A White House task force recommended in a report that additional restrictions on pesticides may be needed to save honeybees and other pollinators crucial to agriculture that have been devastated over the last decade, according to a report by Bloomberg.
The government also should step up efforts to increase habitats for bees, butterflies and other species while boosting research on rapid population declines, the task force said. Efforts to boost pollinator populations will require a 70 percent increase in U.S. spending, to $82.5 million next year.
The Environmental Protection Agency has been considering restrictions on pesticides to “reduce the likelihood of acute exposure and mortality to bees,” including new labeling rules and limits on when certain chemicals may be applied, the study said.
The EPA will soon require “bee language” on fungicides. Are herbicides and insecticides next?