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Council of Producers & Distributors of Agrotechnology
Terry Kippley, CPDA
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In this Issue:
- Meeting with Chairman Thompson
- Office of Pesticide Programs Funding
- More Farm Bill News
- A Visit with NAAA's Andrew Moore
- Pesticide Program Dialogue Committee Meeting
- N-Methypyrrolidone (NMP) Proposed Rule
- Save the Date: 2024 CPDA Annual Meeting
- Industry Events
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It’s been a busy two weeks following our last News & Notes. Here’s what your association has been doing to protect and advance your freedom to operate.
Meeting with Chairman Thompson
Last week, I attended a Political Action Committee luncheon with House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn “G.T.” Thompson where I got some one-on-one time with the Chairman to discuss our CPDA priorities.
First, I thanked the Chairman for his efforts to pass a bipartisan Farm Bill out of his committee.
Second, I stressed the importance of including Drift Reduction Adjuvants (DRAs) as the farmers “easy button” for mitigating Endangered Species Act no-spray buffers. To that end, CPDA has been pushing hard to include report language in the Farm Bill directing the Secretary of Agriculture to utilize Natural Resource Conservation Service resources to provide farmers with a conservation cost share when they utilize DRAs as an ESA mitigation tool.
Finally, I mentioned adequate funding for EPA’s Office of Pesticide Programs and how the current backlog of regulatory submissions is affecting farmers.
With so much on the line for our industry, it was great to spend some time with Chairman Thompson.
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Office of Pesticide Programs Funding
We just received a bit of sobering news from OPP leadership regarding funding and staffing levels. As you know, OPP’s fiscal year funding level is $6 million dollars short of what they need to keep pace with regulatory submissions. On top of that, industry submissions and the fees they generate are down, resulting in an additional $6 million shortfall.
Given this, OPP will need to reduce its use of contractors by 40% to make the numbers work. These contractors do much of the pick-and-shovel work to screen incoming submissions before they are passed on to OPP reviewers. This is a major red warning flag as registrants can expect the PRIA backlog to increase due to inadequate staffing.
It’s not all bad news as we learned that non-PRIA approvals and completions are now outpacing submissions. This is all due to CPDA’s efforts to include in PRIA V a 12.5% PRIA fee set-aside for OPP to use exclusively to process non-PRIA submissions.
To address the OPP funding shortfall, Jay Vroom and I were in Washington DC last week making the rounds on Capitol Hill seeking full funding for OPP in the Fiscal Year 2025 federal budget. Joining us was Dorothy Clark of CPDA member company WinField United/Land O Lakes. Dorothy is their Federal Government and Industry Affairs Manager. One of our stops was to the office of Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-WI). Congressman Van Orden is circulating a “Dear Colleague” letter seeking full funding for OPP.
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Farm Bill News
On Tuesday, June 11, Senator John Boozman (R-AR), ranking member of the Senate Agriculture Committee released the Senate Ag Republicans Farm Bill framework, which is similar to the version approved by the House Ag Committee.
Senator Boozman’s proposed framework includes several CPDA priorities to include:
- Reauthorization of the Endangered Species Act Interagency Working Group;
- Validating EPA’s registration authority under the Federal Insecticide Fungicide and Rodenticide Act by reaffirming the primacy of federal labels;
- Increasing USDA’s Office of Pest Management Policy’s role in the pesticide registration process; and
- Allowing qualified agricultural retailer agronomists and others to become NRCS Technical Service Providers.
One more Farm Bill note: Jay, Dorothy and I had a great visit with ag staffer Georgia Davies of Congressman Frank Lucas (R-OK) office to thank her and Mr. Lucas for pushing the Farm Bill out of the Ag Committee.
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Jay Vroom, CPDA; Georgia Davies, Ag Staffer for Congressman Frank Lucas; Dorothy Clark, Federal Government Affairs, Land O’Lakes; Terry Kippley, CPDA. | |
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Collaboration is the New Currency –
A Visit with NAAA's Andrew Moore
Last week, Jay and I had a great visit with our friend and ally, the National Agricultural Aviation Association's President and CEO, Andrew Moore. CPDA and NAAA have a lot in common. One of our top shared priorities is helping our members navigate the ESA labyrinth of complicated restrictions pesticide applicators will soon face.
During our visit, we also updated Andrew on the progress we've made advancing Drift Reduction Adjuvants as an ESA mitigation tool. We also had time to share details on each association's Farm Bill strategies. And no meeting in Washington DC is complete without a discussion of election year politics. These are meetings where both organizations get to "sharpen the saw" by sharing information and insight. Thank you, Andrew, for your hospitality!
