9th Circuit Court: EPA Has 90 Days To Justify Use Of Pesticide Chlorpyrifos

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS / AP) — A San Francisco-based federal appeals court has given the Environmental Protection Agency 90 days to justify why a widely used but dangerous pesticide should stay on the market.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday issued the order at the request of a coalition of farmworker and environmental groups. The attorneys general for several states, including California, Washington, New York and Massachusetts, joined the case.

The groups sued after then-EPA chief Scott Pruitt reversed an Obama-era effort to ban chlorpyrifos, which is widely sprayed on citrus fruit and other crops.

Last summer, a three-judge panel of the court ordered the EPA to ban all sales of the pesticide. The court decided to reconsider that ruling with a slate of 11 judges, and those judges Friday gave the EPA three months to respond to the plaintiffs' objections.

© Copyright 2019 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Read more
f

We and our partners use cookies to understand how you use our site, improve your experience and serve you personalized content and advertising. Read about how we use cookies in our cookie policy and how you can control them by clicking Manage Settings. By continuing to use this site, you accept these cookies.