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Draft National Level Listed Species Biological Evaluation for Glyphosate

In November 2020, EPA released the draft Biological Evaluation (BE) assessing risks to listed species from labeled uses of glyphosate. (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 U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The Draft BE for glyphosate is provided below. The models and tools used to conduct this BE can be found here.

Commenters are instructed to post comments to the BE docket (see EPA-HQ-OPP-2020-0585 at www.regulations.gov). The docket will be open for comment for 60 days after the Federal Register Notice (FRN) (FRL-10017-03) announcing the availability of the draft BEs. View the prepublication notice of the biological evaluation for glyphosate. Additional information for commenters will be available in the FRN.

On this page:

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

Draft Glyphosate Executive Summary (DOCX)(6 pp, 53 K)

Chapter 1: Draft Glyphosate Problem Formulation (DOCX)(8 pp, 55 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, 462 K)
ATTACHMENT 1-3. Explanation of Census Of Agriculture Table Generation (PDF)(6 pp, 396 K)
ATTACHMENT 1-4. Usage Data Source Summary-Crosswalk (PDF)(2 pp, 1.9 MB)
ATTACHMENT 1-5. PVP Analysis (DOCX) (15 pp, 1.2 MB)

Appendices

APPENDIX 1-1. List of Current Glyphosate Registrations (DOCX)(21 pp, 95 K)
APPENDIX 1-2. Master Use Summary Table for Glyphosate (DOCX)(22 pp, 69 K)
APPENDIX 1-3. Glyphosate Scenario Development (DOCX)(20 pp, 90 K)
APPENDIX 1-4. Usage Data for Glyphosate (PDF)(50 pp, 810 K)
APPENDIX 1-5. CDL to UDL Crosswalk for Glyphosate (DOCX)(5 pp, 49 K)
APPENDIX 1-6. Use Site Footprint for Glyphosate (DOCX)(24 pp, 628 K)
APPENDIX 1-7. Determination of Overlap of Likely Glyphosate Exposure Area and Listed Species Ranges and Critical Habitat for Species Located in the 48 Contiguous United States (ConUS) (DOCX)(36 pp, 1.14 MB)
APPENDIX 1-8. Determination of Overlap of Glyphosate Exposure Area and Species Ranges and Critical Habitat for Species Located Outside of the 48 Contiguous States (NL48) (DOCX)(16 pp, 412 K)

Chapter 2: Draft Glyphosate Effects Characterization (DOCX)(86 pp, 2.1 MB)

Attachments

ATTACHMENT 2-1. Effects Arrays (DOCX)(1 pp, 34 K)
ATTACHMENT 2-2. Ecological Incidents (DOCX)(2 pp, 36 K)

Appendices

APPENDIX 2-1. Data Used in the Data Array (XLSX)(1 pg, 1.46 MB)
APPENDIX 2-2. Accepted ECOTOX Database (XLSX)(1 pg, 7.12 MB)
APPENDIX 2-3. Open Literature Review for Glyphosate (DOCX)(50 pp, 2.2 MB)
APPENDIX 2-4. Glyphosate Studies Submitted to US EPA [from Office of Pesticide Programs Information Network (OPPIN)] (DOCX)(213 pp, 241 K)
APPENDIX 2-5. Glyphosate Species Sensitivity Distribution Analysis for Aquatic Plants (DOCX)(5 pp, 118 K)
APPENDIX 2-6. Glyphosate Species Sensitivity Distribution (SSD) Analysis for Terrestrial Plants (DOCX)(6 pp, 176 K)

Chapter 3: Draft Glyphosate Exposure Characterization (DOCX) (29 pp, 727 K)

Attachments

ATTACHMENT 3-1: Background Document: Aquatic Exposure Estimation for Endangered Species (DOCX)(28 pp, 666 K)

Appendices

APPENDIX 3-1. Supporting Material For Aquatic Modeling (Glyphosate) (XLSX)(1 pg, 1.55 MB)
APPENDIX 3-2. Aquatic Modeling Runs (Glyphosate) (Please save this file prior to opening) (ZIP)(1 pg, 5.55 GB)

Chapter 4: Draft Glyphosate Effects Determinations (DOCX)(15 pp, 101 K)

Attachments

ATTACHMENT 4-1. Criteria for Strength of Evidence in LAA Determination (DOCX)(9 pp, 73 K)

Appendices

APPENDIX 4-1. Species Effects Determination Tables (XLSX)(1 pg, 6.6 MB)
APPENDIX 4-2. Input Parameters for MAGtool (XLSX)(1 pg, 45 MB)
APPENDIX 4-3. Curve Number Scaling Factors (XLSX)(1 pg, 600 K)
APPENDIX 4-4. Application Date Scaling Factors (XLSX)(1 pg, 86 MB)
APPENDIX 4-5. Analysis of Granular (DOCX)(1 pg, 24 K)
APPENDIX 4-6. Analysis Method and Results for Downstream Monitoring (DOCX)(1 pg, 30 K)
APPENDIX 4-7. Downstream Monitoring Analysis (XLSX)(1 pg, 1.7 MB)
APPENDIX 4-8. Additional Qualitative Species Analyses (DOCX)(5 pp, 42 K)
APPENDIX 4-9. MAGtool and Weight of Evidence Output for Individual Species (ZIP)(1 pg, 67 MB)