Source: POLITICO'S MORNING AGRICULTURE, 9/26/18

The EPA doesn't plan to heed the advice of its Inspector General when it comes to ensuring the agency's "emergency exemptions" for pesticide use safeguard human health and the environment.

A new report released Tuesday found that EPA's Office of Pesticide Programs is unable to determine that such protections are being maintained. The Office of the Inspector General directed the agency to develop outcome-based performance metrics.
But EPA told the watchdog that this was "neither appropriate nor feasible." An agency spokesman, in response to Pro Ag's request for further information, said "we have no other comments."

What are emergency exemptions? All pesticides sold in the U.S. must be licensed by EPA for specific uses, but the agency can allow chemicals to be applied for an unlicensed use in certain situations — like unexpected pests and resistant strains of insects or weeds that jeopardize public health or agricultural production. Nearly all of these exemptions are granted to address threats to crops, according to OIG.

What critics say: Environmental groups, including the Center for Biological Diversity, accuse EPA of misusing the exemption process in non-emergency situations. The Center on Tuesday sent out a press release noting that EPA this year has granted 19 exemptions for sulfoxaflor, an insecticide, to be used on cotton and sorghum even though the pests it's used to eradicate have posed problems for years.

A decision by the Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit directed EPA to reevaluate its approved uses of sulfoxaflor in order to protect bees, which resulted in the removal of cotton and sorghum.

Advice from OIG: The watchdog said that the pesticide programs office collects human health and environmental data through the emergency exemption application process. However, this data is not used to capture the scope, or the potential benefits and risks, of each exemption. The OIG made a total of eight recommendations. EPA agreed to take action on three that focused on strengthening controls on data collection to make sure it's consistent and updating internal guidance.