U.S. formally implements risk reduction measures for three pesticides, malathion, chlorpyrifos and diazinon

Based on the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) final national biological opinion (BiOp) on the organophosphorus pesticides malathion, chlorpyrifos, and diazinon, the US Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) will Take the necessary measures to implement the relevant content from June 30, 2022
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These three organophosphorus insecticides are commonly used to control foliar and soil pests, and the US EPA's implementation of BiOp is furthering the goal of protecting endangered and threatened species and their critical habitats
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Responsibilities of all parties

Under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), US EPA has a responsibility to ensure that regulatory matters for which it is responsible, such as pesticide registration approvals, do not endanger the endangered and threatened species of concern in the ESA and do not cause damage to critical habitats for these species damage and adverse effects
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When US EPA determines in biological evaluation (BE) that a registered pesticide is likely to adversely affect these species or habitats, US EPA must work with NMFS, the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), or both Collaborate at the same time
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The two agencies will work with US EPA to develop BiOps for pesticides to determine whether the pesticides will cause damage and adverse effects on the species of concern or its critical habitat
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Once the relevant impacts are proven to exist, risk mitigation measures to avoid these impacts need to be proposed, and then US EPA is responsible for implementing those outlined in the BiOp
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Propose risk reduction measures

In this BiOp for three organophosphorus pesticides, the NMFS proposed risk reduction measures to reduce runoff and spray drift from the application area
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Therefore, these measures then need to be incorporated into the product label, and then the pesticide applicator must comply with these measures
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It is foreseeable that these measures can effectively reduce the potential exposure and ecological impact of the use of malathion, chlorpyrifos and diazinon in these areas, avoiding damage and adverse effects on the species of concern or their key habitats
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In addition to changing labels to prevent harm to species of concern, BiOp provides reasonable and prudent measures to minimize unintentional harm to individuals of these species of concern, and to minimize malathion, Possible damage to critical habitats when chlorpyrifos and diazinon are used
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BiOp for three organophosphorus pesticides officially implemented

This finalized BiOp for malathion, chlorpyrifos, and diazinon is the final step in the US EPA-NMFS collaboration
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Next, the US EPA will formally implement the BiOp, using a reasonable, prudent approach throughout the implementation process to protect species of concern based on agreed risk reduction measures
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At the same time, the existing registered applicants of these three organophosphorus pesticides will receive a notification from the US EPA to change the label description, and the applicant needs to make corrections to the existing labels within the specified time according to the latest BiOp requirements
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