Endangered Species Act (ESA)

Pesticides and the Endangered Species Act 

The Endangered Species Act (ESA) is intended to protect and promote the recovery of animals and plants that are in danger of becoming extinct. Threats to a species from habitat destruction, pollution, over-harvesting, disease, predation, and other natural or man-made factors must be reviewed and evaluated before an animal or plant can be placed on the federal endangered or threatened species list. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) administer the ESA. However, all federal agencies must ensure that their actions will not jeopardize the existence of listed species or adversely modify designated critical habitat. Thus the ESA requires the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to consult with these federal agencies on how EPA actions, such as granting a pesticide registration, might affect species on those lists.

This is an incredibly complex task for the EPA to perform for each pesticide active ingredient and all the listed endangered and threatened species, and the EPA has been working actively since 1988 to meet its obligations under ESA. EPA intends to evaluate species concerns within the context of pesticide registration, reregistration, and registration review so that when a registration or reregistration decision is made, it fully addresses issues relative to listed species’ protection. If a NMFS or FWS assessment determines that use limitations are necessary to ensure that legal use of a pesticide will not harm listed species or their critical habitats, EPA may either change the terms of the pesticide registration or establish geographically-specific pesticide use limitations.

Should this process not be followed – or be imperfectly followed – pesticide opponents can file suit to enforce the ESA.

In the case of chlorpyrifos and Pacific salmonids, the assessment process has become a virtual battleground. The decisions now being made about chlorpyrifos will set legal and regulatory precedents for future restrictions on as many as 34 additional pest  control products that NMFS is obliged to assess over the next few years.