EPA Awards $10 Million to Oregon State University to Support Pesticide Safety Education
Released on February 14, 2024
As the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) marks National Pesticide Safety Education Month, the Agency has awarded a $10 million cooperative agreement to Oregon State University to support the operations of the National Pesticide Information Center (NPIC), a resource that provides the public with objective, science-based information on pesticide-related subjects. Funding under this agreement supports the safe use of pesticides through information provided via the web, phone, and direct outreach.
In June 2023, EPA released a call for applications from eligible organizations to carry out this critical work for public health and safety. Oregon State University is the current partner managing NPIC, and with this selection they will continue to provide this service.
Under this agreement, Oregon State University will:
- Provide a toll-free hotline to provide pesticide safety information and collect incident information;
- Develop outreach and educational pesticide safety materials;
- Develop technical resources specifically designed for risk assessors, as well as medical and veterinary professionals;
- Develop a web-based system to help automate the voluntary reporting of pesticide incident information;
- Partner and collaborate with government agencies, non-profit organizations, and other audiences to improve awareness of pesticide safety and encourage the correct use of pesticides; and
- Make services and information available in multiple languages and provide culturally appropriate pesticide safety resources that take into consideration the unique health and social vulnerabilities of diverse communities.
The total funding estimated for this opportunity is anticipated to be up to $10 million over five years covering 2024-2029. This agreement is supported in part by $500,000 per year of funds set aside in the Pesticide Registration Improvement Act of 2022. EPA and Oregon State University staff have worked together to ensure that work under the new agreement will begin by March 1, 2024, so that there is no gap in service from the previous NPIC agreement.
Read more about the funding solicitation and the selected project on EPA’s website and visit NPIC’s website for more information on pesticide safety.