EPA to Consult on Pesticide Harm to Endangered Species

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Subject:  EPA to Consult on Pesticide Harm to Endangered Species
 Date:     Fri, 19 Apr 2002 09:48:40 -0400
From:      Stephen Tvedten <steve@getipm.com>
Organization:     Get Set Inc. (www.getipm.com)

To:     Paul Helliker <phelliker@cdpr.ca.gov>
          Director, State of California, Department of Pesticide Regulation 

cc:    Christine Whitman whitman.christine@epa.gov

Media Release April 19, 2002
Contacts:
Patty Clary, Californians for Alternatives to Toxics 
707-822-8497/707-498-7817
Cynthia Elkins, Environmental Protection Information Center 707-223-0041
To see the settlement and sample maps, see http://www.alternatives2toxics.org

 EPA to Consult on Pesticide Harm to Endangered Species

Eureka CA   A lawsuit by three California environmental groups has prompted the Environmental Protection Agency to begin its first consultations in a decade on the effects pesticides have on endangered salmon and other imperiled species.

In a settlement signed today, EPA will consult with two other federal agencies, the National Marine Fisheries Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, on specific uses of eighteen chemical poisons in California . They include how the pesticides are used in forestry, on various fruit, nut, nursery  and forage crops, highway and utility rights-of-way and irrigation canals.

These 18 pesticides will be analyzed for effects in one or more of these usage sites in the habitat of each of the seven salmon species and 33 forest plants that collectively are named in the settlement.

The environmentalists targeted in their lawsuit some of the most commonly used pesticides registered by the EPA including chlorpyrifos, diazinon, atrazine, Roundup, and 2,4-D.  One is diazinon, which for California lettuce crops -- a usage site included in the settlement-- application exceeded 112,000 pounds in 2000 according to the Department of Pesticide Regulation. Government agencies routinely detect diazinon in rivers. The EPA has determined that diazinon exceeds levels of concern for toxicity and risk to endangered species. Another chemical in the settlement is atrazine, the pesticide most commonly found in rain and river water, which EPA acknowledges exceeds its level of concern for chronic toxicity to fish reproduction. Many endangered plants may be at risk from glyphosate (Roundup) in its registered use patterns (4,641,560 pounds recorded use in California in 2000), according to the EPA.

"These species are close to extinction and pesticides continue to pollute their habitat but the EPA hasn't even begun to take action to protect them. How can an endangered species survive if the effect of widely used pesticides isn't taken into account?" said Patty Clary of Californians for Alternatives to Toxics (CATs), the lead plaintiff group.  Clary said, "We welcome the EPA's resolve to take these first important steps to protect some of the nation's most highly valued and imperiled wildlife species from the effects of pesticides."

The agreement put on hold a lawsuit filed by CATs, Environmental Protection Information Center and Humboldt Watershed Council which challenged the EPA's failure to consult with NMFS and FWS as required under the Endangered Species Act . Before the settlement can become final, the EPA will post it on its website and ask the public for comment on the proposed settlement.  Once comments have been received, the EPA will then decide whether changes need be made to the settlement and it is only if the plaintiff groups agree with any changes that the lawsuit will finally be resolved.

"We're cautiously optimistic that this settlement will result in improved science to protect our water and the endagered species that live in it from the detremental effects of pesticides," said Ken Miller of Humboldt Watershed Council.

Californians for Alternatives to Toxics (CATs) is a clearinghouse for information and action about pesticides. Based in Arcata, CATs has worked since 1982 to inform the public about the toxicity of pesticides and promote alternatives to  their use.  CATs won 3 groundbreaking lawsuits regarding forest use of herbicides in the last year.

Environmental Protection Information Center (EPIC) is located in the Humboldt County town of Garberville and has been working on forestry reform and endangered species protection for twenty-five years.  Its major goal is to protect and restore biodiversity in California 's forestlands through litigation, education, habitat mapping and advocacy.

Humboldt Watershed Council (HWC) represents residents and property owners who have been affected by irresponsible forestry practices. The Council has advocated an end to clear cutting herbicide use in forestry since its inception in 1997.

CATs, EPIC, and HWC are represented in the lawsuit and settlement by Brian Gaffney, a public interest attorney based in Oakland who has worked for environmental justice throughout his career.

Background

Although required under the Endangered Species Act to consult with Fish and Wildlife Service or National Marine Fisheries Service on the effects that registered pesticides have on endangered species, the Environmental Protection Agency has failed to do so for any species for ten years, leaving hundreds of plants and animals listed as endangered in that time vulnerable to the harmful effects of pesticides.

In August 2000, three the environmental groups, Californians for Alternatives to Toxics, Environmental Protection Information Center and Humboldt Watershed Council, filed suit in federal court in Oakland , California , before Judge Claudia Wilkins. The settlement was signed April 19.

