After years of debate, EPA ordered to make decision on chlorpyrifos

September 2nd, 2016 by Dakota Software Staff Industry News

While a success of sorts for the Environmental Protection Agency in the short term, a recent 9th Circuit Court of Appeals decision means the federal regulator has to act on a long-debated issue. Following years of debate about the safety of pesticide chlorpyrifos and petitions for relief from environmentalist organizations that believe the EPA failed to act in a timely manner, the agency now has until March 31, 2017 to make a determination about the controversial pesticide.

Chlorpyrifos is used and registered as a pesticide for about 50 crops, but opponents of the chemical believe it is too harmful to be used in situations where human exposure is possible, according to the Courthouse News Service. While it was banned for domestic applications in 2000, it is still used a variety of industrial and commercial situations.

Court sets firm deadline
The three-month extension given by the circuit court is a small final addition to a process that's taken more than nine years to complete. Two environmentalist groups opposing the use of chlorpyrifos, the Pesticide Action Network North America and Natural Resources Defense Council, originally petitioned the EPA to cancel the pesticide's registration and therefore end its use in 2007. Courthouse News Service said the groups then sought legal relief from the circuit court following a number of years when the EPA failed to respond to the petition.

Agri-Pulse Communications reported the three-month addition to the previous deadline of Dec. 31, 2016 is significantly less than the EPA's requested six months and the year desired by various industry groups. A statement from the court said it believes the EPA has spent too much time promising eventual action without taking steps toward it. The most recent request for a deadline extension was prompted by a scientific advisory panel telling the EPA that a Columbia University study that was used in the decision-making process could not be relied upon, due to a lack of available raw data.

The extended period of time involving the chlorpyrifos debate will finally lead a decision that should occur in the next seven months; one that Dow Chemical, maker of the pesticide, and the many businesses that use it in non-residential applications must take careful note of to continue addressing environmental compliance concerns.