Seven states want the EPA to ban most uses of the pesticide chlorpyrifos, challenging the agency’s decision not to further regulate the chemical.

 

Attorneys general for California, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Vermont, and Washington filed objections June 5 asking Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt to make a safety determination on the use of chlorpyrifos.

 

Pruitt on March 29 declined to further regulate the insect-killer, which is linked to neurodevelopmental effects, until Oct. 1, 2022. The move was a U-turn from the EPA’s work to revoke the legal tolerances for the pesticide on food under President Barack Obama. In November 2016, two months before Obama left the White House, the EPA released a scientific assessment indicating that levels of chlorpyrifos on most food crops exceeded the legal safety standard. A year earlier, the agency proposed a ban, but didn’t finalize the move before the new administration came in.

 

In their appeal, the states argue that a strong federal policy on pesticides is necessary given the nationwide distribution of the food system.

 

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