Is the Task Force generating new location data on endangered species?
No new data are being generated under this program. The IMS will manage existing data that FESTF obtains through the CRADA or other sources. The task forces goal is to document the many decisions that have already been made about why certain species do not need to have mitigations or protections written for them (they are not near agriculture, their habitat may be unrelated to agriculture or other circumstances may naturally mitigate exposure). Where such documentation is not available, the IMS and CRADA data will help in the development of information that will be used by EPA to write any necessary protection actions as specifically as possible, thus reducing the affected territory, for example, in a given county bulletin. This results in adequate protection of the species with minimum impact on landowners.