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Andrew Moore, President and CEO, National Agricultural Aviation Association; Terry Kippley and Jay Vroom, CPDA. | |
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Pesticide Program Dialogue Committee Meeting
On June 5 and 6, I attended the virtual meeting of EPA’s Pesticide Program Dialogue Committee (PPDC). I am one of eight PPDC members representing the Chemical and Biopesticides Industry.
The PPDC is a federal advisory committee established in September of 1995 “to provide policy advice, information and recommendations to the EPA Administrator through the Director of the Office of Pesticide Programs, Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention.”
One of the key issues discussed at the meeting was the “crosswalk” between EPA and USDA/NRCS. This follows the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) EPA and USDA signed in February outlining how EPA can incorporate USDA/NRCS conservation practices on pesticide labels. This is one-way growers who voluntarily integrate NRCS practices into their farming practices can use them to fulfill pesticide label requirements related to ESA required mitigations.
The MOU is the result of CPDA efforts over the past year, where we have worked with USDA/NRCS staff to not only raise the awareness of adjuvants as conservation tools but to also increase the NRCS mitigation index values for adjuvants for their Code 595 Practice Standards. Higher values will drive wider adoption of adjuvants, giving farmers access to a new tool to mitigate ESA restrictions while also helping them qualify for NRCS conservation program funding.
Whether adjuvants are part of the crosswalk document is still unknown. EPA Assistant Administrator Jake Li did note that they were under consideration and that the crosswalk document should be available in a couple of months.
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N-Methtpyrrolidone (NMP) Proposed Rule
On June 14, EPA released a proposed rule “to address the unreasonable risk of injury to human health presented by n-methylpyrrolidone (NMP) under its conditions of use as documented in EPA's risk evaluation and risk determination for NMP pursuant to the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).”
NMP is a widely used solvent in a variety of industrial, commercial, and consumer applications, including pesticides. If the proposed rule takes effect, it would ban NMPs for pesticide formulations that contain NMPs. Under the timelines of the proposed rule, registrants would have until 2026 to alter their formulations and to submit new CSFs to EPA.
The comment period for the proposed rule ends on July 15 after just 30 days. This suggests that EPA is anxious to finalize the rule before the end of 2024.
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Save the Date: Make Plans to Attend the 2024 CPDA Annual Meeting
The date and location for the 2024 CPDA Annual Meeting are set. This year’s meeting will be held on September 15-18 in beautiful San Diego, California. Please make plans to attend as we will layout our 2025 policy agenda while providing updates on a number of key CPDA initiatives.
Like the last two annual meetings, we will be holding our annual meeting at the same time CropLife America is holding theirs. To take advantage of this partnership, we will be holding a joint networking reception with CLA where you can reconnect with old friends while making new ones.
Agenda Includes:
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Sunday, September 15
- CLA/RISE Welcome Reception (CPDA Members Invited)
Monday, September 16
- CPDA Executive Committee Meeting
- CPDA Board Meeting
- CLA/RISE Networking Reception (CPDA Members Invited)
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Tuesday, September 17
- CPDA General Session
- Senior Executive Panel discussing regulatory & technical changes on the way
- Legislative Panel: Farm Bill Priorities & Political Outlook
- CPDA Awards
- Practical Implications of Implementing ESA Mitigation at the State Level
- CPDA Networking Reception & PAC Silent Auction
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North Central Weed Science Society Volunteers Needed!
The NCWSS and ABG AG services are looking for volunteers for the NCWSS Weed Contest to be held on July 25th at ABG Ag in Sheridan, Indiana. This is a great opportunity to build awareness of our industry, and your company, with the next crop of agronomists and weed scientists.
If you would like to volunteer, please fill out the NCWSS Contest Volunteer Form and send to LeAnna Trail (ltrail@abgagservices.com) by June 14, 2024.
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Battelle Tour
CPDA member Battelle will hold a tour of their West Jefferson and Columbus, Ohio facilities on July 30th. The tour will focus on their wind tunnel and volatility testing capabilities along with an overview of its analytical labs, PFAS research and emerging contaminants work.
Register by July 10th for this FREE tour.
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AgriBusiness GlobalSM Trade Summit
August 7–8, 2024
Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort | Florida, USA
Dedicated to Worldwide Networking and New Business Development
The Trade Summit is the trusted forum for advancing development in the rapidly emerging global crop protection, ag tech, plant health, and biological sectors. It attracts leaders in the upstream value chain of manufacturing companies, export and trading companies, importers, and distributors at the national level.
The 2024 Trade Summit will facilitate global trade by offering educational sessions, a robust exhibit floor, private meeting rooms, and dedicated networking opportunities for the world market to connect, engage, and build business.
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