State-Specific Dicamba Regulations 

January 24, 2013 

Under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), EPA has the primary 

responsibility to regulate pesticides. FIFRA requires EPA to stipulate conditions of use to ensure no 

unreasonable adverse effects on human health or the environment result from pesticide use according to 

approved label directions. While EPA is the principal regulator of pesticides, FIFRA also authorizes 

states to regulate the sale and use of pesticides. Once a pesticide product is approved by the EPA, states 

must register the product according to state pesticide regulations before the product can be promoted, 

distributed for sale, or used in their respective state. States are permitted to apply more stringent 

requirements on the use of the pesticide as needed to address specific local considerations, but 

modifications to the product label in a manner that reduces requirements of the federally approved label 

are not permitted. States have the primary responsibility to enforce the use of the pesticide product in 

accordance with the product label, including application requirements that minimize potential off-target 

impacts. 

Presently, dicamba is subject to specific use regulations or requirements in six states, see Table 1 for 

information on current dicamba state regulations. Monsanto has engaged in discussions with individual 

state Departments of Agriculture or Pesticide Directors in key row crop producing states and with the 

American Association of Pest Control Officials (AAPCO) State/FIFRA Issues Research and Evaluation 

Group (SFIREG)1

 to understand the concerns for dicamba offsite movement and to discuss the 

effectiveness of Monsanto’s application requirements to minimize potential off-target impacts of 

dicamba. Prior to authorizing the use of dicamba on MON 87708, state pesticide regulating authorities 

will review the EPA-approved product label, which includes application requirements to minimize 

potential impacts of dicamba offsite movement, and other information required by the state. As a part of 

this process the state regulating Agency will determine if new or existing state dicamba regulation or 

restriction is necessary before approving the product for use. The incorporation of application 

requirements in the product label allows the states to enforce these requirements with applicators. Some 

states may chose to approve the product label without additional regulation or restriction and monitor 

incident reports post commercialization to determine if further action is warranted. 

 

                                                           

1 http://www.aapco.org/meetings/minutes/2012/dec10/full_sfireg_minutes_dec2012.pdf
State-Specific Dicamba Regulations. 

January 24, 2013 

Monsanto Company Petition Number 10-SY-210-U/10-188-01p Page 2 of 2 

Table 1: Dicamba-Specific State Regulations 

State Type of Applications Restricted1 Reference to State-Specific Dicamba Regulation 

CA2 aerial http://www.cdpr.ca.gov/docs/legbills/calcode/020404.htm

3

FL aerial and ground https://www.flrules.org/gateway/RuleNo.asp?title=PESTI

CIDES&ID=5E-2.033

MS aerial http://www.mdac.state.ms.us/agency/regulations_laws/ind

ex_regl_subpart3_BPI.html4

OK aerial and ground http://pested.okstate.edu/rule.htm

TX other http://texasagriculture.gov/RegulatoryPrograms/Pesticides

/RegulatedHerbicides/RegulatedHerbicidesCounties.aspx

http://www.texasagriculture.gov/Portals/0/Publications/PE

ST/pes_regherobicides.pdf

http://www.texasagriculture.gov/RegulatoryPrograms/Pest

icides/RegulatedHerbicides.aspx

WA2 aerial and ground http://apps.leg.wa.gov/wac/default.aspx?cite=16-231

1 Dicamba use on MON 87708 will be limited to ground applications. 

2

 Soybean is not presently grown in this state and Monsanto does not intend to commercialize 

MON 87708 there. 

3

 See Sections 6460 Drift Control and 6464 Phenoxy and Certain Other Herbicides. 

4

 See Section 10.