Board of Pesticides Control Update
Stay up to date with the latest from the Board of Pesticides Control. This update covers everything you need to know about upcoming meetings, new rules, and important reminders to keep you and your community safe. We’re here to keep you informed, and we’d like to hear your thoughts—drop us an email anytime at pesticides@maine.gov.
The next Board Meeting is April 25, 2025 it will be hybrid at the Deering Building in Rm 101 in Augusta, ME 04330, and on Microsoft Teams. The meeting starts at 9:00 AM. For more information, visit the Board Meetings Page.
The following program has been approved for pesticide recertification credits. More recertification opportunities may be found on the BPC Credit Calendar.
April 29, 2025 – Pesticide Label Changes Brought on by the Endangered Species Act
May 8, 2025 – Pollinator and Pest Management
May 13, 2025 – Sprayer Calibration, Pollinators, and Pest Management
The BPC maintains a list of registered products on the front page of its website. For a list of the current Maine registrations.
Grub Control in Turf – Active Ingredients Currently Registered for Use
As the weather gets nicer and the application season kicks off, BPC would like to remind you about best practices related to ornamental turf and lawn management. In the past, BPC and other agencies have collaborated under the Turf Best Management Practices Committee to create Best Management Practices for the Application of Turf Pesticides and Fertilizers, which is available on BPC’s website. Recently, applicators have approached BPC staff asking about active ingredients available for use in Maine for the management of turf, specifically the control of grubs. Below is a list of active ingredients produced through an NPIRS search, explicitly searching for use in ornamental lawns and turf for pest categories: Annual White Grubs, Black Turfgrass Ataenius (Grubs), White Grubs (Adult), White Grubs (Larvae).
- Bacillus popilliae or Paenibacillus popilliae *
- Bacillus thuringensis galleriae
- Beauveria bassiana GHA
- Bifenthrin
- Carbaryl
- Chlorantraniliprole
- Cyantraniliprole
- Lambda cyhalothrin
- Neonicotinoids (dinotefuran, clothianidin, imidacloprid & thiamethoxam) **
- Novaluron (IGR)
- Permethrin
- Tetraniliprole
- Trichlorfon **
* ONLY FOR JAPANESE BEETLE (Popillia japonica) GRUBS
** SEE CHAPTER 41: SPECIAL RESTRICTIONS ON PESTICIDE USE FOR SPECIFIC MAINE REGULATIONS
Note: Not all products with these active ingredients are labeled for use in turf for grub control. Applicators must read the label and follow all label directions related to sites and use under FIFRA. If you have questions about sites or pests listed on a label, reach out to the company manufacturer or BPC.
Maine BPC cannot make specific product recommendations, but if you’re an applicator looking for a recommendation, please contact UMCE or see the UMCE website for more details on white grub control. Additional information about white grub pests can be found on the GotPests webpage.
A message from the Pesticides Toxicologist, Dr. Doug Van Hoewyk
It must be close to spring! The Board of Pesticide Control recently received an excellent question from a gardener in Oxford County who is contemplating whether or not to use pesticides on a tree infested with browntail moth. Specifically, she was inquiring about the risk of consuming vegetables if she were to use compost that had originated from the leaves of the pesticide-treated tree.
The insecticide in question is abamectin. This chemical is very specific to insects; this means that although abamectin is highly potent to moths, it exhibits low toxicity to house-pets and humans. Additionally, abamectin degrades quickly. Its relatively short half-life ensures that the pesticide will not persist in the environment (in stark contrast to DDT). We estimated the number of days it would take between leaf senescence and decomposition of the leaves into compost that is “garden ready.” We calculated that the percent of the abamectin remaining in the compost is less than 1×10-47 (too many zeros to print here).
At this expected environmental concentration, any remaining abamectin available for plant uptake would be practically non-toxic, and far below EPA residue limits that is considered acceptable for consumption.
The BPC has recently received questions about the use of trichlorfon (commonly known as Dylox) to control grubs in turfgrass. Trichlorfon is a State restricted use pesticide that can only be sold to licensed applicators and is subject to the following use restrictions:
Chapter 41: SPECIAL RESTRICTIONS ON PESTICIDE USE
Section 2. TRICHLORFON (DYLOX, PROXOL)
The registration of trichlorfon (Dylox, Proxol) is subject to the following requirements:
A. Trichlorfon shall only be used for control of subsurface insects on turf.
B. Prior to application the target pest must be identified and the severity of the infestation must be determined, including the extent of the damage.
C. Only infested areas shall be treated with trichlorfon. Broadcast treatments of the entire turf area are prohibited.
D. Following application, the trichlorfon must be watered into the soil with at least ½ inch of water and according to the label directions. The applicator must assure that the appropriate watering will take place prior to re-entry by any unprotected person.
