Comer Probes USDA Review of EPA’s Chlorpyrifos Ban on Food Products

WASHINGTON—House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) is today continuing oversight of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) controversial decision to place a sweeping ban on a commonly used insecticide that protects America’s food supply. The EPA’s decision disregards U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)-Pest Management scientists who previously expressed they believed EPA could retain certain chlorpyrifos uses that meet EPA’s safety standards. In a letter to Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Chairman Comer is requesting documents and communications to better understand USDA’s interactions with EPA and its input on the controversial decision.

“EPA’s decision instead to ban alltolerances of the pesticides and this revocation should have gone through interagency review. The 11 crop uses of the pesticide the EPA could retain—including alfalfa, apple, cherry, sugar beet, and wheat—represent more than $59 billion dollars in annual value to the U.S. economy. The Committee previously wrote EPA explaining Office of Management and Budget guidance has been clear to direct the EPA to seek interagency review when EPA actions make pesticide tolerances ‘more stringent’ which this ban does by placing severe economic strain on American distributors and growers,” Chairman Comer wrote.

The EPA published its Final Rule revoking all tolerances for chlorpyrifos in August 2021. Just last week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit struck down EPA’s decision, finding it “arbitrary and capricious.” In November 2022, Chairman Comer, along with House Committee on Agriculture Chairman Glenn Thompson (R-Pa.), House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology Chairman Frank Lucas (R-Okla.) and former Rep. Yvette Herrell (R-N.M.) initiated a probe into the EPA’s decision to ignore top scientists at USDA by banning chlorpyrifos. The lawmakers requested documents, communications, and a staff level briefing from both EPA and USDA.

“On January 19, 2023, in a staff-level briefing, EPA explained closed-door meetings between EPA and USDA staff did not change EPA’s announcement of its Notice of Intent to Cancel (NOIC) the registration of chlorpyrifos. […] Six months passed after the EPA staff-level briefing before USDA finally delivered a similar staff-level briefing on August 30, 2023. USDA staff discussed the interactions of USDA with EPA regarding chlorpyrifos, specifically on the final rule to revoke all tolerances and the NOIC. USDA confirmed conversations between USDA and EPA changed from disagreements on chlorpyrifos science to monitoring the Red River Valley Sugarbeet Growers Association et al. court decision in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eight Circuit after EPA decided to issue the NOIC in December 2022,” Chairman Comer continued.

Read the letter to Secretary of U.S. Department of Agriculture Thomas Vilsack here.