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Article: EPA cancels dicamba registrations but permits use of existing stocks
10 June 2020
This article is taken from our IEG Policy dated
09/06/10.
EPA on Monday (June 8) issued a cancellation order for three
dicamba products that will controversially allow farmers and
applicators to use existing stocks of the herbicides through July
31.
The agency's order comes in response to a ruling last week by
the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to vacate the
registrations of the three products -Bayer's XtendiMax, BASF's
Engenia and Corteva's FeXapan. The pesticides were approved by EPA
to be sprayed on cotton and soybeans genetically engineered to
tolerate dicamba, but problems with drift and damage to non-target
crops have sparked widespread debate about the safety of the
herbicides and prompted environmentalists to challenge the
registrations.
A three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit on June 3 struck down
the registrations after concluding EPA "substantially understated
the risks it acknowledged and failed entirely to acknowledge other
risks" when it approved use of the pesticides on GE cotton and
soybeans in 34 states.
The decision has confused stakeholders unsure of whether the
pesticides could still be used throughout the 2020 growing season
and growing calls for EPA to respond.
The cancellation order aims to provide that desired clarity,
allowing growers and commercial applicators to use existing stocks
of the three products that were in their possession as of June 3.
Those existing stocks must be used by July 31 and in accordance
with their previously-approved labels.
"At the height of the growing season, the Court's decision has
threatened the livelihood of our nation's farmers and the global
food supply," EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler said. "Today's
cancellation and existing stocks order is consistent with EPA's
standard practice following registration invalidation, and is
designed to advance compliance, ensure regulatory certainty, and to
prevent the misuse of existing stocks."
EPA's 12-page order cites worries from soybean and cotton
growers that the court's ruling "could result in a crisis for the
industry." An estimated 60 million acres of dicamba-tolerant
soybeans and cotton have been planted this year and growers have
few options to protect their crops absent the dicamba herbicides,
according to the agency.
"Even though the court found that the labels were difficult to
follow, there is no dispute that use inconsistent with the labeling
formerly approved by EPA would have greater potential to cause
unreasonable adverse effects on the environment including to
endangered species," the agency said. "Therefore, it is imperative
that EPA issue this order and require that any use of these dicamba
products moving forward is consistent with the previously approved
labeling and can be enforced as such in order to prevent
unreasonable adverse effects on the environment."
The benefits from the pesticides are "considerable and
well-established, particularly for this growing season," EPA said,
adding that the products are critical to tackling
glyphosate-resistant pigweed and marestail that are major concerns
for growers.
US growers could lose investments totaling hundreds of millions
of dollars if they aren't allowed to continue using the dicamba
products, according to the EPA, which estimated some 4 million
gallons of the pesticides are "in the channels of trade" across the
country.
The Center for Food Safety (CFS) - which brought the underlying
lawsuit challenging the dicamba registrations - blasted EPA for
allowing farmers to use existing stocks and promised more legal
action.
The cancellation order "flies in the face of the Court decision
holding dicamba-based pesticides unlawful" and ignores the
"well-documented and overwhelming evidence of substantial drift
harm" to farmers from continued use, the group said in a
statement.
"All users that continue to not seek alternatives should be on
notice that they are using a harmful, defective, and unlawful
product," according to CFS. "We will bring the EPA's failure to
abide by the Court's order to the Court as expeditiously as
possible."