NCC Nominates Caprio For EPA’s Scientific Advisory Panel

March 29, 2018

Office of Pesticide Policy
Regulatory Public Docket (28221T)
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC  20460

RE: Docket ID Number EPA-HQ-OPP-2017-0617

Dear Ms. Gibson:

The National Cotton Council (NCC) appreciates the opportunity to provide nominations on the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) notice “Meetings: Federal Insecticide Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act Scientific Advisory Panel; Nomination of Ad Hoc Expert Members.”  We have identified one nominee that is extremely qualified for the criteria requested on EPA’s SAP web site regarding “Resistance in Lepidopteran Pests to Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) Plant Incorporated Protectants.”  On March 5, 2018, the Agency published a Federal Register notice requesting nominations of experts to serve as ad hoc members on the July 17-20, 2018 Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act Scientific Advisory Panel (FIFRA SAP) meeting to consider and review resistance in Lepidopteran Pests to Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) Plant Incorporated Protectants in the U.S.

The NCC is the central organization of the United States cotton industry.  Its members include producers, ginners, cottonseed processors and merchandizers, merchants, cooperatives, warehousers and textile manufacturers.  A majority of the industry is concentrated in 17 cotton-producing states stretching from California to Virginia. U.S. cotton producers cultivate between 9 and 12 million acres of cotton with production averaging 12 to 18 million 480-lb bales annually. The downstream manufacturers of cotton apparel and home furnishings are located in virtually every state. Farms and businesses directly involved in the production, distribution and processing of cotton employ more than 125,000 workers and produce direct business revenue of more than $21 billion.  Annual cotton production is valued at more than $5.5 billion at the farm gate, the point at which the producer markets the crop.  Accounting for the ripple effect of cotton through the broader economy, direct and indirect employment surpasses 280,000 workers with economic activity of almost $100 billion. In addition to the cotton fiber, cottonseed products are used for livestock feed and cottonseed oil is used as an ingredient in food products as well as being a premium cooking oil.

The NCC would like to nominate the following individual to serve as an ad hoc expert member on EPA’s Scientific Advisory Panel:

Dr. Michael A. Caprio
Associate-Full Professor – Insect Genetics
Department of Entomology & Plant Pathology
Mississippi State University
Mississippi State, MS  39762
Phone: 662-325-2985
Email: mcaprio@entomology.msstate.edu

Dr. Michael Caprio currently serves as a Professor of entomology within the Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Entomology, and Plant Pathology Department at Mississippi State University.  Dr. Caprio’s area of expertise include Ecological Genetics, Insect Population Genetics, Gene Flow, Insecticide Resistance, and Computer Modeling.  Prior to his position at Mississippi in 1993, he held a postdoctoral position at the University of Florida where he conducted research on the implementation of resistant biological control agents in 1992-1993.  He also served postdoctoral position at Berkeley, California in 1991-1992 to study the use of molecular markers to identify and document the release of genetically manipulated biological control agents.  Dr. Caprio received his Masters of Science (Entomology) from Michigan State University in 1987 and his Ph.D. (Entomology) from the University of Hawaii at Manoa in 1990.

Thank you for allowing the NCC to provide nominations in response to EPA’s notice “Meetings: Federal Insecticide Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act Scientific Advisory Panel; Nomination of Ad Hoc Expert Members.”

Respectfully,

Steve Hensley
Senior Scientist, Regulatory and Environmental Issues
National Cotton Council