<p dir="ltr">Forwarded with permission.</p>
<p dir="ltr">R. Thomas (Tom) Van Arsdall<br>
Pollinator Partnership<br>
<a href="mailto:TVA@pollinator.org">TVA@pollinator.org</a><br>
(703) 509-4746<br>
<a href="mailto:tom@vanarsdall.com">tom@vanarsdall.com</a></p>
<div class="gmail_quote">---------- Forwarded message ----------<br>From: "<a href="mailto:tstecker@eenews.net">tstecker@eenews.net</a> by E&E Publishing" <<a href="mailto:email_this@eenews.net">email_this@eenews.net</a>><br>Date: Oct 23, 2014 9:52 AM<br>Subject: From Greenwire -- AGRICULTURE: White House pushes back official release of pollinator report<br>To: <<a href="mailto:tva@pollinator.org">tva@pollinator.org</a>><br>Cc: <br><br type="attribution"><u></u>
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White House pushes back official release of pollinator report
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<strong>This Greenwire story was sent to you by:</strong> <span><a href="mailto:tstecker@eenews.net" target="_blank">tstecker@eenews.net</a></span>
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<strong>Personal message:</strong> Hi Tom, here you go. Thanks for your patience. Best wishes, Tiffany
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<span style="color:#6d9230;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:18px;line-height:25px;font-weight:bold">AGRICULTURE:</span>
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<span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:18px;line-height:25px;color:black;font-weight:bold">White House pushes back official release of pollinator report</span>
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Tiffany Stecker, E&E reporter
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Published: Wednesday, October 22, 2014
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<p style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:20px;margin:14px 0"><em>Updated at 9:05 a.m. EDT Oct. 23.</em></p>
<p style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:20px;margin:14px 0">The White House is pushing back the scheduled Dec. 20 release of a report on pollinators ordered by President Obama.</p>
<p style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:20px;margin:14px 0">The report -- which aims to cull studies on honeybees, wild bumblebees, and other insects and animals considered crucial in agriculture -- will be released after the holidays, said Michael Stebbins, assistant director for biotechnology in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.</p>
<p style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:20px;margin:14px 0">Stebbins also announced that both the General Services Administration and the Council on Environmental Quality will release a guidance today for agencies to integrate pollinator-friendly landscaping on federal facilities, the first fruits of Obama's June memorandum on pollinators (<a href="http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/stories/1060001713/" style="color:#900900;font-weight:bold" target="_blank"><em>Greenwire</em></a>, June 20).</p>
<p style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:20px;margin:14px 0">"The dead of winter is not a good time to be sending a message on pollinators," Stebbins told the annual North American Pollinator Protection Campaign conference in Washington, D.C. He declined to clarify when the report would be released.</p>
<p style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:20px;margin:14px 0">A staff member later clarified Stebbins' announcement, saying that agencies are still on track to submit their reports to the White House for the National Pollinator Health Strategy on schedule but that the report's release to the public has yet to be determined.</p>
<p style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:20px;margin:14px 0">The GSA and CEQ guidance intends to show federal agencies how to use spaces like walkways and pathways to integrate plants that will provide food for bees. The White House is currently working on guidance for larger tracts of federal land, Stebbins said.</p>
<p style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:20px;margin:14px 0">"We wanted to get these guidances out so that planning for these facilities in the spring will benefit from these guidances," he said.</p>
<p style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:20px;margin:14px 0">Stebbins also announced that the White House would hold public listening sessions on pollinators.</p>
<p style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:20px;margin:14px 0">Managed honeybees, wild bumblebees, and other pollinators like butterflies and bats are essential to agriculture, as they aid fruit and vegetable production by carrying pollen between plants. The number of managed honeybee colonies in the United States has decreased by 58 percent since 1947, according to the Agriculture Department.</p>
<p style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:20px;margin:14px 0">Laurie Adams, the executive director of the Pollinator Partnership, called Obama's memorandum "the most significant terrestrial restoration effort."</p>
<p style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:20px;margin:14px 0">"We're talking about millions of acres," she said, adding, "The White House has set the bar high."</p>
<h3 style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px;line-height:23px;color:#000000;font-weight:bold">EPA sets time frame for neonicotinoid decision</h3>
<p style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:20px;margin:14px 0">U.S. EPA will make a decision on how to regulate neonicotinoids in 2016 or 2017, Jim Jones, the agency's head of chemical safety and pollution prevention, said this morning.</p>
<p style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:20px;margin:14px 0">Jones said EPA will begin analyzing and releasing data from its long-term study on the effect of neonicotinoids on honeybee populations next year, with a conclusion on the pesticides expected one to two years later. This moves the date up from a earlier time frame of 2017 to 2018.</p>
<p style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:20px;margin:14px 0">Neonicotinoids, a class of insecticides to control chewing pests, have been linked to widespread bee deaths. Discussion on EPA's regulation of neonicotinoids has become central to efforts to restore bee colonies. Jones acknowledged the lengthy process the agency has taken to reach a conclusion on the chemicals.</p>
<p style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:20px;margin:14px 0">"We are frustrated with the pace," he said. "But at the end of the day we need to recognize the science."</p>
<p style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:20px;margin:14px 0">As assistant administrator, Jones oversees EPA's Office of Pesticide Programs, the body that approves and regulates pesticides.</p>
<p style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:20px;margin:14px 0">EPA is conducting a multi-year study on the effect of low levels of neonicotinoids on bee health. The agency formed a working group more than seven years ago on bee health.</p>
<p style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:20px;margin:14px 0">The European Union placed a two-year moratorium on neonicotinoids last year. Last week, EPA found that neonicotinoid treatments on soybean seeds provide little added benefits to the crops. The review did find that the seed treatments provided more benefits to corn, Jones said.</p>
<p style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:20px;margin:14px 0">While environmental groups have long pressed EPA to restrict neonicotinoids, scientists maintain that the pesticides are but one of many factors that have contributed to honeybee declines. Other stressors include the parasitic <em>Varroa</em> mite that transmits bacteria and viruses to bees and loss of forage plants on which bees feed.</p>
<p style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:20px;margin:14px 0">There are several theories on how neonicotinoids affect honeybees, including that the insecticides wear down bees' immune systems, leaving them susceptible to disease.</p>
<p style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:20px;margin:14px 0">EPA is also looking to develop an approach that would coordinate contractor-provided services to avoid pesticide exposure when bees are out. For example, the agency would work with almond growers to plan a pest control schedule with commercial beekeepers during pollination season. Several states, including Mississippi, Colorado and Florida, are working to develop plans to protect pollinators.</p>
<p style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:20px;margin:14px 0">"We're looking at both potential regulatory solutions and [solutions] in the contractor service provider context," Jones said.</p>
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