Now is the time to get rid of any old or unwanted pesticides in your chemical storage area. The Illinois EPA one-day household hazardous waste collection schedule for this fall has been released to the public. Please note, all one-day collections require pre-registration. More information can be...
On April 29, 2025, the EPA published its final Insecticide Strategy, following the release of the draft version in July 2024. The insecticide strategy is part of a broader suite of regulatory efforts,...
The elm zigzag sawfly (Aproceros leucopoda) is an invasive pest of elm trees (Ulmus spp.) that was first detected in Illinois in July 2024 in Busse Woods, Cook County. Native to parts of China and Japan, this species became established in Europe in 2003 and was first detected in the United...
On January 1, 2025, a new law went into effect that could affect Illinois’ pesticide applicators working in rights-of-way areas. The Illinois Department of Agriculture (IDOA) has been tasked with writing the rules and has recently created a...
Monarch’s proposed addition to Threatened Species listThis past December, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) proposed for the monarch butterfly to be added to the threatened species list, which would place the monarch under the protection of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) via...
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released the final biological evaluation (BE), and associated response to comments, for 11 rodenticide active ingredients. The mitigation measures described in this final BE will also serve as the agency’s Rodenticide Strategy as outlined in EPA’s...
The following description has been endorsed by the Weed Science Society of America1: What is the Endangered Species Act (ESA)?The Endangered Species Act is a long-standing federal law, passed in 1973, requiring government agencies to ensure any actions they take do not jeopardize a...
Pesticides play an important role in managing pests, but they must be used responsibly and according to label directions so that they don’t endanger people, pets, livestock, plants, and the environment. While there is much work done to educate pesticide users about safety, and most applications are...
Every summer Extension Pesticide Safety Education Specialists are asked the same type of question repeatedly by home vegetable gardeners. The details leading up the situation at hand vary, but in the end the basic question is the same. Their vegetable plants have accidentally or mistakenly...
This past month, the supreme court overturned Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) (1984) with the recent Loper Bright V. Raimondo (2024) decision. Chevron v. NRDC, also known as the Chevron deference, granted federal agencies leniency in interpreting ambiguous laws based on the idea...