U.S. NCGA testifies on the importance of atrazine

The National Corn Growers Association testified today before a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Scientific Advisory Panel that was convened in the wake of the EPA’s newly announced comprehensive review of health and ecological risks associated with the commonly used herbicide atrazine.

In his testimony, NCGA Director of Public Policy Rod Snyder emphasized the thousands of existing studies that have been considered over the past decade by EPA in supporting the registration and safe use of atrazine in the United States. He also expressed concern with the fact that the agency has not identified any new credible data to merit a new comprehensive review of the product.

"There is no evidence that EPA has thoroughly evaluated any new underlying studies before proceeding with this particular panel,” Snyder said. “In fact, the agency is attempting to review a host of issues in the next twelve months that previously took more than a decade to consider. This creates a false sense of urgency and causes our members to question the motivation behind this process.”

Snyder reiterated NCGA’s concern over the exceptionally brief comment period, stating that the timing of this proposal in the midst of harvest made it particularly difficult for corn growers to meet the abbreviated deadline for comment submission. He also expressed NCGA’s support of the continued use of atrazine.

"NCGA believes that 50 years of safe use and extensive monitoring data support atrazine’s continued registration in the United States. In short, we are simply asking EPA to stand by its own science.”