About Us

FESTF Background

The FIFRA Endangered Species Task Force (FESTF), a limited liability company, was originally formed in 1994 by several agrochemical companies to address initial endangered species location data requirements imposed upon the companies by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in connection with the registration of a wide range of pesticide products under the U.S. Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). EPA reviews all pesticides to ensure that these products will meet FIFRA’s data requirements and EPA’s obligations under the U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA) to protect endangered species and designated critical habitat. Whenever a product’s properties or proposed outdoor uses may have potential impacts on endangered species or their designated critical habitat, EPA requires detailed endangered species proximity data as part of its wider evaluation of the pesticide’s effects on the environment. These data requirements are frequently applied directly by EPA through its Registration Review process, or whenever a new product registration or amendment action triggers endangered species concerns. EPA approved of the Task Force’s plans to meet the Agency’s data requirements in Pesticide Registration (PR) Notice 2000-2 and in many interactions with FESTF and its members in the years since.

Since the time of FESTF’s formation, EPA’s endangered species requirements for pesticide registration and review have grown both more complex and more commonplace, and today FESTF’s aggregated data and Gopher, FESTF’s information management system delivering these data, represent an essential resource for industry compliance with these requirements. FESTF also serves as a source of information on pesticides and endangered species for a variety of stakeholders including pesticide users, educators, commodity groups, and the public. Please contact us if you have questions about pesticides and endangered species, or how FESTF’s data can help your organization.