EPA Updates Web site on Endangered Species Protection Program

WASHINGTON — EPA has updated and redesigned its Endangered Species Protection Program Web site to make it easier for visitors to find relevant information about the Program and to reflect enforceable limitations on pesticides that will be put in place through its Endangered Species Protection Program (ESPP).  Visit www.epa.gov/espp to view the Web site that has been redesigned to include a more streamlined interface and more visible and useful links on the homepage, allowing the user to quickly navigate through the many different topics.  Topics include:

• Bulletins Live! – Access Endangered Species Protection Bulletins to view pesticide use limitations for your county or read the Bulletins Live! tutorial.
• Risk Assessment Process – Learn how EPA evaluates potential risks to endangered species from pesticides
• Effects Determinations – Read EPA’s assessments of whether a pesticide’s use may have effects on threatened or endangered species or their designated critical habitat ("effects determinations") and learn about the result of litigation.
• Species Information – Learn about types of threatened and endangered species, access EPA’s Fact Sheets about specific species, and connect to the US Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service.
• For Kids – Learn about endangered species and view an endangered species poster and print a coloring book.

The Web site has been updated to reflect enforceable limitations on pesticides that will be put in place through the Agency’s ESPP.  The ESPP is based on pesticide labels and Endangered Species Protection Bulletins, unlike the previous voluntary program, which relied on cooperative efforts of states, tribes, and pesticide users.  When appropriate, pesticide labels will refer the pesticide user to EPA’s Bulletins Live! application on the ESPP Web site for geographically-specific Endangered Species Protection Bulletins.  The Bulletins will contain enforceable use limitations for a pesticide when necessary to protect listed threatened or endangered species or their critical habitat under the Endangered Species Act.   Bulletins become enforceable when referenced on a pesticide product label in the marketplace.