EPA posted its 520-page draft report on June 2. A 60-day public comment period is expected to open as soon as the report is published in the Federal Register. A Scientific Advisory Panel (SAP) review is planned in 2017.
“It is particularly concerning that EPA has chosen to base the ecological risk assessment for Atrazine on studies their own Science Advisory Panel deemed ‘flawed’ just 4 years ago,” said Maryland farmer Chip Bowling, president of the National Corn Growers Association. “This undermines public confidence in the review process and goes against the mission of using the best available science.”
Sygenta blasts report
Atrazine manufacturer Sygenta said the draft report contains numerous data and methodological errors and needs to be corrected.
“We’re troubled the draft assessment discounted several rigorous, high-quality scientific studies and didn’t adhere to EPA’s own high standards,” said Marian Stypa, Ph.D., head, product development for Syngenta in North America. “The draft report erroneously and improperly estimated atrazine’s levels of concern for birds, fish, mammals and aquatic communities that are not supported by science.”
Atrazine has been used by U.S. corn, sorghum and sugarcane growers for more than 50 years. A 2012 University of Chicago economic study reported farming without Atrazine would cost corn growers up to $59 per acre. While corn prices have fallen since the report was released, the availability of Atrazine for use in corn could make the difference between growers making a profit or incurring a loss on their crop, according to the Sygenta press release.
NASDA wants answers
It’s not the first time the report has been made public, and the head of the National State Associations of Agriculture (NASDA) wants to know why.
EPA, which opened a review of Atrazine in 2013, posted the preliminary ecological risk assessment report on its website in late April, but later removed it. However, environmental activist organizations, including the Center for Biological Diversity, provided links to a copy of the report on their own website.
NASDA represents commissioners, secretaries and directors of the state departments of agriculture in all 50 states. The state agencies are frequently responsible for administering, implementing and enforcing pesticide regulations under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) and other applicable laws and regulations.
In early June, NASDA chief executive officer Barbara Glenn sent a letter to EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy expressing concerns with the following: (1) EPA’s mishandling of report information, (2) substantive scientific shortcomings included in the preliminary risk assessment and (3) the implications EPA’s actions may have on U.S. agricultural producers.
Glenn said the preliminary report on Atrazine’s ecological assessment was a “draft” not intended for public dissemination and included data and findings from faulty studies.
She called Atrazine “one of the most scrutinized and examined pesticides in the world. Atrazine’s safety has been established in nearly 7,000 scientific studies over the past 50 years.”
In a February 2016 lawsuit settlement with the Center for Biological Diversity, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and EPA agreed to analyze the impacts of Atrazine on more than 1,500 U.S. plants and animals. The Center for Biological Diversity blames Atrazine for harming the environment and wildlife. 
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Dave Natzke
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