June 29 deadline for public comment on EPA fungicide strategy approaches
June 17, 2026
By Mary Hightower
University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture
Fast Facts
- Fungicide proposal joins previous EPA herbicide, insecticide strategies
- Submit public comments online
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FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The public has until June 29 to submit public comment about the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed fungicide strategy, which is meant to reduce pesticide exposure to endangered species.
The fungicide proposal joins EPA’s 2024 herbicide and 2025 insecticide strategies.
“These are the policy proposals EPA has been working on since 2022,” said Brigit Rollins, staff attorney for the National Agricultural Law Center. That was the year it published Balancing Wildlife Protection and Responsible Pesticide Use: How EPA’s Pesticide Program Will Meet its Endangered Species Act Obligations.
The document outlines EPA’s plan to introduce new mitigation measures to pesticide labels aimed at reducing exposure to threatened and endangered species. According to EPA, the new policy approach is needed to address what it describes as a decades-old challenge to satisfy the agency’s obligations under both the Endangered Species Act and the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, or FIFRA.
When a pesticide comes up for approval or renewal, EPA must conduct what’s known as a Section 7 consultation — a mandatory action under the Endangered Species Act. The consultation helps predict whether an action or product might affect an endangered or threatened species, or its designated critical habitat.
The proposed strategy “is how EPA is putting additional mitigations to pesticide labels prior to doing Section 7 consultation,” Rollins said. “The idea is to reduce species risk on the front end instead of the back end.”
Read the full National Agricultural Law Center analysis of the strategy online.
To learn about extension programs in Arkansas, contact your local Cooperative Extension Service agent or visit uaex.uada.edu. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram. To learn more about the Division of Agriculture, visit uada.edu. To learn more about ag and food research in Arkansas, visit the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station at aaes.uada.edu.
FAQs
- What EPA public comment period ends on June 29, 2026?
- What is the EPA doing to protect endangered species?
- What is a Section 7 consultation?
About the National Agricultural Law Center
Created by Congress in 1987, the National Agricultural Law Center serves as the nation’s leading source of agricultural and food law research and information. The NALC works with producers, agribusinesses, state and federal policymakers, lenders, Congressional staffers, attorneys, land grant universities, students, and many others to provide objective, nonpartisan agricultural and food law research and information to the nation’s agricultural community.
The NALC is a unit of the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture and works in close partnership with the USDA Agricultural Research Service, National Agricultural Library.
About the Division of Agriculture
The University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture’s mission is to strengthen agriculture, communities, and families by connecting trusted research to the adoption of best practices. Through the Agricultural Experiment Station and the Cooperative Extension Service, the Division of Agriculture conducts research and extension work within the nation’s historic land-grant education system.
The Division of Agriculture is one of 22 entities within the University of Arkansas System. It has offices in all 75 counties in Arkansas and faculty on three campuses.
Pursuant to 7 CFR § 15.3, the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture offers all its Extension and Research programs and services (including employment) without regard to race, color, sex, national origin, religion, age, disability, marital or veteran status, genetic information, sexual preference, pregnancy or any other legally protected status, and is an equal opportunity institution.
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Media Contact:
Nick Kordsmeier
Nkordsme@uada.edu