Document ID: EPA-HQ-OPP-2023-0154-0041
Agency: epa
Document Type: Supporting & Related Material
Title: 
Posted Date: 2023-09-28T04:00Z

Hello. My name is Matthew Marr, and I am a fourth-generation corn and soybean farmer from Central Illinois. My family has farmed in this area for over 90 years, always upholding a standard of being premier stewards of our land. 
Technology has changed a lot in my lifetime. The hybrid corn varieties we plant are constantly improving and being replaced by better options every few years. For example, I can use an iPad to watch field work being performed in real-time and troubleshoot from anywhere. Something that hasn't evolved at the same pace is the technology we have to fight weeds that rob yield from our crops and require more invasive mechanical control options that contradict the need for climate smart, conservation friendly practices. 
The EPA's proposed LOC- level of concern change for atrazine, a tool that has proven its ability to remain invaluable decades after its release, is being made on subpar quality data and poor modeling. I appreciate the panel's time today and commitment to hearing from stakeholders like myself on what getting this wrong means, not on paper, but on my farm. The fields that we farm are spread out over multiple counties, each with their own individual resource concerns and differing approaches to best manage them. This proposed change not only threatens all of my fields the same, but also every field across the 390-mile longitudinal span of Illinois, each having the same level of concern and providing limited differing management options to remain in compliance. 
When considering making a change on my farm, one of the first steps is looking at the data. To be confident in the data I want to see results from, field-level research that includes real-world scenarios, including subfield variability and robust data. This is how I also expect you to examine the data, specifically the eleven studies in question at this time. There is no shortage of data but using only the highest level of quality data conducted in a manner that are both valid and reliable. They must represent real-world environments to ensure this panel and the EPA's final rule don't result in undue harm to my farm and family's livelihood. 
We implement best management practices that are unique to each of our fields based on variables such as soil type, slope, crop rotation, livestock integration, and availability of human capital. Farming is a long game and if we want to ensure the highly fertile and productive ground we've been farming for generations exists for those to come, then being conservation focused is a requirement. In order to implement practices like strip-till, no-till, and cover crops that preserve topsoil, improve soil health, reduce nutrient loss, and improve water quality, farmers need an abundance of tools in their toolbox to combat things like weeds and timely termination of those cover crops so they don't compete with the cash crop. Proven products including atrazine are needed to ensure I can grow my crops in the most environmentally friendly way possible. 
The corn grown on my farm goes to feed our cows, is turned into other livestock feed, and for other uses such as ethanol. Access to these markets is becoming dependent on my ability to deliver a sustainable product and demonstrating I have a low greenhouse gas footprint. I can't achieve those necessary market access requirements if I have to convert back to mechanical weed control measures or make additional passes across my fields. 

Atrazine is not only used as a single product but is in the formulation of dozens of other herbicides and improves the efficacy of those products. The decision of this panel and final rule of the EPA will not only impact the future of my ability to use this product but will foreshadow my future of technological access. 
This isn't the first time atrazine and its LOC have been reviewed, and this current proposal of lowering the LOC to 3.4 ppb is inconsistent with the scientific and regulatory record. I make plans months in advance of my next crop year, sometimes even a year in advance. I need certainty that trusted products that work will be available, and that I will be able to use them as directed and planned for when I'm making decisions such as pre-paying for my input expenses.
Convening a fourth science advisory panel for a product that has been on the market for over 60 years creates doubt on the agency's ability to use quality research and science in all its recommendations and rules. I urge this panel to look at the validity of these eleven studies and put forth a recommendation that is accepted by the agency and generates a rule that can reliably withstand the test of time. Weed resistance will continue to be one of the biggest challenges facing my farm and farms across this country. Battling weeds while being asked to produce climate smart commodities cannot be achieved without technology. Sequestering carbon, implementing cover crops, continuing to refrain from tilling and disturbing our soil can only happen when we have access to herbicides. Atrazine is one of the most important herbicide technologies we have today and getting this decision right will have a lasting impact.