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Snyder: ESA compliance complex, but important

The former ag advisor at the U.S. EPA says setting realistic guidelines to help the agency comply with the Endangered Species Act has been a complex part of the job.

The agency is in the process of finalizing a herbicide plan and in July, a draft insecticide plan was released for public comment. A draft fungicide and rodenticide plan is also expected from the agency in the next year.

But Rod Snyder tells Brownfield the new strategies have started to lower legal risks for the agency and “that means more predictability for farmers who rely on these tools to grow their crops and food every single day.”

Snyder says the agency tried to be practical implementing feedback for its final herbicide plan.

“We’re looking for as much flexibility as possible, which is why we signed the memorandum of understanding with USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service to make sure farmers were adopting specific conservation practices and they would get credit for that,” he says. “We want to make this work for folks and I think you’ll see those updates in the final plan.”

The EPA is expected to release the final herbicide plan by the end of August.