Groundwater Protection: Validity and Feasibility of EPA's Differential Protection Strategy
PEMD-93-6
Published: Dec 09, 1992. Publicly Released: Jan 12, 1993.
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Highlights
Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO evaluated the feasibility of protecting groundwater from pesticide contamination based on the relative vulnerability of different geographic areas.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Environmental Protection Agency | Implementation of the differential protection component within the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Pesticides and Groundwater Strategy should be delayed. EPA should assess the meaningfulness of preparing and evaluating these plans given the current state of the science. |
Although EPA agrees with GAO's findings and conclusions, it disagrees with the recommendation. EPA has taken the position that states can conduct vulnerability assessments and develop effective pesticide management plans even though data are limited and that they must rely on best professional judgment in lieu of modeling applications.
|
| Environmental Protection Agency | EPA should do a pilot study with a limited number of states to assess the viability of the strategy. Issues to be addressed include the states' ability to develop meaningful plans based on differential protection and EPA ability to evaluate these plans. Until the meaningfulness of the plans can be assured, resources should not be spent on preparing them. |
Although EPA agrees with GAO's findings and conclusions, it disagrees with the recommendation. EPA has taken the position that states can conduct vulnerability assessments and develop effective pesticide management plans even though data are limited and thatthey must rely on best professional judgment in lieu of modeling applications.
|
| Environmental Protection Agency | Until differential protection can be successfully implemented, EPA should continue its current approach of using uniform national restrictions to protect groundwater from pesticide contamination and allowing states to set standards stricter than those required by EPA. |
Although EPA agrees with GAO's findings and conclusions, it disagrees with the recommendation. EPA has taken the position that states can conduct vulnerability assessments and develop effective pesticide management plans even though data are limited and that they must rely on best professional judgment in lieu of modeling applications.
|
| Environmental Protection Agency | EPA should continue to support, to the extent possible, the scientific development of the field, including state data gathering activities and the development and refinement (including validation) of vulnerability models. Only by doing this can EPA ensure that the differential protection component of its groundwater strategy will become viable. |
EPA has indicated that it will support development of modelling methods and data development/collection methods.
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