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<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite="">Hi,<br>
I thought you may be interested in the congressional hearing this Wed.
afternoon on pollinator health in light of the IBES work. You can usually
watch hearings on your computer since they live stream them. Just go to
the House Ag Committee website to view it.<br>
The President’s Pollinator report may be released this month.<br>
<br>
Best,<br><br>
<b> <br>
AGRICULTURE: <br>
Hearing on pollinator health comes as EPA, USDA spar <br>
</b>Tiffany Stecker, E&E reporter<br>
Published: Monday, May 11, 2015 <br>
The House Agriculture Subcommittee on Biotechnology, Horticulture and
Research will hold a hearing on pollinator health this week, the first in
more than a year.<br>
Two sources have said the witnesses will be Jim Jones, assistant
administrator for U.S. EPA's Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution
Control, and Robert Johansson, acting chief economist for the Agriculture
Department, although the House Agriculture Committee was unable to
confirm the witness list late Friday afternoon. EPA and USDA are the two
coordinating agencies for the White House Pollinator Health Task Force,
which President Obama launched nearly a year ago
(<a href="http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/stories/1060001713"><i>
Greenwire</a></i>, June 20, 2014).<br>
Agriculture, pesticide, environmental and beekeeping interests are
waiting for a long-expected report from the White House that will lay out
steps federal agencies must take to reverse the significant decline in
honeybees, butterflies, wild bees and other insects that carry pollen
from one plant to the next.<br>
Johansson, who stepped into the chief economist role on Jan. 1, entered
the pollinator spotlight recently with a
<a href="http://www.regulations.gov/#%21documentDetail;D=EPA-HQ-OPP-2014-0737-0942">
letter</a> to EPA critical of the agency's October analysis on
neonicotinoid seed treatments for soybeans. The review found that
neonicotinoid seed treatments, which have been linked to poor bee health,
provide "little or no benefit" to soybean farmers
(<a href="http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/stories/1060007517/"><i>
Greenwire</a></i>, Oct. 17, 2014).<br>
The review, wrote Johansson, "again puts growers in the position of
defending their pest management decisions."<br>
In the letter, Johansson states that USDA staff had specifically asked
EPA to undertake a full risk assessment that would have weighed the
benefits of neonicotinoid seed treatments for all crops, not just
soybeans.<br>
"Instead, EPA released the report regarding soybean seed treatment
without additional consideration of other crops or to USDA cautions about
releasing a premature assessment of the costs and benefits of such seed
treatments," he wrote.<br>
The strongly worded letter was distributed by pesticide and agriculture
organizations last week, including neonicotinoid manufacturer Bayer Crop
Science and the American Soybean Association.<br>
One source said a congressional hearing would have made more sense after
the release of the White House report, which is expected in the next few
weeks. But the timing of the hearing is still appropriate, said Jay
Vroom, president and CEO of CropLife America, the pest control trade
group.<br>
"There's probably some things that deserve attention separately from
the White House report," Vroom said. He didn't point to EPA's seed
treatment analysis specifically, but added, "that's certainly one of
the many things that have occurred" that could come up in the
hearing.<br>
The hearing will likely focus on the seed treatment analysis as an
example of the overall question on how USDA and EPA are working together,
said a source working with agriculture groups.<br>
"It seems like things are getting a little out of sync," said
the source.<br>
Groups like the American Honey Producers Association are concerned that
the hearing is being set up as a conflict between USDA and EPA and won't
address the multiple issues that are affecting pollinator
populations.<br>
In addition to neonicotinoids, pollinators are suffering from a lack of
forage and nutritious pollen, and from parasites like the <i>Varroa</i>
mite that transmit diseases. Most scientists believe the decline in bees
is due to a combination of these factors.<br>
Beekeepers have been losing, on average, roughly 30 percent of their
hives every winter for the last decade, according to USDA's Bee Informed
Partnership. The partnership is expected to announce its 2014-2015
overwintering loss numbers this week.<br>
"Why do we continue to move down this road of ignoring the broader
issue in Congress?" said one source close to the issue.<br>
Members of the American Honey Producers Association, which represents
commercial beekeepers, will come to Washington, D.C., for their annual
fly-in this week.<br>
<b>Schedule:</b> The hearing is Wednesday, May 13, at 1:30 p.m. in 1300
Longworth.<br>
<b>Witnesses:</b> Jim Jones, EPA assistant administrator for the Office
of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention; and Robert Johansson, USDA
acting chief economist.<br>
<br>
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