Weed Management

In January 2001, the Washington Toxics Coalition filed suit against the U.S. EPA in which they alleged that the EPA had failed to uphold the Endangered Species Act (ESA). More specifically, the suit alleged that the EPA had failed to conduct adequate consultations with the National Marine Fisheries Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service concerning pesticide use near threatened or endangered Pacific salmon habitat. In July 2002, the U.S. District Court in Western Washington ruled that EPA had failed to uphold consultation requirements for the 54 pesticide active ingredients named in the lawsuit, and ordered that these consultations be initiated for salmon habitat areas in Oregon, Washington, and California. The 54 active ingredients included several insecticides, fungicides, and herbicides that are commonly used in Pacific Northwest agriculture, such as diuron, 2,4-D, and pendimethalin.

In July 2003, the U.S. District Court issued a preliminary order that would require land buffers for all pesticides named in the suit that do not have a “no effects” or “not likely to adversely affect” determination in the EPA consultations. The final order was released on January 22, 2004. The order requires buffer widths for ground and aerial pesticide applications of 20 yards and 100 yards, respectively, from the “ordinary high water mark” of salmon-bearing streams identified by StreamNet. The affected waterways include those in 26 “Evolutionary Significant Units” (ESU), which are a set of salmon populations with a distinct evolutionary history and, in this case, are threatened or endangered.

What pesticides and use areas will be affected by this lawsuit?

The following list of instructions and the accompanying table will give an idea of pesticides and regions that are affected by the final order. Certain applications of specific pesticides include variations in the required buffers, such as bait stations, spot pesticide applications, and noxious weed control by public agencies. Please refer to the order for a list of specific exemptions.

1. From the accompanying table, choose a region of interest and a specific pesticide, and look for checked boxes in the salmonid species columns. These are specific ESU’s where either pesticide consultations have not been conducted or there is a “may affect” designation.
   
2. On the internet, open the StreamNet Pacific Northwest Interactive Mapper page: http://map.streamnet.org/website/snetmapper/viewer.htm
   
3. From the left side of the StreamNet page, choose the salmonid species ESU list of interest and select the “refresh page” button. The map will be loaded with the ESU legend on the right side of the page.
   
4. Choose the “show fish distribution” button from the left side of the page. A new window will open. Choose the salmonid species of interest. The fish distribution information will be added to the current map. Keep in mind that the fish distribution maps differ by species.
   
5. Choose the “zoom-in” tool (a looking glass with a “+” in the center) from the “Tools section on the left side of the page, and mouse-click the pointer on the map where you would like to zoom. This will result in detailed fish distribution information for streams within an ESU (the zoom function can be used repeatedly for an in-depth, localized map

Table: Washington Toxics Coalition v. U.S. EPA: Pesticide active ingredients and ESU’s where buffers may be required

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