The Economics of School Integrated Pest Management (IPM)

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The Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP) is soliciting proposals from eligible parties for an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) cooperative agreement to provide financial assistance to an eligible organization to research and analyze the economics of implementing integrated pest management (IPM) in K-12 public and Tribal schools in the United States. IPM is a sustainable approach to managing pests that combines biological, cultural, physical, and chemical tools in a way that minimizes economic, health, and environmental risks. The grantee will conduct an analysis of the short- and long-term economics of implementing an IPM program in a school district. This will include highlighting such issues as the costs and/or savings associated with transitioning from calendar-based pesticide applications to an IPM program, the economics of reduced pesticide applications, the economic impacts on school districts from absenteeism related to asthma incidences at school and, if feasible, energy savings realized from pest exclusion activities. Other deliverables should include documents crafted for school administrators that includes key findings from the assessment, and may include other material such as webinars and articles in journals and newsletters.

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