EPA pushes back against chlorpyrifos ruling

September 26th, 2018 by Dakota Software Staff

A once-common pesticide used in a variety of large agribusiness applications could see a return to use if a court appeal filed by the Department of Justice on behalf of the Environmental Protection Agency is successful. Chlorpyrifos, which was banned following EPA action taken under the administration of President Barack Obama, was reauthorized for use by Scott Pruitt, then the EPA chief administrator, in early 2017.

As the L.A. Times pointed out, the decision to allow renewed use of chlorpyrifos was seen as a signature decision of sorts for the EPA under President Donald Trump, a shift to less-strict regulations and more involvement with businesses. However, a number of legal challenges to some major EPA decisions and the resignation of Pruitt, who faced a number of ethics investigations led by the EPA Office of the Inspector General, has slowed the momentum of that change. Now, the federal developer of environmental regulations is fighting to reverse the result of a previous legal efforts that upheld the pesticide ban.

The ongoing battle over chlorpyrifos

"Chlorpyrifos has attracted plenty of negative attention."

Chlorpyrifos has attracted plenty of negative attention. That comes from individuals living near farms using the pesticide, as PBS Newshour explained, as well as from research that linked developmental issues in children to chemical exposure among their mothers during pregnancy. The pesticide's ban was delayed by Pruitt for a period of five years, in what was framed as an effort to ensure regulatory certainty. However, legal challenges led to the current state of affairs, where efforts to instate the delay and then reverse the lower courts' decisions were unsuccessful.

The most recent appeal by the DOJ and EPA asked the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to have a complete panel of judges review the case, as opposed to the smaller group involved in the previous ruling. Should this appeal fail, the EPA's last option is to bring the case to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The ongoing struggle over the permissible use or ban of chlorpyrifos is far from settled. No matter the result, businesses that produce or use the chemical are in a state of uncertainty regarding its future. This is just one example of the many environmental health and safety regulations that are regularly developed, implemented, challenged or changed, creating compliance and management difficulties for even the largest companies. To learn about gaining effective assistance for regulatory management and insight, reach out to Dakota today.