The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is developing an updated Endangered Species Act (ESA) Workplan that addresses how the agency can protect nearly 1,700 threatened and endangered species and their critical habitats while governing the registration, distribution, sale, and use of pesticides.

To comply with the ESA, the EPA will evaluate the potential effects of pesticides on federally threatened or endangered species and their critical habitats and then recommend mitigation strategies developed in partnership with other federal agencies.

Dr. Aaron Hager, Associate Professor at the University of Illinois Crop Sciences, spoke in a recent ILSoyAdvisor webinar about how pesticide registration and regulation will be affected by the ESA. In his presentation, he discussed the regulatory framework that drives the ESA process and predicts how pesticide usage will be become more complex in the future.

Hager urges farmers, applicators, researchers, and agronomists to become more familiar with the ESA and how the EPA proposes to meet the agency’s requirements when registering or re-registering pesticides.

This webinar was presented by ILSoyAdvisor, funded by the Illinois Soybean Association checkoff program. To learn about the latest agronomic news and research, visit ILSoyAdvisor.com.