Arlington, Virginia, United States
Following the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s announcement today to approve the use of dicamba pesticide products with new label restrictions, National Association of State Departments of Agriculture CEO Dr. Barb Glenn issued the following statement:
“State department of agriculture leaders respect the decision made by EPA, as NASDA members depend on EPA’s high-quality science-based risk assessment to steward healthy farms and healthy communities. The timely decision provides farmers with information to make purchasing choices for next spring, a valuable measure of certainty during this unprecedented year. To effectively prepare for the 2021 growing season, NASDA members will engage with farmers to acutely understand the decision’s impacts and work closely with EPA to co-regulate pesticide use.”
Background:
Earlier this month, NASDA and the Association of American Pesticide Control Officials sent a letter to EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler expressing nationwide state pesticide regulators’ unanimous support for EPA’s rigorous, science-based approach to evaluating pesticide products. In the letter, NASDA urged EPA to consider the approaching growing season in its timeline for reviewing the formulations. As always, NASDA members advise farmers to only apply pesticides according to their label instructions.
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NASDA is a nonpartisan, nonprofit association which represents the elected and appointed commissioners, secretaries, and directors of the departments of agriculture in all fifty states and four U.S. territories. NASDA grows and enhances agriculture by forging partnerships and creating consensus to achieve sound policy outcomes between state departments of agriculture, the federal government, and stakeholders. Learn more about NASDA at www.nasda.org.
