The insecticide, called sulfoxaflor, will be allowed for the first time on certain crops and in areas banned by the Obama administration. An EPA report this week indicates that some forms of pesticides can be "very highly toxic" to bees.
Alexandra Dapolito Dunn, head of the EPA, said Friday at a press briefing that the pesticide is the only product able to protect crops in order to avoid economic losses with limited environmental impact and "strong protection for pollinators".
She added that the EPA had decided to allow extensive use of the pesticide based on studies that it would disappear from the environment faster than viable alternatives. Dapolito Dunn acknowledged that these studies were largely produced by industry groups, but that was the norm, as these groups had the resources to produce the studies.
The EPA will require a statement on the product label: "This product is highly toxic to bees and other pollinating insects exposed to direct treatment or residues in flowering crops or weeds." Protect pollinating insects by following instructions on the label to minimize drift and reduce the risk of pesticides for these organisms. "
But critics pound what they regard as the Trump administration's disregard for the threatened bee population.
"The reckless approval of this pesticide that kills bees … without any public process is a terrible blow to pollinators at risk," said Lori Ann Burd, director of the Center for Biodiversity and senior counsel, CNN.
The Trump administration announced last week that it would suspend data collection for its annual report on honey bee colonies. The decision, which deprives researchers and the honey bee industry of an essential tool to understand the declining population of honey bees, comes as the Ministry of Agriculture also restricts its other research programs.
In 2014, the Obama administration launched a program to address population losses of honey bees, prompting federal agencies to work toward the preservation of bee pollinator populations. The Trump administration did the opposite, overthrowing an Obama-era rule meant to protect bees from a chemical family that could cause colony collapse.
