COURTS/ENVIRONMENT/EPA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “A federal appeals court on Friday has given the EPA 90 days to take action on demands by environmental groups to ban a widely used pesticide. Groups are hoping that the decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit in San Francisco will mean that the government will soon prohibit the use of chlorpyrifos. The EPA, under the Obama administration, decided to ban it in 2015 after scientific evidence showed the pesticide has the potential to damage brain development in children. The EPA, however, reversed the prohibition under then-Administrator Scott Pruitt, in a move that was an early step in carrying out President Donald Trump’s deregulatory agenda. The agency now has three months to decide what to do in light of the appeals court ruling. ‘We are reviewing the court’s order and will be taking final action on the administrative objections before the agency within 90 days,’ EPA spokesperson James Hewitt said in an email to POLITICO. Environmental groups are hopeful that a ban will soon be in place.”
–Jesse Chase-Lubitz, “Appeals court orders EPA to act on demands to ban chlorpyrifos,” Politico, April 19, 2019 6:21 pm