Draft Herbicide Strategy Framework to Reduce Exposure of Federally Listed Endangered and Threatened Species and Designated Critical Habitats from the Use of Conventional Agricultural Herbicides
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its draft strategy [pdf attached: EPA Draft Strategy] to protect more than 900 threatened and endangered species and their designated critical habitats from agricultural herbicides. EPA acknowledges in the draft strategy that its “Pesticide Program has been unable to keep pace with its [Endangered Species Act] workload, resulting not only in inadequate protections for listed species but also successful litigation against the Agency that has increased in frequency in recent years.” While EPA’s Memorandum to Open Docket for Comment states that the Agency will be accepting public comments on the draft strategy through September 20, 2023, the docket (EPA-HQ-OPP-2023-03650) currently lists a comment submission deadline of September 22, 2023.
[To accompany Agency Update "EPA Acknowledges “Inadequate Protections” for ESA-Listed Species and Seeks Public Comments on Draft Strategy to Protect ESA-Listed Wildlife from Pesticides" from Brooks Animal Law Digest Issue No. 200]