American farmers will have to wait a few more months before learning the fate of popular insecticide chlorpyrifos.
Last Friday, the Ninth Court of Appeals approved an extension request by the Environmental Protection Agency on the ruling.
A three-judge panel ordered EPA to announce its final decision by March 31, 2017, according to Agri-Pulse.
In January, Texas Farm Bureau (TFB) submitted a letter to EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy outlining its strong opposition to the revocation of chlorpyrifos.
“Chlorpyrifos has been widely used for decades,” Jay Bragg, TFB associate director of Commodity and Regulatory Activities, wrote. “Its safety and efficacy when applied in accordance with its label is well demonstrated.”
Chlorpyrifos, commonly known by trade names like Dursban and Lorsban, helps farmers defend their crops against a wide array of pests.
There are more than 50 different crops in more than 98 countries that rely on chlorpyrifos products to defend against crop failure due to insects.
Chlorpyrifos helps control a wide variety of pests on alfalfa, citrus, soybeans, peaches, pecans, tree nuts, fruit and vegetable crops, as well as grass seed production in Texas.
“Chlorpyrifos is the best and safest pest control alternative for a number of these crops,” Bragg wrote. “The loss of chlorpyrifos would have a crippling effect on Texas and American agriculture.”
The annual cost of the EPA’s proposal to revoke chlorpyrifos could easily exceed tens of millions of dollars, affecting the livelihood of farmers across the country.
“Texas is a diverse state and our members are engaged in the production of hundreds of different commodity crops, fruits and vegetables and other specialty crops,” Bragg wrote. “It is absolutely vital that they have access to a wide range of safe, effective and affordable pest control products.”
EPA’s proposed rule would revoke all tolerances for chlorpyrifos.
The proposal came after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ordered the EPA to respond to an administrative petition asking for the revocation of chlorpyrifos’ tolerances.