Although neonicotinoids (dinotefuran, clothianidin, imidacloprid & thiamethoxam) may be labeled for grub control in turfgrass, there are also restrictions on their use here in Maine. Please see below:
Chapter 41: SPECIAL RESTRICTIONS ON PESTICIDE USE
Section 6. NEONICOTINOIDS (DINOTEFURAN, CLOTHIANIDIN, IMIDACLOPRID, OR THIAMETHOXAM )
C. Licenses Required
I. No person shall purchase, use, or supervise the use of any pesticides containing dinotefuran, clothianidin, imidacloprid, or thiamethoxam identified on the Board’s annual listing unless they have obtained a private or commercial pesticide applicator’s license from the Board.
II. Unless exempted under Chapter 41, Section 6 (C) (IV) no person shall purchase, use or supervise the use of any pesticides containing dinotefuran, clothianidin, imidacloprid, or thiamethoxam in outdoor residential landscapes to include ornamental plants and turf.
III. No person shall distribute any pesticides containing dinotefuran, clothianidin, imidacloprid, or thiamethoxam identified on the Board’s annual listing without a restricted use pesticide dealer’s license from the Board.
IV. Registered pesticides containing dinotefuran, clothianidin, imidacloprid, or thiamethoxam and identified on the Board’s annual listing are exempt from the prohibition of use described in Chapter 41, Section 6 (C) (II) where by:
a. The applicator obtains an emergency permit from the Board; or
b. The use of these products is for management of emerging invasive invertebrate pests on ornamental plants in outdoor residential landscapes.
V. No person shall use any pesticides containing dinotefuran, clothianidin, imidacloprid, or thiamethoxam identified on the Board’s annual listing for the purposes of managing turf and lawn in outdoor residential landscapes.
To read the full Chapter 41 rules, see the BPC’s Rules and Regulations webpage.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing improvements to simplify the process for companies submitting data to the agency as part of a pesticide registration package. This improvement will also make the agency’s processing of this information more efficient. Streamlining this process, while partnering with industry to safeguard human health and the environment, reduces burden for both companies and EPA, supporting Administrator Zeldin’s Pillar Three of Powering the Great American Comeback initiative to advance permitting reform, cooperative federalism, and cross-agency partnership.
Companies are required to submit a document called a “data matrix” form when their pesticide registration packages contain cited data from outside sources. Currently, companies must submit two versions of the data matrix form (in either paper or electronic format): one for internal agency use and one with reference data redacted for public use. However, in the interest of reducing burden, and since no information on the form is Confidential Business Information, the agency determined that there is no need for a redacted version and is now only asking for one unredacted version of the form to be used for both internal and public use. Additionally, EPA will no longer accept paper submissions of this form and will only accept this information via a web-based portal.
Further detailed instructions for how to complete and submit the revised forms will be available in the updated Pesticide Registration Manual.
Read EPA’s Revised Procedures for Pesticide Registration Data
Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing that it has approved labels that implement measures required by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) final biological opinion and is providing to the public the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) final biological opinion on carbaryl.
Carbaryl is an insecticide used on a variety of crops, including field vegetables and orchard crops, in professional turf management, professional ornamental production, and in residential lawn and garden markets.
EPA’s 2021 biological evaluation for carbaryl determined that use of the pesticide according to label instructions was “likely to adversely affect” at least one animal or plant for 1,640 listed species and 736 designated critical habitats. EPA initiated formal consultation with NMFS and FWS (the Services) and, in response, both Services developed biological opinions for carbaryl.
The NMFS and FWS biological opinions were issued after completing consultation with EPA on the registration review of carbaryl and the effects of the insecticide on federally threatened or endangered (listed) species and their designated critical habitats.
National Marine Fisheries Service Biological Opinion Implementation
During consultation with NMFS, carbaryl registrants agreed to amend their product labels and registrations to include mitigations that would avoid potential jeopardy or adverse modification to the listed species and critical habitats identified in the NMFS biological opinion.
The newly approved labels for carbaryl products will now:
- Include mitigations which would reduce runoff and spray drift from treated areas into species’ habitats,
- Describe how to report any ecological incidents associated with carbaryl applications,
- Include application prohibitions, restrictions, and rate reductions, and
- Direct the user to the Endangered Species Protection Bulletins using the Bulletins Live! Two (BLT) website to identify additional carbaryl mitigations in geographically-located areas.
Fish and Wildlife Service Final Biological Opinion
FWS determined in its draft biological opinion that use of carbaryl was likely to jeopardize 78 listed species and adversely modify 14 critical habitats when used as currently registered. After the draft BiOp was issued, EPA worked with FWS and carbaryl registrants to identify additional mitigation measures to reduce exposure to listed species and avoid the above-mentioned jeopardy. With the release of the final FWS biological opinion, EPA will work with the registrants to implement the measures described in the final biological opinion.
As stated in the FWS final biological opinion, EPA will request that carbaryl registrants submit amended labels to EPA reflecting the mitigations identified by the final biological opinion and by the registration review Interim Decision (ID) within 60 days of the issuance of the carbaryl ID. The carbaryl ID is currently scheduled for completion in late 2025.
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