EPA Internal Watchdog to Investigate Dicamba Registration

The inspector general of the Environmental Protection Agency is planning to investigate whether agency officials acted properly when they approved the powerful herbicide dicamba for crop use in recent years.

The probe aims “to determine whether EPA policies and procedures were effective in addressing stakeholder risks in the EPA’s Dicamba pesticide registration decisions in 2016 and 2018,” the EPA’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) said in an April 3 news release.

Bayer AG, BASF Corp, and Corteva Agriscience produce dicamba, which has been approved for use in the U.S. since the 1960s. EPA allowed farmers to use ...