EPA Fast-Tracks Bug-Releasing Pesticide Against Mexican Pests
Published Date: 3/27/2026
Notice
Summary
The EPA got a request from the USDA to approve a new pesticide called NovoFly, which uses genetically engineered male insects to fight a harmful pest spreading from Mexico. Because this is urgent, the EPA is speeding up the process and asking for public comments by April 27, 2026. This affects farmers and communities near the border and aims to protect crops without delay or extra costs right now.
Analyzed Economic Effects
3 provisions identified: 1 benefits, 1 costs, 1 mixed.
USDA Seeks OK to Use NovoFly
The EPA received a Section 3 registration application and a Section 18 quarantine emergency exemption request from USDA for a new biopesticide called NovoFly. The application seeks authorization to use male-only genetically engineered New World screwworms as part of wide-area sterile insect technique (SIT) programs to suppress Cochliomyia hominivorax and help prevent its northward spread from Mexico; comments on the registration application are due April 27, 2026.
Potential Economic Cost of an Outbreak
The application says a New World screwworm (NWS) outbreak would cause widespread economic losses and that an outbreak in Texas would cost $1.8 billion to the Texas economy today. The notice uses this calculation to justify the urgency of authorizing NovoFly for suppression and prevention.
Planned Large-Area Releases Described
The application describes aerial and ground releases of sterile, male-only NovoFly at rates of 1,500 to 3,000 flies per nautical mile, with flight plans typically covering 665 nautical miles and ground release chambers holding up to 10 liters of pupae (about 90,000 pupae). At a maximum production capacity of 5.72 billion flies per year, the document states annual release density could be 143 to 229 flies per acre within a release polygon that can vary from 25 million to 40 million acres.
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