The U.S. appeals court in San Francisco ruled that the EPA “erred in allowing the use of an insecticide linked to the decline of honeybees and other pollinators over the last decade, saying the agency used ‘flawed and limited data’ to justify its approval,” writes Tiffany Stecker of E&E. “The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals vacated EPA’s unconditional registration of sulfoxaflor, a neonicotinoid pesticide linked to bee deaths.”
The Pollinator Stewardship Council, one of the plaintiffs, said the decision should prompt the agency to examine other of its unconditional registrations “for possible flawed and limited data.” The EPA is to review registration of five other neonicotinoids by 2019, said E&E. Dow AgroSciences, a respondent in the case, said it would work with the agency to complete additional regulatory work to support registration of the insecticides. E&E said Dow also was considering whether to challenge the ruling.