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U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Inspector General
At a Glance
19-P-0275
August 15, 2019
Why We Did This Project
The U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) Office
of Inspector General (OIG)
conducted this audit to
determine how the EPA
oversees states' Managed
Pollinator Protection Plans
(MP3s), which are designed to
reduce pesticide exposure to
pollinators through timely
communication and
coordination among key
stakeholders. Managed
pollinators are generally honey
bees that beekeepers contract
out to growers for their
pollination services.
In June 2014, a presidential
memorandum, Creating a
Federal Strategy to Promote
the Health of Honey Bees and
Other Pollinators, charged
numerous federal agencies to
address the factors contributing
to pollinator decline. As part of
this effort, the EPA has worked
to encourage state pesticide
agencies to develop state-
specific MP3s with clearly
defined scopes, including the
species of managed pollinators
addressed.
This report addresses the
following:
• Ensuring the safety of
chemicals.
Address inquiries to our public
affairs office at (202) 566-2391 or
OIG WEBCOMMENTS@epa.gov.
List of OIG reports.
EPA Needs to Determine Strategies and Level of
Support for Overseeing State Managed Pollinator
Protection Plans
What We Found
Under the authority of the Federal
Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide
Act (FIFRA), the EPA works to reduce
unwanted pesticide exposure to both
managed pollinators and native pollinators
such as insects, birds and animals. The
MP3 voluntary program encourages states
Honey bee pollination adds more
than $15 billion in value to
U.S. agricultural crops each year.
However, the number of managed
honey bee colonies in the United
States has declined from
5.7 million colonies in the 1940s
to 2.7 million colonies in 2015.
to develop a plan as part of the EPA's
overall national pollinator protection efforts. The EPA plays a supportive role in
overseeing the development, implementation and measurement of state MP3s,
as outlined in the agency's National Program Manager Guidance. The EPA does
not review, approve or provide direct funding for the development or
implementation of state MP3s.
We found that, as of January 2018, 45 states had developed or were developing
MP3s. To provide guidance for MP3 development, the EPA worked with two state
government groups: the Association of American Pesticide Control Officials
(AAPCO) and an AAPCO committee called the State FIFRA Issues, Research
and Evaluation Group (SFIREG). However, we found that the EPA does not have
a means to evaluate the national impact of MP3s. As of May 2019,
AAPCO/SFIREG, in consultation with the EPA, developed a survey to evaluate
MP3s, which is expected to be distributed to state pesticide agencies in the fall of
2019. Despite these survey efforts and plans, the EPA had not developed a
strategy to use the survey data to evaluate either the national impact of MP3s or
the agency's support of state MP3 implementation efforts.
In addition, both nongovernmental organizations and states reported that the
EPA focuses on acute risks—those that occur during a single exposure to a
specific pesticide—to managed pollinators. Other areas of concern, such as
chronic contact with pesticides and native pollinator protection activities, may not
be receiving appropriate attention. The EPA needs to decide how it will measure,
support and assist in the implementation of MP3s.
Recommendations and Agency Planned Corrective Actions
We made five recommendations to the Assistant Administrator for Chemical
Safety and Pollution Prevention, including determining whether the outcomes of
states' MP3s are meeting the EPA's goals for the program and what support the
EPA will provide to assist MP3 implementation efforts. The agency agreed with
our recommendations and provided acceptable corrective actions.

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