Stop the EPA from Re-approving Dicamba
The EPA is working behind the scenes to reapprove Dicamba. EPA head Lee Zeldin and Charles "Billy" Smith in the Office of Pesticide Programs registration division are pushing to approve Bayer-Monsanto's new over-the-top Dicamba sprays as early as next week. Federal courts previously blocked Dicamba twice because of the chemical's risk for drifting and volatilizing for up to 72 hours, particularly when applied in hot temperatures.
Here are talking points when contacting the EPA.
- Dicamba has a clear history of damaging crops and posing a threat to biodiversity. From 2017 and 2019, 5,600 farmers reported that Dicamba herbicides destroyed an estimated five million acres of crops. Bayer and Syngenta already paid $665 million in damages to soybean and peach farmers for the damage. In 2024, a judge ruled that farmers were pushed into buying Dicamba resistant seeds out of fear for the chemical destroying their crops.
- The EPA already recognizes that its proposed mitigation efforts to reduce Dicamba damage pose operational challenges for farmers in hot climates and during summer months.
- The EPA received 82,029 comments during Dicamba's most recent public review period, which were largely cautionary and pleading with the agency to not re-approve Dicamba.
- A prospective cohort study found an association with Dicamba application and an increased risk of liver and intrahepatic bile duct cancers as well as acute and chronic lymphocytic leukemia, and mantle cell lymphoma.
Here are the contacts in the EPA's Office of Pesticide Programs Registration Division Herbicide Division.
Lindsay Roe roe.lindsay@epa.gov Branch Chief
