For Immediate Release: May 29, 2008

Contacts:
, American Bird Conservancy, 202/234-7181 ext. 216

EPA Limits Uses of Toxic Rat Poisons

Children, Pets, Birds and Other Wildlife to Benefit

(Washington, D.C.) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced a landmark decision to control the sale and use of rat poisons throughout the United States. The decision is aimed at protecting children, pets, and wildlife.

“This is an important victory for child safety, and for birds such as eagles and hawks,” said Dr. Michael Fry, Director of Conservation Advocacy at American Bird Conservancy. “Wildlife poisonings have continuously occurred when birds of prey scavenge on dead rodents they find in open areas. The EPA hopes that restricting the sale of the more toxic poisons only to licensed pest control operators and livestock ranchers will effectively reduce the exposure to these birds and other wildlife.”

The most toxic rat poisons will be removed from the consumer market and replaced with less toxic alternatives, which have been shown to be equally effective in controlling rodent populations in cities and farm settings. All over-the-counter sales of these alternatives will be required to be in the form of bait stations to prevent accidental poisoning of children and pets. Licensed pest control operators and livestock ranchers will still be able to purchase the more toxic “second-generation” rodenticides for use only in areas where the products will not be accessible to children.

“Consumers need to find out if they have these hazardous products in their homes and to properly dispose of them immediately,” said Michael Parr, Vice President of American Bird Conservancy. “EPA’s finding that these substances present a major risk to children, pets, and wildlife needs to be a call to action for homeowners and land managers across the U.S.”

American Bird Conservancy and Natural Resources Defense Council have been pressuring the EPA for years to address the threats to wildlife and human health posed by rat poisons. The EPA began its evaluation of rodenticides in 1998. A lawsuit brought by NRDC over child poisonings, along with the threat of action by American Bird Conservancy and Defenders of Wildlife over the poisoning of San Joaquin Kit Foxes and birds of prey, convinced EPA to develop a mitigation plan for both ecological effects and children. The manufacturers of these chemicals fought back, pressuring EPA to accept less stringent, alternative plans, and threatening them with lawsuits.

“The decision today is a compromise to protect children and wildlife to the greatest extent possible in the shortest time, without the delay that would be brought by litigation over the “perfect” solution,” said Dr. Fry. “EPA was pragmatic in their decision, which will save many raptors and foxes in the short term.”

The final decision is not as strong as the proposed mitigation plan presented by EPA in January 2007, which called for the second generation products (brodifacoum, bromodialone, difethialone and difenicoum) to be labeled “restricted use”, with sales only to licensed pest control operators. Instead, they will still be available through farm supply stores to ranchers.

American Bird Conservancy believes the final decision will be very helpful in reducing the exposure to birds and mammalian scavengers in suburban areas, where they may come into contact with poisoned rodents.

“We remain concerned that wildlife will still be exposed to the most toxic rat poisons around poultry ranches and feed lots, where unlicensed ranchers will still be able to use the most toxic rat poisons,” said Dr. Fry. “The potential for exposure of urban wildlife, such as hawks in city parks, will remain high, because pest control operators will still be able to use the most toxic rat poisons in pellet form in areas where children will not come in contact with the poisons but birds still abound.”

Because of budget cuts and overall decreased funding for monitoring programs, the EPA will not have a monitoring program to evaluate the effectiveness of their final decision.

“It is unfortunate that that the Agency will not be able to effectively evaluate the success of their new regulations, because reporting requirements for poisoning incidents are currently ineffective,” said Dr. Fry.

Manufacturers will have 90 days to agree to comply with the new regulations or to voluntarily agree to cancel the registration of their product and remove it from the market. Manufacturers will have 18 months to provide new bait station packaging and test results of package safety to the EPA, and EPA will provide an approval decision within one year. This means registrants must agree to the above conditions by September 4, 2008, and have testing and packaging applications submitted by December 4, 2009. The final decision allows distribution and sale of current products until June 4, 2011.

More information is available at http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/reregistration/rodenticides/finalriskdecision.htm

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American Bird Conservancy is the only organization that works solely to conserve native wild birds and their habitats throughout the Americas. ABC acts to safeguard the rarest bird species, restore habitats, and reduce threats, while building capacity in the conservation movement. ABC is the voice for birds, ensuring that they are adequately protected; that sufficient funding is available for bird conservation; and that land is protected and properly managed to maintain viable habitat. ABC is a 501(c)(3) membership organization that is consistently awarded a top, four-star rating by the independent group, Charity Navigator.