The issue of pollinator health heated up this summer with a flurry of regulatory, scientific and association activity.
“There’s a ton of stuff going on, and there’s no slowdown in sight,” reported Gene Harrington, vice president of government affairs, National Pest Management Association.
50 Plans to Protect Pollinators?
The biggest issue on tap: State pollinator protection plans.
In a June memorandum released during National Pollinator Week, President Obama directed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to work with state environmental, agricultural and wildlife agencies to develop plans promoting pollinator health as part of a larger federal strategy. In mid-August, EPA sent a letter to state regulatory officials to get the ball rolling, said Harrington.
This “significant development” could result in 50 different plans to protect pollinators, said Harrington. Plans will cover a broad range of issues that include pesticide exposure. While the agricultural use of pesticides will be the focus, “I’m sure there will be a residential/structural component in there somewhere,” he said. Pest management professionals who operate in multiple states could be most affected by the plans.
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How Did We Get Here? Colony collapse disorder and declining honey bee populations have been in the news for years, but last summer one incident turned the spotlight on neonicotinoids and the role they might play in bee deaths. In June 2013, an Oregon landscaper applied a dinotefuran product to trees in a parking lot, causing 50,000 bumblebees to die. Shortly thereafter, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced it was adding new label language to some neonicotinoid products that prohibited their use where bees were present. The label change affected all products with outdoor, non-agricultural foliar use directions (except granulars) that contained the active ingredients imidacloprid, dinotefuran, clothianidin or thiamethoxam. Since then, much attention has focused on the possible connection between declining pollinator health and neonicotinoids and other pesticides, resulting in public policy activity, research, lawsuits, protests, manufacturer and association initiatives, education campaigns, and media coverage. Experts agree declining pollinator health is a complex issue involving a multitude of factors: mites, viruses, bacteria, disease, poor nutrition and beekeeping practices, the transportation of hives cross country, habitat loss, genetically modified plants, lack of genetic diversity, weather, and pesticide exposure. PCT continues to follow this evolving issue so readers understand how it might affect their application of pesticides, business operations, and relationships with customers and the community at large. |
On the bright side, the state plans may have caused the EPA to scrap an initiative to add pollinator protection language to all pesticide labels, not just neonicotinoids, but it’s too early to tell just yet, reported NPMA.
Whether the state plans will be linked to pesticide labels and other details will become clearer when the President’s pollinator task force, chaired by the heads of EPA and the Department of Agriculture, presents recommendations in December. NPMA will “continue to be deeply engaged” with state regulators and EPA, said Harrington.
One Step Forward, Two Back.
In July, EPA endorsed bee language guidance developed by the Association of Structural Pest Control Regulatory Officials (ASPCRO) for neonicotinoid products used in outdoor structural and turf and ornamental settings. The document, created with input from NPMA, helps PMPs better interpret the pollinator protection box and use directions now required on neonicotinoid labels.
On other fronts this summer, neonicotinoids faced stricter regulation, lawsuits and all-out bans. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced it would phase out neonicotinoid use at national wildlife refuges by January 2016. Two U.S. congressmen urged colleagues to request that EPA restrict or suspend the use of the pesticides on bee-attractive crops and for ornamental applications, as well as reclassify these products as restricted use.
California legislators passed a measure that speeds up the state’s re-examination of neonicotinoids. The proposed 2018 deadline to complete the reevaluation coincides with the EPA’s registration review of the chemistry. The legislation was awaiting Governor Jerry Brown’s signature as of this printing.
The Oregon Department of Agriculture halted the use of products containing dinotefuran and imidacloprid on linden and like-species trees through Dec. 23 while researchers investigate more reports of bee kills. (A bee kill in June 2013 turned the regulatory spotlight on the non-agricultural use of the pesticide.)
Local governments, like Spokane, Wash.; Shorewood, Minn.; and Seattle passed resolutions banning neonicotinoid use on city property; more are considering this action. A neighborhood in Boulder, Colo., and a county in Ontario, Canada, went neonic free. Even college campuses — Vermont Law and Emory University — put the pesticide on notice.
Anti-pesticide groups were busy: The Natural Resources Defense Council petitioned EPA to expedite a special review of six neonicotinoid pesticides that it believes pose risks to honey and native bees. Other groups filed suit against the California Department of Pesticide Regulation, seeking to prohibit the agency from approving new neonicotinoid products or new uses of products until it completes its required reevaluations of the pesticides.
In Ontario, a class action lawsuit seeks $450 million from Bayer CropScience and Syngenta AG for losses to beekeepers caused by products containing imidacloprid, clothianidin and thiomethoxam. Activist groups held bee “die-ins” at big box stores in cities like Dallas and Chicago.
“While headline grabbing, these announcements do not advance the discussion or the science,” wrote Karen Reardon, public affairs vice president, Responsible Industry for a Sound Environment (RISE) in an email. “With an issue this complex — and one that is about perception with respect to our industry — we’ve got to follow the science.”