The settlement focuses on the effects of certain uses of a total of eighteen pesticides, fifteen specifically for their impacts to seven salmon species and eight specifically for their impact to 33 forest plants, all of which are found in California and listed as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act.

Before the settlement can become final, the EPA will post it on its web site and take comments from the public regarding its content. Once comments have been reviewed, the EPA will then decide whether changes need be made to the settlement and it is only if the plaintiff groups agree with any changes that the lawsuit will finally be resolved.

Within 60 days of the entry of a judgment, the EPA will be required to begin consultations with the National Marine Fish Service on the impacts of the target pesticides to seven California steelhead and salmon species. The EPA will also be required to consult with the Fish and Wildlife Service about the impacts of the pesticides on the 33 imperiled forest plants (see attached list)

As a result of this litigation, the EPA will undertake a comprehensive analysis of the effects of these pesticides including 1) the active and inert ingredients in the pesticides, 2) known degradation products, 3) all registered formulation types (e.g. granular,flowable, powder) of the pesticides, and 4) both the highest and typical application rates for the pesticides.

The settlement goes further, requiring the EPA to develop an affirmative conservation program for endangered species that includes consideration of 1) chronic and sublethal effects of pesticides on all life stages of endangered and threatened species; 2) effects of complete pesticide product formulations, effects of diluents, adjuvants and the products of pesticide degradation; 3) the use of systematic field monitoring in a variety of site conditions, runoff patterns, and application methods to validate transport and persistence models;  4) direct and indirect effects of pesticides added to the environmental baseline impact endangered and threatened species and 5) the best available scientific evidence.  By August 1, 2002 , the EPA agreed it will seek public comment of the EPA's Office of Pesticide Programs implementation of a long-term endangered species protection program.

The Pesticides

The eighteen pesticides are used for a variety of crops and other sites in California . The settlement narrows the consultations to specific uses in of the pesticides. These include pesticide use done in forests, on various fruit, nut, nursery and forage crops, on highway and utility rights-of-way and in irrigation canals.  Several of the pesticides will be analyzed for effects in one or more of these usage sites in the habitat of the seven salmon species and 33 forest plants that collectively are named in the settlement.

Following is a list of the 18 pesticides and the use sites which will be under study for impacts to seven California salmon and steelhead species, the amount of the pesticide applied to each use site in 2000 (from California Department of Pesticide Regulation).

Acrolein (herbicide) irrigation systems (26,980 pounds).

Carbaryl (insecticide) apple (27,333 pounds), lawn and garden (home use not reported by DPR), strawberry (20,194 pounds), tomato (16,997 pounds)

Chlopyrifos (insecticide)  structural pest control (428,917 pounds), landscape maintenance (13,600), lawn and garden, apple (43,882 pounds), broccoli (62,209 pounds), citrus (67,666 pounds), walnut (149790 pounds), almond (226,096), lawn and garden.

Diazinon (insecticide) lawn and garden, structural pest control (519,136), landscape maintenance (24,664 pounds), lettuce (112,249), almond (64,960 pounds), and plum (12,651 pounds).

Atrazine (herbicide) forest trees (19,466 pounds) and sudan grass (5,800 pounds).

Bromacil (herbicide) rights-of-way (18,419 pounds).

Diuron (herbicide) nursery-outdoor transplant (1,917 pounds), landscape maintenance (40,548 pounds), lawn and garden, rights-of-way (654,640 pounds), wine grapes (22,643 pounds), and alfalfa (237,572 pounds).

Simazine (herbicide) wine grapes (139,347 pounds), lemon (13,357 pounds) and almond (62,245 pounds).

2,4-D-2 ethylhexyl ester (herbicide) forest trees (11,387 pounds)

Molinate (herbicide) rice (1,025,785 pounds).

Oryzalin (herbicide) wine grapes (106,564 pounds) and almond (69,439 pounds)

Triclopyr butoxyethyl ester (herbicide) forest trees (16,085 pounds).

Glyphosate (herbicide) (48,683 pounds), landscape maintenance (313,781 pounds), lawn and garden, rights-of-way (1,104,000), wine grape (409,784 pounds), citrus (79,206 pounds), and almond (658,676 pounds).

Hexazinone (herbicide) alfalfa (64,606 pounds), and forest trees (18,241 pounds).

Oxyfluorfen (herbicide) wine grape (17,773 pounds), almond (77,898 pounds), walnut (14,946 pounds)5

Californians for Alternatives to Toxics
P.O. Box 1195 (990 I Street)
Arcata, CA 95518
707-822-8497 (fax -7136)
cats@alternatives2toxics.org
http://www.alternatives2toxics.org

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