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EPA Releases 'Salmon Mapper' for 12 Pesticides by Mitch Lies Capital Press, September 26, 2014

The Environmental Protection Agency has compiled an online map to help
farmers determine restrictions for 12 commonly used pesticides.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Sept. 26 released a mapping system showing where no-spray buffer zones apply in California, Oregon and Washington for 12 pesticides.

The system, called "Salmon Mapper," includes the most recent data depicting salmon supporting streams, according to an EPA news release.

A U.S. District Court in Washington in August issued an injunction reinstating 2004 court-ordered buffers for carbaryl, chlorpyrifos, diazinon, malathion and methomyl of 60 feet for ground applications and 300 feet for air applications around salmon-bearing streams.

The buffers for these five active ingredients will remain in place until EPA implements "any necessary protections for Pacific salmon and steelhead based on reinitiated consultations with the National Marine Fisheries Service," according to the release.

In contrast, buffers zones for 1,3-D, bromoxynil, diflubenzuron, propargite, metolachlor, prometryn and fenbutatin oxide will remain in effect until NMFS completes biological opinions for them.

Once EPA receives the biological opinion for a chemical, it is expected that the chemical will no longer be subject to the buffers and be removed from Salmon Mapper, according to Rose Kachadoorian, pesticide regulatory leader with the Oregon Department of Agriculture.

EPA is expecting a final biological opinion from NMFS for diflubenzuron, propargite and fenbutatin oxide in December, Kachadoorian said.

Biological opinions for carbaryl, chlorpyrifos, diazinon, malathion and methomyl aren't expected until 2017 at the earliest. They will be nationwide and for aquatic and terrestrial threatened and endangered species, according to Kachadoorian.

Related Sites:
Salmon Mapper Pesticide Use Limitations in California, Oregon and Washington State, by EPA