WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced March 29 that Administrator Scott Pruitt has signed an order denying a petition to ban chlorpyrifos, a pesticide currently used in U.S. agriculture.
“We need to provide regulatory certainty to the thousands of American farms that rely on chlorpyrifos, while still protecting human health and the environment,” Pruitt said. “By reversing the previous administration’s steps to ban one of the most widely used pesticides in the world, we are returning to using sound science in decision-making -- rather than predetermined results.”
The EPA revoked all food residue tolerances for chlorpyrifos, a major ingredient in many insecticides used throughout the country, in October 2015. This decision, however, came under the previous EPA administration.
The current administration believes the decision was made relying on certain epidemiological study outcomes whose application is novel and uncertain.
“This is a welcome decision grounded in evidence and science,” said Sheryl Kunickis, director of the office of pest management policy at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. "It means this important pest management tool will remain available to growers, helping to ensure an abundant and affordable food supply for this nation and the world.”