The National Corn Growers Association and other agriculture organizations on Wednesday called on the Environmental Protection Agency to postpone a meeting scheduled for next week related to the pesticide chlorpyrifos. In a letter to EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy, NCGA and 41 other organizations argue that the Science Advisory Panel meeting, scheduled for April 19-21, was “hastily called” and is an attempt by EPA to “fundamentally alter its process for evaluating potential risk and regulation of pesticides.”
NCGA supports transparent, science-based oversight of pesticides. NCGA and other groups argue that the EPA is not basing its decisions on science, while also trying to change its longtime review processes. In January, NCGA submitted comments to the EPA reiterating support for chlorpyrifos.
Notably, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has also expressed deep concerns over this process and EPA’s departure from decades of science-based processes in a letter sent to EPA.
“Effective pest management requires access to a variety of treatments, including chlorpyrifos,” said NCGA President Chip Bowling, a farmer from Maryland. “If we become too reliant on a single tool, it can start to lose its effectiveness, and that’s how resistance develops. Farmers need access to many crop protection tools to ensure all tools can remain effective.”