US: ARA watching pesticide transport and dicamba issues in EPA

The president and CEO of the Agricultural Retailers Association (ARA) says they hope the Biden EPA addresses transport requirements for restricted-use pesticides and clarifies other regulations.

Daren Coppock tells Brownfield current regulations on transport began with paraquat but are going to apply to other pesticides if the rules aren’t changed. They require transporters to be certified applicators even if they have no intention of applying the pesticides…

“If you’re transporting on a truck, from the warehouse to the field or from the retailer to the field, you should have a CDL to drive your truck so you’re trained to operate that field correctly. But the current regulations would also require that truck driver to have an applicators license.”

Coppock says they raised the issues with the Trump EPA two years ago and he hopes the Biden EPA will take care of it and other regulatory issues that affect their members, “We haven’t got it there yet. I mean, it’s on the radar but we don’t have a resolution for it yet. So those kinds of issues, the dicamba label, the spray drift, what will they do with things like existing stocks of cancelled products? Those some of the things we’re watching at EPA.”

Coppock says ARA leaders have met with incoming EPA Administrator Michael Regan who told them he will have an open door policy with the association.