Environmental Group Asks Court to Force USFWS to Respond to Pesticides Petition
The Center for Biological Diversity sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service alleging the agency violated the law by not evaluating pesticides and their effect on endangered species.
An environmental group sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (UFWS) on Thursday after a more than four-year-old petition to restrict pesticides use in critical habitats has gone unanswered by the agency.
The Center for Biological Diversity is asking the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona to declare USFWS in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act and to order the agency to respond within 90 days. The center filed a petition with USFWS on Jan. 7, 2019, asking for pesticide restrictions in habitats for threatened and endangered species. The Biden administration's EPA has been conducting Endangered Species Act reviews on agriculture chemicals.
The Administrative Procedure Act requires federal agencies including USFWS to respond to petitions in a "reasonable time." Among those twelve pesticides, the center said EPA's recent biological evaluation found the chemicals harm a "majority" of about eight hundred designated critical habitats. The center stated it identified forty-two threatened and endangered species that would benefit most from protecting critical habitats. Of the forty-two species, the lawsuit stated the EPA determined the critical habitats are adversely affected by eight or more of the twelve pesticides.
EPA completed an evaluation of the following chemicals: chlorpyrifos (2018), diazinon (2018), malathion (2018), carbaryl (2021), methomyl (2021), glyphosate (2021), atrazine (2021), simazine (2021), imidacloprid (2022), thiamethoxam (2022), clothianidin (2022) and sulfoxaflor (2023).
An environmental group sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (UFWS) on Thursday after a more than four-year-old petition to restrict pesticides use in critical habitats has gone unanswered by the agency.
The Center for Biological Diversity is asking the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona to declare USFWS in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act and to order the agency to respond within 90 days. The center filed a petition with USFWS on Jan. 7, 2019, asking for pesticide restrictions in habitats for threatened and endangered species. The Biden administration's EPA has been conducting Endangered Species Act reviews on agriculture chemicals.
The Administrative Procedure Act requires federal agencies including USFWS to respond to petitions in a "reasonable time." Among those twelve pesticides, the center said EPA's recent biological evaluation found the chemicals harm a "majority" of about eight hundred designated critical habitats. The center stated it identified forty-two threatened and endangered species that would benefit most from protecting critical habitats. Of the forty-two species, the lawsuit stated the EPA determined the critical habitats are adversely affected by eight or more of the twelve pesticides.
EPA completed an evaluation of the following chemicals: chlorpyrifos (2018), diazinon (2018), malathion (2018), carbaryl (2021), methomyl (2021), glyphosate (2021), atrazine (2021), simazine (2021), imidacloprid (2022), thiamethoxam (2022), clothianidin (2022) and sulfoxaflor (2023).