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Draft National Level Listed Species Biological Evaluation for Atrazine

In November 2020, EPA released the draft Biological Evaluation (BE) assessing risks to listed species from labeled uses of atrazine. Listed species refers to those that are federally listed as endangered or threatened, as well as experimental populations and those species that are proposed and candidates for listing. The draft BE was conducted according to the Revised Method for National Level Listed Species Biological Evaluations of Conventional Pesticides.  

The Revised Method described in this document incorporates:

Recommendations from the National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS);
EPA’s “lessons learned” during the first three pilot BEs;
Public comments provided through stakeholder meetings, the docket on the draft BEs for chlorpyrifos, diazinon and malathion, and the docket on the proposed Revised Method;
Comments received during consultation with federally recognized tribes; and
Input provided by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Marine Fisheries Service and the US Department of Agriculture.

The Draft BE for atrazine is provided below. The models and tools used in triazine BEs can be found here.

Commenters are instructed to post comments to the BE docket (see EPA-HQ-OPP-2020-0514 at www.regulations.gov). The docket will be open for comment for 60 days after the Federal Register Notice (FRN) (FRL: 10015-77) announcing the availability of the draft BEs. View the prepublication notice of the biological evaluation for atrazine, simazine, and propazine. Additional information for commenters, including specific aspects of the draft BEs for which the EPA is seeking comment, will be available in the FRN.

On this page:

Draft Atrazine Executive Summary
Chapter 1: Draft Atrazine Problem Formulation
- Attachments
- Appendices
Chapter 2: Draft Atrazine Effects Characterization
- Attachments
- Appendices
Chapter 3: Draft Atrazine Exposure Characterization
- Attachments
- Appendices
Chapter 4: Draft Atrazine Effects Determinations
- Attachments
- Appendices

Draft Atrazine Executive Summary (DOCX)(5 pp, 52 K)

Chapter 1: Draft Atrazine Problem Formulation (DOCX)(8 pp, 53 K)

Attachments

ATTACHMENT 1-1. Methodology for Estimating Exposures to Terrestrial Animals (mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates) (DOCX)(17 pp, 101 K)
ATTACHMENT 1-2. Aquatic Bin Assignments (XLSX)(1 pg, 452K)
ATTACHMENT 1-3. Explanation of Census Of Agriculture Table Generation (PDF)(6 pp, 396 K)
ATTACHMENT 1-4. Usage Data Source Summary-Crosswalk (PDF)(14 pp, 652 K)
ATTACHMENT 1-5. PVP Analysis (DOCX) (15 pp, 1,292 K)

Appendices

APPENDIX 1-1. List of Current Atrazine Registrations (DOCX)(9 pp, 50 K)
APPENDIX 1-2. Commitment Letters (PDF)(16 pg, 666 K)
APPENDIX 1-3. Atrazine Scenario Development (DOCX)(5 pp, 48 K)
APPENDIX 1-4. Usage Data for Atrazine (PDF)(12 pp, 509 K)
APPENDIX 1-5. CDL to UDL Crosswalk for Atrazine (DOCX)(5 pp, 49 K)
APPENDIX 1-6. Use Site Footprint for Atrazine (DOCX)(8 pp, 51 K)
APPENDIX 1-7. Determination of Overlap of Likely Atrazine Exposure Area and Listed Species Ranges and Critical Habitat for Species Located in the 48 Contiguous United States (ConUS) (DOCX)(28 pp, 1,787 MB)
APPENDIX 1-8. Evaluation of Residues of Concern for Triazine ESA Biological Evaluations (DOCX)(5 pp, 52 K)

Chapter 2: Draft Atrazine Effects Characterization (DOCX)(61 pp, 1,579 MB)

Attachments

ATTACHMENT 2-1. Effects Arrays (DOCX)(1 pp, 34 K)
ATTACHMENT 2-2. Ecological Incidents (DOCX)(2 pp, 35 K)

Appendices

APPENDIX 2-1. Data Used in the Data Array (XLSM)(1 pg, 2 K)
APPENDIX 2-2. Accepted ECOTOX Database (XLSX)(1 pg, 9,322 MB)
APPENDIX 2-3. Open Literature Review for Atrazine (DOCX)(10 pp, 115 K)
APPENDIX 2-4. Atrazine Studies Submitted to US EPA [from Office of Pesticide Programs Information Network (OPPIN)] (DOCX)(772 pg, 900 K)
APPENDIX 2-5. Atrazine Species Sensitivity Distribution Analysis for Aquatic Plants (DOCX)(13 pp, 180 K)
APPENDIX 2-6. Atrazine Species Sensitivity Distribution Analysis for Terrestrial Plants (DOCX)(10 pp, 374 K)
APPENDIX 2-7. Atrazine Supplemental Analysis of Fish and Aquatic Amphibian Toxicity Data DOCX) (6 pp, 109K)

Chapter 3: Draft Atrazine Exposure Characterization (DOCX) (27 pp, 787 K)

Attachments

ATTACHMENT 3-1: Background Document: Aquatic Exposure Estimation for Endangered Species (DOCX)(29 pp, 667 K)

Appendices

APPENDIX 3-1. Supporting Material For Aquatic Modeling (Atrazine) (XLSX)(1 pg, 994 K)
- APPENDIX 3-2. Aquatic Modeling Runs (Atrazine) (Please save this file prior to opening) (ZIP)(1 pg, 1,533 MB)

Chapter 4: Draft Atrazine Effects Determinations (DOCX)(15 pp, 99 K)

Attachments

ATTACHMENT 4-1. Criteria for Strength of Evidence in LAA Determination (DOCX)(9 pp, 30 K)

Appendices

APPENDIX 4-1. Species Effects Determination Tables (XLSX)(1 pg, 6 K)
APPENDIX 4-2. Input Parameters for MAGtool (XLSX)(1 pg, 19K)
APPENDIX 4-3. Curve Number Scaling Factors (XLSX)(1 pg, 363 K)
APPENDIX 4-4. Application Date Scaling Factors (XLSX)(1 pg, 28,278 MB)
APPENDIX 4-5. Analysis of Granular (DOCX)(3 pp, 40 K)
APPENDIX 4-6. Analysis Method and Results for Downstream Monitoring (DOCX)(5 pp, 37 K)
APPENDIX 4-7. Downstream Monitoring Analysis (XLSX)(1 pg, 4,379 MB)
APPENDIX 4-8. Additional Qualitative Species Analyses (DOCX)(5 pp, 39 K)
APPENDIX 4-9. MAGtool and Weight of Evidence Output for Individual Species (ZIP)(1 pg, 50,675 MB)