Summary of Second ABSTC and US EPA Meeting Regarding Agency Proposed Changes to the Corn Rootworm Resistance Management Program

MEETING LOCATION: 					DATE:
US EPA's Office of Pesticide Programs, 			May 20[th], 2015
2777 S. Crystal Drive,
Arlington, VA 22202


ATTENDEES:
Kimberly Nesci, US EPA/OPP/BPPD 
Alan Reynolds, US EPA/OPP/BPPD 
Jeannette Martinez, US EPA/OPP/BPPD 
Mike Mendelsohn, US EPA/OPP/BPPD 
Ann Sibold, US EPA/OPP/BPPD 
Jonathan Becker, US EPA/OPP/BEAD 
Tony Burd, Syngenta/ABSTC
Dave Guyer, Syngenta/ABSTC 
Graham Head, Monsanto/ABSTC 
Jeff Bookout, Monsanto/ABSTC 
Christina Lawrence, Monsanto/ABSTC 
Nick Storer, Dow AgroSciences/ABSTC
Mark Kimm, Dow AgroSciences/ABSTC 
Clint Pilcher, DuPont Pioneer/ABSTC 
Michael Smith, DuPont Pioneer/ABSTC 

AGENDA:
   *      Introductions
   *      ABSTC response/counterproposal to EPA proposed changes to CRW RM program 
   1.         IPM approach to CRW resistance management
   2.         Proactive strategies to detect unexpected damage (UXD) in Bt corn fields
   3.         Annual monitoring of CRW populations
   4.         Resistance confirmation process (bioassays)
   5.         Remedial action plans



SUMMARY OF MEETING MINUTES

Element 1: IPM Approach
ABSTC member companies proposed to expand the current IRM education programs to include IPM (Integrated Pest Management) + IRM (Insect Resistance Management) for all corn growers regardless of location.  The IPM tools recommended (also referred to BMPs) are similar to the IPM measures proposed by EPA, but include the use of soil-applied insecticides for corn rootworm control on Bt corn also containing CRW traits.  ABSTC proposed to address education on the BMP use of SAIs in the expanded education programs. 
ABSTC and EPA agreed on the benefits of a baseline survey - designed and conducted in 2016 by an independent third party - to determine the current state of IPM use by growers who plant Bt corn.  ABSTC proposed future surveys to assess the success of the educational program and growers' compliance with implementing IPM + IRM for corn rootworm and Bt PIPs.

ABSTC agreed to provide the EPA with additional details on the education programs, including such information as the mechanism for implementation.

Element 2: Proactive Scouting and Detection of UXD
ABSTC agreed to use the Node Injury Scale (NIS) threshold proposed by EPA of 1.0 for single Bt PIPs.  ABSTC proposed a different NIS score than that proposed by EPA for pyramided Bt PIPs to determine whether unexpected damage (UXD) had occurred in a cornfield. ABSTC committed that every effort would be made to collect adults from UXD sites the year the damage was reported if beetles were present.
ABSTC and the Agency agreed that corn growers should have access to information about UXD occurrences for Bt corn rootworm traits in their state in order to make informed decisions. CRW registrants within ABSTC agreed to develop a standardized CRW resistance monitoring, resistance detection, resistance confirmation, and mitigation plan that would be agreed upon by BPPD and the CRW registrants prior to 2016 field season, and this plan would incorporate most of the elements proposed previously by EPA.

Element 3: Removal of Random Monitoring
ABSTC concurred with EPA's proposal to remove the requirement for collecting random samples of corn rootworm from the major corn growing states for the purpose of resistance monitoring.

Element 4: Resistance Confirmation Process
ABSTC proposed to continued use of diet bioassays in addition to using a plant assay (sublethal seedling assay or single on-plant assay). ABSTC committed to provide a standardized approach for diet bioassay methodology to EPA. 

Element 5: Remedial Action Plans
ABSTC proposed to replace "Remedial Action" with "mitigation" and to mitigate resistance using the same BMPs as those in the education program described under Element 1. Mitigation was proposed to occur on a per-field basis.

