CAST to Host a Series of Webinars on FIFRA and ESA

The Council for Agricultural Science and Technology (CAST) invites you to participate in a series of six webinars that will shed light on the impact of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) and the Endangered Species Act (ESA) on agricultural resources and the environment. These webinars will be held in conjunction with the release of their corresponding paper. The full release of all six papers is expected in mid-April.

Key issues that will be addressed throughout the series are:

Why has FIFRA/ESA consultation proven so difficult?
Where are listed species and pesticide use “colliding?”
What data and tools are necessary to evaluate the relationship between pesticide use and listed species?
How can workable species protections be implemented while also having a minimal impact on agriculture and other pesticide users?
How does the existence of listed species in proximity to pesticide use demonstrate some degree of sustainability, since without any effective mitigation shouldn’t we expect listed species to only survive where there is no agriculture?
How should the outcome of avoidance, minimization and conservation actions be measured to demonstrate improvements in species condition and effectiveness of methods used?

Webinar Information

All webinars will be from 12-1 p.m. CST (subject to change.) They will be hosted by Bernalyn McGaughey, President and CEO of Compliance Services International, and Stanley Culpepper, Professor of Crop and Soil Sciences at the University of Georgia, along with authors from the different essays.

Webinar Schedule and Topics

November 28

Title: FIFRA and the Endangered Species Act: Finding a Balance Between Agricultural Efficiency, Environmental Sustainability, and Regulatory Stability

Focus: This webinar will cover the history and challenges of FIFRA and the ESA.

December 19

Title: A Legal Discussion of the FIFRA/ESA Consultation Process Over Time

Focus: It will cover the legal aspects of both the ESA and FIFRA and the process that EPA has used to meet those obligations in the past with a look at how that differs from its current proposal.

January 9

Title: Improving the Science Behind the Process: Implementing Better Data and Tools to Streamline the FIFRA/ESA Process

Focus: This webinar will cover the threat of pesticides on species listed on the ESA, how science can better inform FIFRA and ESA assessments, and how the FIFRA/ESA process can be streamlined.

January 30

Title: Developing and Adopting Economically Effective Mitigation Strategies: Critical to the Survival of Agriculture and Endangered Species

Focus: This webinar will cover the intersection of pesticide registration and mitigation measures, the role of conservation programs in mitigation pesticide movement, as well as best practices for land management.

February 20

Title: FIFRA, ESA and Pesticide Consultation: Understanding and Addressing the Complexities

Focus: This webinar will cover the complexities and issues of pesticide use labeling, such as use in different geographies, what is practical for pesticide appliers, and lack of harmonization. Possible solutions to address these complexes will also be discussed.

March 12

Title: State Regulatory Agencies as Conduit for Informing Local Conditions in Federal Pesticide Processes

Focus: This paper will explore the areas of pesticide State Lead Agency (SLA) responsibilities related to pesticide implementation and enforcement and provide suggestions towards successful and more efficient implementation of pesticide program activities related to the Endangered Species Act from the state perspective.