US state ag offcials wary of new EPA pesticide rules

摘要

US state agricultural officials say that the EPA continues to ignore their concerns about several new pesticide regulations and policies. They include farmworker protection standards as well as plans to alter requirements for certified pesticide applicators and a proposal to restrict some pesticide uses to protect bees and other pollinators. The Agency’s efforts are requiring state agencies to enforce “unworkable regulations” and are imposing needless regulatory burdens on farmers, New Mexico Secretary of Agriculture Jeff Witte said at a Congressional hearing last week. State regulators have provided the EPA with “overwhelming evidence of compliance by the regulated community,” Mr Witte told the House Agriculture subcommittee on biotechnology at the April hearing. “It is disheartening to see that EPA does not incorporate that information into its regulatory decisions.”