EPA UPDATES MAPS TO PROTECT ENDANGERED SPECIES AND PROVIDE FLEXIBILITY TO FARMERS

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is publishing refined interim core maps identifying areas important to 12 threatened or endangered (listed) species and their critical habitats as designated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). These maps are used for developing pesticide use limitation areas (PULAs) and will allow EPA to protect listed species from the use of pesticides through geographically specific mitigations. The maps identify areas where listed species are likely to be located and areas where they are not, which ensures that measures to protect listed species are only required in these areas where the species are located. By publishing these refined maps, EPA is taking another important step to reduce potential impacts to farmers while continuing to protect endangered species.

As EPA continues to assess potential impacts on listed species, the agency may find that some mitigations are only needed to protect listed species (and not other species) in limited geographic areas. In those cases, EPA would only identify geographically specific areas for the necessary mitigations. This includes areas where pesticide exposures are likely to impact the continued existence of a listed species, which may include a reduction in survival or recovery of the species. The maps are intended to focus mitigations on areas where they are needed to protect populations of specific listed species from the use of pesticides.

When developing a PULA for a specific species, EPA starts by developing a core map, which identifies areas where listed species need additional protection. A core map could consist of the species range, its designated critical habitat, or other locations where the species is known to occur. In cases where existing range maps are broad and include areas where a species is no longer thought to exist, the core maps would only include areas within the species range where the species are likely to occur. After developing a core map for a species, EPA develops a PULA that accounts for pesticide movement from a use site (e.g., spray drift and run-off) by adding adjacent areas to the core map. Developing a core map or a PULA does not alter FWS’s range maps.

The interim core maps can be found on EPA’s “Process EPA Uses to Develop Core Maps for Pesticide Use Limitation Areas” web page and can be viewed here. EPA invites groups interested in developing core maps to visit this page to learn about EPA’s process for developing core maps and to request to develop a draft map for available species.