U.S. district judge William Alsup said he is sympathetic to the plight of bees and beekeepers but he cannot force the EPA to regulate neonicotinoid seed coatings as a pesticide. The environmental group Center for Food Safety, which represented the plaintiffs, said the decision was “a crushing blow” to attempts to control the side effects of the coatings.
Alsup said a 2013 EPA guidance document was not subject to legal review, reports Agri-Pulse. The document said that pesticide-coated seeds would not be regulated as pesticides as long as the coatings are registered and the effect of the pesticides does not extend beyond the seed. “Neonic” coatings are used on 80 percent of corn land and 40 percent of soybean acreage, although researchers question their value against late-emerging crop pests.
The pesticide industry and a trade group for seed companies said the decision would allow farmers to continue to use coated seeds as a step to prevent crop damage. Beekeepers and environmental groups say dust from the seeds blows onto nearby foliage and kills pollinators.