The EPA has released its draft Insecticide Strategy for public comment in an effort to adopt early, practical protections for federally endangered and threatened species.
The draft strategy identifies protections EPA will consider when it registers a new insecticide or reevaluates an existing one. In developing this draft strategy, EPA identified protections to address potential impacts for more than 850 species listed by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS).
Once final, the insecticide strategy will expedite future Endangered Species Act (ESA) consultations with FWS. In the draft strategy, EPA identified mitigations to address the potential impacts of insecticides on listed species before EPA completes the ESA consultation process—which in many cases, can take five years or more. Further, once EPA finalizes the Insecticide Strategy, the agency and FWS expect to formalize their understanding of how this strategy can inform and streamline future ESA consultations for insecticides.
Through a separate initiative, EPA is addressing potential impacts of insecticides to listed species and critical habitats protected by the National Marine Fisheries Service. The draft Insecticide Strategy Framework and accompanying support documents are available in docket EPA-HQ-OPP-2024-0299 for public comment for 60 days.
Learn more about how EPA’s pesticide program is protecting endangered species. ARA will submit comments before the deadline.
