OPP-00694 Draft Pesticide Regulation Notice Guidance for Pesticide Registrants on Bee Precautionary Labeling.
Pollinators provide an essential ecological function in both agricultural and wildland ecosystems.
Protection of pollinators should be the highest priority of the EPA, as without them crops would not produce harvests and wild plant communities would decline. The EPA's Bee Precautionary Labeling Statements must recognize the paramount importance of bees as pollinators and ensure adequate protection for both managed and feral colonies of honey bees and populations of native bees. The Xerces Society is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the conservation of invertebrates. For three decades, the Society has been at the forefront of invertebrate conservation, and for more than five years has been active in pollinator conservation. The Society is a founding member of the Forgotten Pollinators Campaign, is working with scientists and landowners to implement pollinator habitat enhancement projects, and has an education campaign to inform people about the importance of pollinators.