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Why You Should Pay Attention to What’s Happening in the Hort Industry Structural pest management isn’t the only industry feeling pressured by anti-neonicotinoid sentiment. Greenhouses, nurseries and retail garden centers also have been targeted. Over the past year, activist groups have held protests, some called bee “die ins,” at garden trade shows and big box stores. In June, a study by Friends of the Earth found 51 percent of “bee-friendly” home garden plants sold at Home Depot, Lowe’s and Walmart were pre-treated with “pesticides shown to harm and kill bees.” The report expanded on a study conducted in 2013. Home Depot, BJ’s Wholesale Club and a handful of independent garden centers and nurseries in Minnesota, Colorado, Maryland and California announced plans to label plants treated with neonicotinoids and/or move away from using the pesticides altogether. Plants in Minnesota cannot be promoted as “pollinator friendly” if they’ve been treated with the systemic insecticide, according to new state legislation. So why should you care? These actions are based on emotional discussions, not science, said Karen Reardon, public affairs vice president, Responsible Industry for a Sound Environment (RISE). Live-plant labeling has progressed even though “there are no incidents of harm to managed bees from these use patterns,” she explained. It’s an “issue of perception,” Reardon said. If the horticulture industry loses the use of its neonicotinoid products this way, other industries could, too. That’s why Reardon urged the pest management industry to lend “its muscle and voice to social media and to other activities” to support neonicotinoid products’ continued availability and to put the emphasis on science. “Unity among users of the products is essential,” she stated. Reardon said research is underway to understand more about how neonicotinoid products move within plants and the impact on pollinators, but “those studies are a ways from being completed.” All of the products, she reminded, had complete assessments as a requirement of their registration by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, including their impact on the environment and non-target organisms. Reardon said neonicotinoid products are reduced risk and safe for applicators. “That’s one thing that’s been lost deliberately in this horticulture discussion,” she noted. RISE continues to actively meet with legislators, grower groups and retailers on the issue. In Oregon, it held outreach programs to educate consumers and young people on the complexity of the bee issue and the important role neonicotinoids play in keeping families and communities safe. “We certainly understand the pressures that can be brought to bear by activism, but by the same token, we have to stand on the science,” said Reardon. |
He Said, She Said.
This summer saw no shortage of science. NPMA is “evaluating all the research” and is trying to “assess it and digest it as best we can,” said Harrington.
The U.S. Geological Survey found neonicotinoid insecticides in nine Midwestern streams and rivers, including the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers.
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Monarch Butterflies May Join the Endangered Species List Monarch populations have declined 90 percent from the 20-year average since the mid-1990s, stated the Xerces Society. “If monarchs were people, that would be like losing every living person in the United States except those in Florida and Ohio,” the society wrote on its website. Habitat loss, climate change, genetically engineered crops and the use of herbicides and insecticides like neonicotinoids, among other factors, threaten the butterflies’ survival, claim the petitioners. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is expected rule in late November whether the species will be considered for listing, reported Responsible Industry for a Sound Environment in an email to its members. |
Dutch researchers linked declining bird health to high concentrations of imidicloprid in water bodies, which reduced insect populations, the birds’ food source. Bayer CropScience said the report shows no causal link between neonicotinoids and bird health.
A June report by the International Union for Conservation of Nature said neonicotinoids pose a serious risk to pollinators, invertebrates and birds, causing The New York Times editorial board to suggest we’re on the brink of another Silent Spring.
An article on TheStreet, an online financial news outlet, said the heightened public policy debate on the role of neonicotinoids threatens about 20 percent of Bayer’s revenue.
That said, Bayer reported European honey bees did better than expected last winter. New data from nearly 400,000 honey bee colonies from 21 countries in Europe and the Mediterranean showed overwintering losses — a leading indicator of general bee health — were at their lowest level in years, the firm reported.
Bayer completed its 2nd Annual Bee Care Tour in June. At its North American Bee Care Center in Research Triangle Park, N.C., the company continues to advance research and educate consumers, students, bee keepers, and farmers on bee care best practices. Neonicotinoids, the company reminded in a press release, help manage serious pests that threaten the food supply (e.g., citrus psyllid), devastate landscapes (e.g., emerald ash borer), and harm pets and families (e.g., fire ants, fleas and ticks).
Syngenta reported its Operation Pollinator program resulted in 50 golf courses across 20 states planting bee-attractive habitat to increase the numbers of native bees.
Staying Vigilant.
“It is more important than ever to be following label directions,” and to be “particularly careful” using neonicotinoid products for foliar applications, Harrington said. As with any pesticide, be “super cautious and avoid inadvertent exposure to bees and other pollinators,” he reminded.
To help PMPs, NPMA has added pollinator protection training to its online learning center; launched Pollinator Health.org, a resource-laden website; and created marketing materials that members can customize and download. Both NPMA and RISE undertook campaigns to educate key groups on pollinator health during National Pollinator Week in June.
RISE continues to educate groups through its Bee Responsible campaign, which makes sure “timely information is readily available, so members of our industry are ready to actively engage in the discussion” of pollinator health, said Reardon. She urged PMPs take part in the discussion on social media channels.
The organization supports “meaningful ways to positively impact pollinators through public-private partnerships” and presented a proposal to the White House for creating bee forage and habitat through Integrated Vegetation Management on utility rights-of-way and similarly managed lands, Reardon wrote.
The author is a frequent contributor to PCT magazine. Email her at anagro@giemedia.com.
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