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EPA Registers New Herbicide Active Ingredient Glufosinate-P: ESA Trouble Ahead?
On October 18, EPA announced that it is registering the new active ingredient glufosinate-P, which controls weeds in conventional and glufosinate-resistant field corn, sweet corn, soybean, cotton, and canola.
As part of this decision, EPA also released its final biological evaluation for glufosinate-P under the Endangered Species Act. Glufosinate-P is the first new active ingredient registration where EPA has used its new Herbicide Strategy to determine the mitigation applicators must employ to reduce exposure to listed species.
Shortly thereafter, EPA posted the final glufosinate-P label, which raised several significant concerns regarding its ESA-related restrictions.
The first restriction of concern is for applicators to maintain a mandatory spray drift downwind buffer between the last spray row and the protection area of fifty feet for aerial applications and ten feet for ground applications. In a press release, the American Soybean Association said this about the new buffers:
“Somewhere between the draft and final registration, EPA without explanation tripled the number of ESA runoff points required and imposed a new 10-foot mandatory ground spray drift buffer farmers must adopt to use the new glufosinate-P herbicide. Growers should be worried about the precedent this will set…”
That’s the bad news. The good news is that the EPA offers several options for reducing the mandatory buffer, including “use of an oil emulsion drift reducing adjuvant that constitutes 2.5% of the volume of the finished spray tank mix.” It’s important to remember that the inclusion of a DRA was not on the table two years ago, but thanks to the CPDA ESA Working Group led by Eileen Bernard of Nutrien and Dr. Connor Ferguson of Simplot it is now.
Second, EPA offers several options for reducing the mandatory buffer, including “use of an oil emulsion drift reducing adjuvant that constitutes 2.5% of the volume of the finished spray tank mix.” It’s unclear how EPA arrived at that percentage and whether it’s reflective of the data CPDA-member companies have submitted to EPA.
Third, the label requires applicators to review "any applicable Endangered Species Protection Bulletins (Bulletins) within six months prior to or on the day of application." Since this label won't be in grower's hands for another 3 or 4 months, no grower will be able to do that.
Since this is the first new active ingredient to go through the new Herbicide Strategy framework, this is troubling news as it portends similar problems and restrictions with other new actives as well as those products going through registration review.
CPDA intends to press EPA on ESA implementation to ensure that new requirements reflect the best available science while avoiding label language that is overly restrictive. We will also continue to press our case for broader inclusion of DRAs across the spectrum of ESA no-spray restrictions.
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