# The R ole of Multiple Species and Cr op Attribut es in Bette r Under sta nding the Po te nt ial for Pe st icide Exposur e
Assessing Risk s t o Endang ered and Threatened Species fr om P esticides – 3r d Inter ag ency Wo rk shop on Join t In te rim Appr oaches t o NAS Re co mmendations

Oct ober 6, 2014 FIFRA Endangered Species Task Force 

### Bernalyn D . McGaughey Pr oject Manag er

, FESTF Pr esiden t, Compliance Services In te rnational

# Simple Concept – Big Challeng eFESTF Aggr eg ated Data . . . . . . T o FWS r egional offices . . . 

# A Data Exchange Method . . .

. . . T o EP A for use in pesticide risk assessmentAtthe national level, we use this . . . . . . But this aerial image fr om which national summary data ar e ex tracted has 10,000 times mor e information 

# Are there other Opportunities to Leverage Knowledge and Resources . . . ?

USD A NAIP Image

USD A NL CD Extr act

# Appr oaches for Ensuring Da ta Quality: Re liability of Ava ilable Da ta

5 From: Data Quality, Reliability, and Relevance Standards for Ecological Risk Assessment: Recommendations for improvements to pesticide regulation in compliance with the Endangered Species Act, A. T. Hall, B. D. McGaughey, and J. A. GagneNo R elevance Some Re levance 

### Highly

Re lev an t 

# Re ducing Uncert ain ty: Re lev an t Da ta in

the Righ t Con tex t

6 Information on the ecology of a list ed species obt ained re cently fr om in or near the action ar ea
In vitr o tissue to xicity t es ts that bypass met abolic pr ocesses Cold climat e degr adation data applied to warm climate habit at Contr olled, well document ed t es ting on a closely r elated surr og ate species

# Find the “Sw eet Spot ” for a Sound Decision and Build on the K nowledg e Base

7Confusion



### Information

St ep 1
St ep 2
St ep 3

# FE STF: Con tributing to the K nowledg e Base
• FE ST F ag gr eg ated data ar e a r esult of e xplor at ion, applied application and dat a g at hering that sta rt ed when the LL C w as incorpor ated almos t 20 ye ar s ago , in 1996 • The t ask for ce of 19 companies gr ew fr om 5 companies that had conditions on their re gis tr at ions for “pr ox imity dat a” • While EP

A w as ins tructional on addr essing dat a needs fr om about 1996 to 2003, no r eal further Ag ency in vestment in e xploring the FE ST F data until r ecen tly
8

# FE STF: Con tributing to the K nowledge Base (2)
• Ag gr eg ated data on

– Species locations

– Cr op or pes ticide use locations

– Species biology

, local data and conditions 

## • An information managemen t s yste m t o

– Collect and compar e the data

– Documen t species assessmen ts conducted on individual activ e ingr edien ts

– Re call and build upon collected data over time 

## • Emphasis on dat a quality and iden tification of known dat a g aps 9 Wo E: Syste matic Collection

of Dat a Syste matic

Document ation

of dat a

Minimiz e Uncert ainty

# FE STF T

ools: Species Da ta

**FE ST**  **F’ s**  **species loca tion da**  **taset, delivered thr ough**  **the FE**  **ST F**  **MJD or the**  **FE ST**  **F IMS**  Licensed multi -jurisdictional database ( **FESTF MJD** ) pr ovides sub - county locational data . . . **County -**  **level** pr esence and Critical Habit at locations ar e also import ant 

# FE **ST F**  **MJD FE**  **ST F**  **IMS**

10 but not all species or all occurrences have specific locational data, **therefore** . . . so those data are sto red in the

# To the Species Loc at ion Da ta ,

FE STF T ools Add

**Multiple lines of evidence fully documented,**  **accumula ted**  **to refine e**  **xposur e**  **conditions –**  **and r eusable, if appr** **opria te, for subsequent investig** **at ions**  11 **Crop county and sub**   ** county** **locations fr om**  **USD A NASS**  **Species attributes or habitat**  **re quir** **ements mined**  **from FESTF MJD textual data**  **Additional authoritative**  **species, habitat, cr op**  **and agr onomic da**  **ta Re**  **levant proprietary cr** **op, use**  **or species data**  **Expert opinions**  **Species r eports and**  **notices**

## Systematic Methods for Implementing “Weight of Evidence” Analysis that Consider both Quantitative

and Qualitative Data

12

Federal Lands Special 4(d) Rule: Maz ama Po cket Gopher Lines of E vidence Re levant Condition Cir cumstance OK
Diet and/or Siz e Cold To lerance Soil T ype Elev ation Carrion Feeder

Grows on Shale Outcrops Cannot Survive <45F
Only in stream reaches at elevations >6,000 FT

# Applying Multiple Lines of E vidence:

Ex ample 1: Black - Spor ed Quillwort

13 All EO’ s > 450 FT

Conditions Preclude Exposure Gr anitic O ut crops

Re sult: Some or all counties can be r emoved fr om being of concern fo r exposur e, even when ther e is no sub - county location (pr ox imity) data Data re - characterized to protect confidential information Includes FESTF aggregated data, public and member data Line 1: Pr ox imity
Line 2: Soil T

ype Line 3: Condition 6 counties with 1 cir cumstance 16 counties with 2 cir cumstances 4 counties with 3 cir cumstances

# Applying Multiple Lines of E vidence:

Ex ample 2: Bliss Rapids Snail

14 **% E O’** **s on federal lands**

**100%**
**100%**

**63%**

No sub - county data No sub - county data **% E O’** **s >500 FT from use site**

Use site is at an elevation incompatible with habitat FWS species e xpert opinion: species is e xtirpated fr om this county

**37%**

Data re - characterized to protect confidential information Includes FESTF aggregated data, public and member data

## • Pr ox imity data alone do not addr ess whether a species has the potential to be impacted

• Aggr eg ated location, biology , habit atand land char acteristics can be portr aye d in a visual or spatial manner to concisely e xplain cir cumst ances import an t to risk assessmen t

• T he par ameter s to be included in “Step 1” will gr eatly impact the work r emaining in “Step 2” and “Step 3” 

# These Ex amples Show

15

# Thank y ou for this opportunity to

shar e our da ta Bernalyn D . McGaughey Pr esiden t/CE O, Compliance Ser vices In te rnational Pr oject Manag er

, FIFRA Endang ered Species T ask F or ce 7501 Bridgeport W ayW es t – Lakewood, WA98499 253 - 473 - 9007 – BMcGaughey@ComplianceServices.com

FIFRA Endangered Species Task Force