By Tyler R. Etter
On August 10, 2015, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals
ordered the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to address a petition to
review the safety of the pesticide Chlorpyrifos by the end of October 2015.
Chlorpyrifos is a widely used agricultural pesticide,
restricted from being used in residential areas following the safety review of
the pesticide pursuant to the Food Quality Protection Act of 1996. Pesticide
Action Network and the Natural Resources Defense Council filed a petition to
the EPA in September of 2007 to reassess the safety of the agricultural
application of the pesticide. The EPA pledged to make a formal response in
2011, 2014, and 2015 to no avail.
Court proceedings began on June 4, 2015, with Pesticide
Action Network and the Natural Resources Defense Council seeking mandamus for
the EPA’s delay in response. The court ordered the EPA to complete a full and
final response to the petition by the end of October 2015, stating “Although
filibustering may be a venerable tradition in the United States Senate, it is
frowned upon in administrative agencies tasked with protecting human health.”
The court opinion noted the EPA’s recognition of the
potential threat chlorpyrifos poses to water supplies, and the pesticide has
been linked to developmental issues, lowered brain function, loss of memory,
and other health issues in children and agricultural workers.
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