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National & World Ag News Headlines |
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Trump Administration Appeals Court Order to Ban Chlorpyrifos
USAgNet - 09/26/2018
The Trump administration is appealing a federal court ruling that ordered the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to ban chlorpyrifos, a widely used pesticide tied to brain damage and other health problems in children.
In August, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the EPA must ban the pesticide within 60 days based on strong scientific evidence that chlorpyrifos--which is applied on dozens of fruit, nut and vegetable crops--is unsafe for public health.
The court's ruling nullified a decision by then-EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, who rejected his own agency's proposal to ban the toxic chemicals. Reports showed that Pruitt made the decision after intense lobbying from the pesticide and agriculture industry and
the leading chlorpyrifos manufacturer, DowDuPont.
On Monday, the Trump administration requested the full court to rehear the case, effectively postponing the effectiveness of last month's court order.
In their Monday filing, Department of Justice attorneys said the court's ruling violated Supreme Court precedent and the law when it made its decision, The Hill reported.
The attorneys said the Ninth Circuit should have overturned the EPA's decision and sent it back for reconsideration rather than ordering a full ban, The Hill wrote. They also argued that the court did not have the authority to rule in the case, and it should have
gone to a lower district court first.
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue praised the administration's decision.
"The costs of an incorrect decision on chlorpyrifos are expected to be high and would cause serious impacts to American farmers working to feed, fuel, and clothe the United States and the world," Perdue said in an online statement. "This ruling, which would
mean the sudden and total loss of chlorpyrifos, prevents farmers from using an effective and economical crop protection tool. Chlorpyrifos is used on well over 50 crops grown throughout the United States due to its efficacy and broad-spectrum activity across
multiple pests. For some crops and target pests, chlorpyrifos is the only line of defense, with no viable alternatives."
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