neeley reports. "EPA now has 60 days to request from registrants of the insecticides to submit amended labels to the EPA. According to a news release from EPA, the registrants will then have 60 days to submit new labels."
Marc Heller reports for the Energy & Environment Network: "Among the new limits, diazinon can no longer be applied from the air, and chlorpyrifos can’t be applied over wide areas for the control of ants, for instance. Other conservation measures are aimed at keeping pesticides out of water, and reducing the overall load of the chemicals at any time." Neeley has a more detailed run-down of restrictions on each of the three pesticides.
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