Court: EPA Must Consider Harm to Endangered Species When Approving New Pesticides

A federal court ruled today that the Environmental Protection Agency must consider harm to protected plants and animals before approving new pesticides. The ruling came in response to a challenge by conservation groups of the agency’s registration of cyantraniliprole, a novel and untested insecticide with deadly impacts on endangered butterflies and other native pollinators.
“This ruling makes clear that the EPA can’t ignore the well-known harms pesticides pose to endangered species,” said Brett Hartl, government affairs director at the Center for Biological Diversity, a plaintiff in the case. “This is an important victory offering common-sense protection from pesticides to some our most threatened pollinators.” The three-judge panel found that the EPA failed to follow the law during its pesticide review and registration process and ordered the agency to assess harm to native species and report back to the court every six months on its progress. Use of cyantraniliprole will continue during the agency review...more