Eleven AGs Filed Amicus Brief Opposing EPA’s Attempt to Skirt Accountability for Faulty Approval of New Uses of Pesticide Sulfoxaflor

DECEMBER 7, 2020

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra led a coalition of 11 attorneys general in filing an amicus brief opposing the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) attempt to delay judicial review of the agency’s decision to approve new uses of the pesticide sulfoxaflor. The AGs’ amicus brief was filed in litigation over the EPA’s failure to comply with its obligations under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) and the Endangered Species Act (ESA) when approving new uses of sulfoxaflor. The EPA has acknowledged its failure to analyze impacts on endangered species before approving the new uses, and filed a motion for remand without vacatur, ostensibly to correct the ESA violation. In their amicus brief, the attorneys general warned that granting the EPA’s motion would “unreasonably and indefinitely delay review” of the serious FIFRA violations that are now before the court and ripe for decision, while allowing sulfoxaflor to remain on the market as the agency works to correct its ESA violation — a process that would not begin “until June 2025 at the earliest.” The attorneys general emphasized that such an outcome would “set a dangerous precedent” for future pesticide registrations, especially given the EPA’s “ongoing and systematic failure” under the Trump administration to comply with ESA requirements in its pesticide registration processes.