Here’s something you won’t hear very often from farmers in the coffee shop – EPA needs more money.
Let me explain. EPA’s Office of Pesticide Programs regulates and registers crop protection inputs, but these products can’t get to farms without OPP’s review and approval. And right now, new and innovative products, as well as proven generic offerings, are delayed, sometimes for years, because the EPA doesn’t have the scientists or the dollars it needs to conduct a timely review.
The regulations for approving pesticides in the U.S. are the global gold standard. A new product must be backed by more than one hundred rigorous studies conducted at EPA-approved laboratories. Only after a thorough EPA review, which takes more than two years, are new products approved. Existing products must be periodically reviewed to ensure that they meet the latest health and safety standards. Generic products, which bring competition and lower costs to farms, must be reviewed and approved.
The approval process for pesticides that meets consumers’ demands for safe food while protecting the environment means that the EPA’s work must be thorough, credible, predictable, and timely. Unfortunately, the EPA is unable to meet the timely and predictable part right now because it lacks the resources to make that happen. This has created a backlog of regulatory submissions waiting for EPA approval. This shouldn’t come as a surprise. EPA is being asked to do more with less, meaning that the timely approval of new products and generic competition is having a negative effect on farms.
There are several ways we’re trying to fix this. For the last three years, the Council of Producers and Distributors of Agrotechnology (CPDA) and our members have been collaborating with EPA on ways to streamline the approval process without sacrificing any of its integrity. We’ve made progress, but more needs to be done.
We’ve also sought additional money for the Pesticide Program through the congressional appropriations process. That’s been a steep hill to climb given today’s political battles over any increases in federal spending.
We believe this is an area where the Department of Government Efficiency or DOGE might have a role in identifying out-of-the-box efficiencies we haven’t thought of. What about using AI to complete routine tasks that might take a reviewer hours or days to complete? Or bringing EPA’s computer hardware and software systems up to today’s standards?
A well-resourced, transparent, and science-based pesticide regulatory program is critical to farmers, consumers, and crop protection businesses alike. Farmers need a steady stream of new and existing tools to address their farm-specific pest control needs. Consumers need a regulatory system that safeguards our food supply. And crop protection businesses need predictable review timelines to make critical planning decisions that keep the supply of new and existing pesticide products available in the marketplace.
We can do all three if EPA OPP has the resources and money it needs.
Terry Kippley is president and CEO of the Council of Producers and Distributors of Agrotechnology.
