A federal court on Tuesday rejected environmental groups’ attempts to overturn a decision by President Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency to allow the use of the pesticide chlorpyrifos.
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the environmental groups’ petition on a procedural issue, explaining that the “complaints arrive at our doorstep too soon.” The groups first must sue the EPA directly before a court can rule on their complaint.
The groups appeared to want the court to rule on EPA’s rejection of their request to ban the pesticide, which is widely used on food crops. The EPA had found that the chemical had been linked to developmental problems in children, which EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt challenged as he approved its continued use.
“Now that EPA has issued its denial, substantive objections must first be made through the administrative process mandated by statute,” the three-judge panel ruled Tuesday.
