EPA Pesticide Program Updates

From EPA's Office of Pesticide Programs

www.epa.gov/pesticides

April 30, 2013

In This Update:

NAS Report on Ecological Risk Assessment for Endangered and Threatened Species under FIFRA and ESA Now Available
EPA Recognizes National Healthy Schools Day; Encourages School Integrated Pest Management

NAS Report on Ecological Risk Assessment for Endangered and Threatened Species under FIFRA and ESA Now Available

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, along with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), is announcing the availability of a report developed by the National Academy of Sciences’ National Research Council outlining recommendations on specific scientific and technical issues related to the development of endangered and threatened species risk assessments for pesticides that are compliant with the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). The EPA, USDA, FWS and NMFS asked the NRC to consider a range of scientific and technical issues including:

identifying best available scientific data and information;
considering sub-lethal, indirect and cumulative effects;
assessing the effects of chemical mixtures and inert ingredients;
analyzing the effects of pesticide use through the use of models;
incorporating uncertainties into the evaluations; and
using geospatial information and datasets that can be employed by the agencies in the course of these assessments.

EPA and its federal partners thank NRC for undertaking this review and providing their recommendations. After reviewing the NRC’s recommendations on these scientific and technical issues, the EPA and its federal partners will determine how these recommendations can be implemented and incorporated into the scientific approaches for developing listed species risk assessments. It is anticipated that any draft guidance and/or science policies developed by EPA and its federal partners as a result of the NAS recommendations would be released for public comment prior to implementation. The NAS report is available at: http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=18344. The NAS press release is available at:
http://www8.nationalacademies.org/onpinews/newsitem.aspx?RecordID=18344.

EPA Recognizes National Healthy Schools Day; Encourages School Integrated Pest Management

Protecting children’s health where they live, learn, and play is a top priority for the EPA. Children in the United States continue to face risks arising from exposure to pests and pesticides in school settings.

April 30, 2013, is National Healthy Schools Day, a day dedicated to promoting healthy school environments for children. Healthy Schools Day is coordinated by Healthy Schools Network, Inc. in cooperation with the EPA to promote EPA’s environmental health guidelines and programs for schools and children’s health.

EPA encourages the use of School Integrated Pest Management (IPM), an approach to managing pests that schools can use to reduce pest and pesticide risk for students and staff. National Healthy Schools Day provides a perfect opportunity to emphasize the importance of IPM in schools.

EPA’s Center of Expertise for School IPM

To aid schools in providing a healthy environment, the EPA’s Center of Expertise for School IPM provides leadership and expertise to ensure that millions of children in our nation’s schools benefit from IPM practices and verifiable IPM programs. The Center serves as a national resource on School IPM, as well as a facilitator of activities amongst key School IPM stakeholders at the local, regional, and Federal levels. To contact the Center of Expertise for School IPM: Thomas Cook (cook.tom@epa.gov; 214-665-9731)

EPA’s Strategic and Implementation Plans for School IPM

The EPA’s recently released Strategic and Implementation Plans for School IPM describes how the EPA will strive to meet the goal that all of the nation’s children be covered by a verifiable and ongoing school IPM program.

EPA’s Indoor Air Quality Tools for Schools guidance

Pest management is an integral part of a comprehensive IAQ (indoor air quality) management program. EPA’s Indoor Air Quality Tools for Schools guidance is another great resource for creating and sustaining an effective and comprehensive IAQ management program or other overall health and safety initiatives, including IPM. Visit www.epa.gov/iaq/schools to learn more and download school assessment checklists specific to IPM, chemical management, food service, waste management, ventilation and more to start addressing IAQ in your school.

School administrators and others involved in creating healthy indoor school environments can use the IPM Checklist within the IAQ Tools for Schools Action Kit to ensure that schools develop an official IPM policy; designate pest management roles; inspect, identify and monitor pests; develop preventative strategies; and evaluate results. This Checklist is also available in Spanish.

For more information on Healthy Schools Day, visit:

http://www.nationalhealthyschoolsday.org/

#healthyschoolsday

#IPM