(NAFB) – The Environmental Protection Agency released its final Herbicide Strategy, calling it an “unprecedented step” in protecting over 900 federally endangered and threatened species from the potential impacts of herbicides. EPA will use the strategy to identify measures to reduce the amount of herbicide exposure to these species when it registers new herbicides and when it reevaluates registered herbicides under a process called registration review. The final strategy incorporates a wide range of stakeholder input, ensuring EPA not only protects species but also preserves a wide range of pesticides for farmers and growers. “Finalizing our first major strategy for endangered species is a historic step in EPA meeting its Endangered Species Act obligations,” says Jake Li, EPA’s Deputy Assistant Administrator for Pesticide Programs. “By identifying protections earlier in the pesticide review process, we are far more efficiently protecting listed species from herbicides and reducing the burdensome uncertainty for the farmers who use them.”