On Aug. 9, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ordered the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to revoke food tolerances and cancel the registration for all uses of chlorpyrifos (Lorsban®) within 60 days. Lorsban is an organophosphate insecticide registered for use on a wide range of crops, including almonds. The court’s announcement is, understandably, causing almond growers to wonder about their ability to use chlorpyrifos in the future.
This court case is part of a long-running petition process driven by groups who want to see chlorpyrifos removed from the market. Here’s a summary of that process: this same 9th Circuit Court forced the EPA to conduct a risk assessment of chlorpyrifos and make a decision as to whether to revoke the tolerances by March 2017, or not. EPA’s risk assessment, which used controversial epidemiological studies, found risks from residues on food. However, the new administration decided not to revoke the tolerances because of the controversial science behind the risk assessment. From the court’s perspective, the EPA found a risk and hadn’t acted on it; thus, the court order.
But what does this mean for almond growers? It isn’t clear.
It is not clear whether the ruling means EPA needs to initiate cancellation or revocation proceedings within 60 days, or if it needs to have completed the charges within this mandate in 60 days. Bottom line: It is not clear whether the ruling is here to stay, but California almond growers can still use chlorpyrifos products in accordance with the label and state requirements in the interim.
The 2-1 decision could be appealed by EPA and subject to a further en banc review. The Almond Alliance of California signed on to a petition requesting the ruling be appealed. And the primary technical registrant, Corteva Agriscience (the agricultural division of DowDuPont) and/or the many generic registrants of chlorpyrifos, may initiate a responding legal action. If there are legal challenges, then the cancellation proceeding will be delayed.
California Department of Pesticide Regulation (CDPR) spokesperson Charlotte Fadipe expressed a similar interpretation. “Currently there is no change for growers and we will continue to follow our processes that are currently in place,” she told Western Farm Press. However, since October of 2017, CDPR has imposed additional buffer zone restrictions on the use of chlorpyrifos.
In 2014, University of California (UC) IPM reviewed the need for chlorpyrifos at the request of CDPR in four crops including almonds. UC-IPM found limited-to-no alternatives available to control certain insects — including leaf-footed bug, brown marmorated stinkbug and others – in almonds. As a result, chlorpyrifos continues to be an effective tool for almond growers to control certain insect pests.
However, this continued uncertainty around the availability of chlorpyrifos and other insecticides demonstrates the importance of Almond Board-funded research into integrated pest management. In this research, ABC typically seeks to better comprehend the insect’s biology in order to develop more optimal monitoring tools, understand vulnerable times for control, evaluate pheromones for possible mating disruptions and more.
“The Almond Board is funding several research projects to better understand the leaf-footed bug and develop additional monitoring and control tools,” said Gabriele Ludwig, director of Sustainability and Environmental Affairs at ABC. This research has focused on understanding overwintering sites as well as the pheromones associated with leaf-footed bug. She noted, “We’ve also initiated funding research on the brown marmorated stinkbug as it has started to move into agricultural crops in California.”
Until new tools for troublesome insects become available, changes to available products present challenges to California almond growers. The Almond Board has written comments that the Almond Alliance submitted to both EPA and CDPR, comments which explain how almonds have used chlorpyrifos in the past and addressing EPA’s initial proposal to revoke the tolerances. ABC will continue to monitor the situation and communicate industry implications as they emerge.
Lorsban is a registered trademark of The Dow Chemical Company (“Dow”) or an affiliated company of Dow.
