Endangered Species Law & Policy

On July 24, 2024, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published its Draft Insecticide Strategy to Reduce Exposure of Federally Listed Endangered and Threatened Species and Designated Critical Habitats from the Use of Conventional Agricultural Insecticides (Draft Insecticide Strategy). The purpose of the Draft Insecticide Strategy is to identify and implement early mitigation measures to address population-level impacts from the use of agricultural pesticides to species listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).  The Draft Insecticide Strategy was developed, in part, in compliance with a settlement agreement among the EPA, Center for Biological Diversity, and Pesticide Action Network North America in which EPA committed to a number of measures to comply with section 7 of the ESA in connection with the pesticide registration process.

The Draft Insecticide Strategy covers conventional insecticides, insect growth regulators, and miticides used in agriculture. It consists of a three-step framework for the EPA to use when considering pesticide registration actions. Step 1 establishes the potential for population-level impacts via exposure and toxicity thresholds to listed species as a result of pesticide use. Step 2 requires the EPA to identify levels of mitigation needed to reduce spray drift and runoff/erosion to non-target habitats. In Step 3, the EPA identifies locations in the contiguous United States where mitigation activities would apply. The EPA intends the refinements implemented by the Draft Insecticide Strategy to minimize the need for pesticide restrictions in situations that do not benefit a listed species.

As part of the Draft Insecticide Strategy, the EPA also released the Ecological Mitigation Support Document to Support Endangered Species Strategies (Mitigation Support Document). The Document was developed based on stakeholder feedback and discusses the efficacy of mitigation measures for pesticide impacts on listed species, including spray drift and runoff/erosion control. The EPA is not accepting public comments on the Mitigation Support Document, but the agency acknowledges that mitigation understandings and strategies will evolve over time. For this reason, the EPA states that it will continue to update the Mitigation Support Document as new information becomes available. 

According to the notice announcing the availability of the Draft Insecticide Strategy, EPA will accept public comments on the Strategy until September 23, 2024.