USDA CROP Act of 2025
The USDA CROP Act of 2025 would amend the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) to require greater coordination between the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator and the Secretary of Agriculture in pesticide regulation. Key changes include: (1) requiring collaboration with USDA when risk mitigation measures are proposed for a pesticide and obligating the EPA to publish an economic analysis of those measures’ costs to growers, state lead agencies, and other stakeholders; (2) mandating coordination of data and information—through USDA’s Office of Pest Management Policy—to inform pesticide registration decisions, including agronomic use data and information on alternatives; (3) ensuring transparency by requiring the EPA to describe how such data were used (or why they were not used) in accompanying docket documents; (4) aligning on Endangered Species Act actions by involving the Interior and Commerce Departments and considering reasonable and prudent actions in a manner consistent with risk/benefit evaluation; and (5) permitting waivers or modifications to the coordination requirements if the Administrator, the Secretary of Agriculture, and the registrant agree and publish the agreement in the action docket. The bill is titled the USDA Communication Regarding Oversight of Pesticides Act of 2025 (USDA CROP Act).
Key Points
- 1Coordination on risk mitigation: When EPA requires risk mitigation for a registered pesticide, EPA must develop these measures with USDA and publish an economic analysis of the costs to growers, state lead agencies, and other affected entities, including changes to use requirements and labeling costs.
- 2Data and information sharing: For registration decisions and certain regulatory determinations, EPA must coordinate with USDA (via the Director of the Office of Pest Management Policy) to obtain agronomic use data and information on the availability and economic viability of alternatives to the pesticide; EPA must publish in the docket how it used such data and why some data may not have been used.
- 3Transparency in decision-making: EPA must describe its use (or non-use) of USDA-provided data in the docket accompanying the decision, ensuring an auditable record of the data sources and rationales.
- 4Coordination with Interior and Commerce on endangered species actions: EPA, in implementing reasonable and prudent actions under the Endangered Species Act related to pesticide use, must coordinate with USDA, the Interior Department, and the Commerce Department, consider options consistent with risk/benefit evaluations, and provide feedback on decisions affecting end users.
- 5Waiver mechanism: The coordination requirements can be waived or modified for a specific action if the EPA Administrator, the Secretary of Agriculture, and the registrant agree, with the agreement published in the action’s docket.