About Us
PestWise summarizes the various voluntary and grant-giving programs that complement the Office of Pesticide Programs' (OPP) regulatory effort. OPP works collaboratively with companies, non-profit organizations, communities, and individuals, addressing a wide variety of pest management issues and risks to human health and the environment. PestWise programs promote environmental stewardship to protect human health and the environment through:
- Information exchange
- Education and promotion
- Technical assistance
- Funding and grant opportunities
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How We Work: Five Strategic Goals
All of EPA's pest management activities are aligned with five strategic goals detailed in each of the five tabs below.
- Increase Public
Understanding - Promote Reduced-
Risk Practices - Expand
Biopesticide Use - Implement IPM
Roadmap - Provide Regulatory
Transition Assistance
Goal 1: Increase Public Understanding
Outreach and education about pests and pesticides are essential. In 2008 alone, for example, over $251,000 was allocated to the Pesticide Environmental Stewardship Program (PESP) Grants for projects that ranged from teaching children about risks posed by pesticides to assisting Spanish-speaking families in making their homes safer. To further public outreach, EPA provides an information package to ensure safety and understanding of pesticide risks.
Goal 2: Promote Reduced-Risk Practices
EPA's Pesticide Program supports the increased adoption of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) (print version, 2 pp, 1MB), which when done correctly can reduce the need for pesticides. For example, the Strategic Agricultural Initiative (SAI) promotes alternative pest management practices on farms. From 2003-2006, SAI helped implement use of new IPM practitices on over 1.2 million acres of farm land in the United States, leading to a 30% reduction in the use of pesticides on those acres.
Goal 3: Expand Biopesticide Use
EPA's Pesticide Program is committed to increasing the adoption of biologically-based pesticides, or biopesticides (print version, 2 pp, 1.4MB), within Integrated Pest Management (IPM) systems. Between 2004-2008, the Biopesticide Demonstration Program (BDP) awarded 73 grants for the purpose of researching and testing new types of biopesticides on crops across the country. As a result, over 25 registered biopesticides are now used for over 20 types of crops on hundreds of thousands of acres of U.S. farmland. Sales of some of the most effective biopesticides in the program increased significantly following their inclusion in the program.
Goal 4: Implement IPM Roadmap
EPA's Pesticide Program is a key federal partner in implementing the National Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Roadmap (PDF) (7 pp, 37K)
, which identifies new areas for IPM implementation to meet pest control challenges across the country. The IPM Roadmap was developed collaboratively by several federal agencies, including EPA, Department of Agriculture (USDA), Department of Interior (DOI), Department of Defense (DOD), US Agency for International Development (USAID), and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The IPM in Schools Program is strongly aligned with the Roadmap, having recently set forth a strategy – together with the IPM Institute, USDA, and regional IPM Centers – which aims to implement IPM practices in every public school across the country by 2015.
Goal 5: Provide Regulatory Transition Assistance
EPA's Pesticide Program assists the pesticide-user community in transitioning to Integrated Pest Management (IPM) practices in response to EPA Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP) regulations and priorities. Through grants and partnerships, EPA's Pesticide Program has funded projects that assist pesticide users to adapt to OPP's regulatory decisions with alternatives that are both cost-effective and perform as well as or better than most products and practices. For example, in 2006, OPP announced a regulatory decision to phase out the use of the pesticide azinphos methyl (AZM) by 2012 due to the negative health effects it had on farmers and pesticide applicators. EPA's Pesticide Program has reached out to the farming community and has successfully assisted growers find and implement pest management alternatives, including biopesticides and IPM.
What We Do: Programs and Initiatives
Each stewardship program works to advance innovative pest management practices by:
- Encouraging the adoption of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) (print version, 2 pp, 1MB) practices through grants and other technology transfer initiatives
- Providing assistance for transitioning to IPM practices
- Increasing public understanding of pests and pesticide risk as well as demand for sustainable approaches to pest control
Pesticide Environmental Stewardship Program (PESP)
Pesticide Environmental Stewardship Program Brochure (print version, 2 pp, 2MB)
Mission: To reduce pesticide risk in both agricultural and non-agricultural settings through public-private partnerships that promote IPM.
Established in 1994, PESP is a voluntary membership and grants program that works with the nation’s pesticide-user community to reduce human health and environmental risks associated with pesticide use. PESP and its sub-initiatives promote the adoption of innovative, alternative pest control practices such as IPM. PESP is guided by the principle that voluntary programs complement the standards and decisions established by regulatory and registration actions. The informed actions of pesticide users can further reduce the risks from pests and pesticides by playing a major role in ensuring human health and environmental safety.
PESP Initiative: Integrated Pest Management (IPM) in Schools Program
Mission: To reduce the risk of pests and pesticides to children by implementing IPM in schools.
The IPM in Schools Program aims to reduce the risk that pesticide exposure poses to children and school employees by promoting sensible applications of pesticides around schools. It is a national partnership effort to make safe and effective pest management a standard practice in all of our nation’s schools. IPM in Schools Program partners aim to:
- Make schools safer by decreasing pesticide exposure and associated risks
- Increase the number of schools adopting verifiable IPM, with all schools in the United States implementing IPM by 2015
- Minimize use of pesticides
- Make schools inaccessible to and uninhabitable by pests
- Increase IPM awareness among school districts, school staff, parents, and students
PESP Initiative: Landscaping Initiative
Landscaping Initiative Brochure (print version, 2 pp, 3MB)
Mission: To reduce risk by encouraging environmentally responsible lawn and landscape management practices.
The Landscaping Initiative partners with businesses, lawn care professionals, government agencies, and community organizations. The Initiative seeks to enhance the environmental, human health, and economic benefits associated with landscapes while reducing the need for pesticides, fertilizers, irrigation, and energy inputs by working with the natural formations of the land.
Biopesticide Demonstration Program (BDP)
Biopesticides Demonstration Program Brochure (EPA-731-F-08-006, October 2008) (print version, 2 pp, 1.9MB)
Mission: To reduce exposure to pesticides and risks of pesticide usage through the increased and appropriate use of biopesticides in agricultural and non-agricultural applications.
Established in 2003, BDP is a pesticide risk reduction partnership program coordinated by EPA. The program was historically Jointly funded and administered by EPA and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to reduce barriers to increased adoption of biopesticides (print version, 2 pp, 1.4MB) nationally by funding field demonstrations of effective biopesticides within Integrated Pest Management (IPM) systems. Through grants and technology transfer partnerships, BDP seeks to:
- Increase awareness and share knowledge about different options for including biopesticides in existing farming techniques
- Promote use of new combinations of biopesticides to reduce risk in our communities to improve farm production
Pesticide Registration Improvement Renewal Act Partnership (PRIA2)
Mission: To promote pesticide risk reduction by demonstrating innovative IPM practices and technologies as well as by outreach and education.
- Promote partnerships between stakeholders, producers, commodity groups, scientists, and government agencies to demonstrate, promote, and expand reduced risk/IPM practices
- Use demonstration projects, outreach, and education to increase the adoption of reduced risk/IPM approaches
- Measure and document the effects and impacts of using the reduced risk/IPM programs on human health, the community, and the environment
- Promote the economic benefits of implementing IPM approaches and provide pesticide users data and analysis on costs associated with adopting IPM
