What's at stake?

The Agency is attempting to replace the 15 parts per billion (ppb) Level of Concern (CE-LOC) finalized in 2020 with an ultra-low 3.4 ppb CE-LOC proposed in 2016. Reverting to this ultra-low level would reverse more than a decade of exhaustive scientific and regulatory review and jeopardize a key active ingredient in over 90 herbicide mixtures. Beyond this, EPA’s rejection of sound science sets a dangerous precedent that undermines the agency’s regulatory framework.

Now is the time to hold EPA accountable.

• Activists are at work inside EPA. In 2016, the agency’s Environmental Fate and Effects Division (EFED) leaked, recalled, and then publicly released a preliminary ecological assessment proposing a 3.4 ppb CE-LOC. The 2016 proposal was not supported by sound scientific evidence and updated with the approved 15 ppb in 2020.
• Switching tactics, EPA informed the Triazine Network the 15 ppb level was a “policy decision” and now contends the 3.4 CE-LOC is the “scientific” number. Any steps to reverse the critical 15 ppb CE-LOC after a lengthy registration review should be analyzed by a Scientific Advisory Panel where it can be presented in a scientifically robust manner. It should not shift every time there is a shift in politics.
• The current CE-LOC “reevaluation” has not been open nor transparent. EPA convened no public meetings and solicited no public input before reaching its proposed conclusion. This lack of transparency and rejection of robust, peer-reviewed research sets a dangerous precedent that undermines the public trust and the entire regulatory framework.
• If the current path doesn’t change, it will be extremely difficult to apply atrazine across the Sorghum Belt, where it is a key tool in sustainable practices like no-till farming. Law requires the EPA to base its decisions on sound science, not rewrite the playbook based on environmental pressure or politics.