### Meeting with Syngenta on the Atrazine Ecological Exposure Monitoring Program (AEMP or AEEMP)

– Meeting Summary October 31 , 2013 ; 11 am

– 12:30 pm ; S

- 9 100



### EPA Attend ees: EFED

– Don Brady, Dana Spatz, Frank Farruggia, Rosanna Louie

- Juzwiak, Jim Hetrick, Amy Blankinship

PRD

– Rick Keigwin, Tracy Perry , Avivah Jakob, Monica Wait , Kaitlin Keller

BEAD

– Yu

- Ting Guilaran, Tim Kiely, Skee Jones, Diann Sims, Bill Phillips, Jonathan Becker, Derek Berwald (phone), Bill Chism, Elizabeth Hill

RD

– Bo Davis



### Syngenta Attend ees: Jerry Wells, Dan Campbell, Todd Barlow, Clint Truman, Mark White, Sunmao Chen, Janis McFarland, Alan Hosmer (phone), Richard Brain (phone)



### Discussion Topics :

• Based on recent years of monitoring data, 6 AEEMP watersheds (IA

- 04, IA

- 05, LA

- 0 4, MO

- 07, MO

- 08, TX

- 01) exceed currently estimated thresholds for mitigation

. o EPA presented analysis of the data for these 6 watersheds which showed atrazine concentration exce edances within the last 4 years of data.

o Syngenta discussed the design of their stewardship, education, and outreach plan, recently initiated for these 6 sites.

• For the 3 AEEMP watersheds (MO

- 01, MO

- 02, NE

- 04) with existing stewardship
programs , more need s to be done in a systematic and sustainable way to reduce atrazine runoff and annual fluctuations above the threshold concentration

. o EPA presented analysis of the data for these 3 watersheds based on the last 10
years of data which showed general declines in atrazine concentrations with several unexplained occurrences above the level of concern.

o EPA commented that t he existing stewardship/education progra m has not been shown to be effective, sustainable , or transferrable

.

• Discussed the need to find system atic and sustainable atrazine mitigation measures, use patterns, and best management practices that can be instituted more globally across all watersheds vulnerable to atrazine runoff . The 9 watersheds discussed today were statistically selected for water monitoring from a much larger pool of vulnerable watersheds. EPA’s goal is to find practices that can be expanded across a larger pool of atrazine vulnerable watersheds via the product label and without need for the intensive man power inherent in Syngen ta’s current program . Syngenta can use lessons learnedfrom the ongoing stewardship, education, and outreach efforts to inform what might work more globally. (Figure 4 from page 8 of the stewardship plan was discussed as a concept of something that might be able to be used on a label to inform growers and applicators of atrazine best management practices.)

• D iscuss ed that documentation of program implementation and results has been lacking for the 3 AEEMP sites to date. This documentation is required to show a causal relationship between Syngenta’s stewardship program and reduced atrazine concentrations in the watersheds. The group discussed the types of reporting requirements used by the TMDL program and how some of those methodologies might be transfer rable to the AEEMP mitigation program (i.e. quantification of structural BMPs, changes to application rate or cropping patterns based on Syngenta’s program, survey to growers within the watershed documenting what they are doing differently).

• EPA mentioned the atrazine use questions being distributed among USDA’s Office of Pest Management Policy which aim to get additional information about atrazine use and agronomic practices.



### Follow

- up A ctions:

Syngenta:

• Institute education program in 6 additional AEEMP watersheds.

• Brainstorm BMPs to reduce atrazine exposure that are applica ble on a larger scale to other vulnerable watersheds to that could be implemented on a product label

.

• Develop an approach for quantifying or providing a qualitative link between stewa rdship program implementation and results.

EPA

• Provide feedback on Syngenta’s approaches for collecting information that may demonstrate the causal relationship between BMPs, stewardship, and education with the reduction of atrazine transport in surface w ater.