EPA

A coalition of seven states from California to New York states filed a challenge that asks the EPA to end the use of the insecticide chlorpyrifos, widely used in agriculture but criticized as a risk to children and farm workers. EPA administrator Scott Pruitt denied in March a petition by environmental groups to ban the chemical and said his decision was based on sound science.

The EPA has proposed delaying, by a year, the implementation of a pesticide-application rule made tougher under the Obama administration, said the agency in a press release.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross says that removing burdensome environmental permit regulations is high on his list of ways to improve the U.S. manufacturing climate. Ross plans to present the list to President Trump in May.

A U.S. district judge in California ruled that the EPA violated the Endangered Species Act when it issued 59 registrations from 2007-12 that allow use of neonicotinoid insecticides in agricultural, landscaping and ornamental uses. District Judge Maxine Chesney issued a mixed verdict that upheld some the issues raised by beekeepers and environmental groups but denied others.

In a move meant to stem government regulation, the EPA is cutting academic scientists from its scientific review board and replacing them with industry representatives, while the Interior Department prepares for a review of the scientists on its own advisory council.

Following through on his confirmation-hearing pledge, EPA head Scott Pruitt has recused himself from several cases against the agency that he pursued while Oklahoma attorney general.

The EPA is changing language on its webpage to match the values of the new administration, and the fact that both President Trump and EPA head Scott Pruitt have publicly denied that climate change is manmade.

A petition filed with EPA calls for the agency to treat seeds coated with neonicotinoid insecticides as a pesticide, ending an exemption for the seeds. The petition was backed by three national beekeeper associations, worried the insecticides are a factor in population declines of honeybees.

The EPA, facing a 31-percent cut in funding, has set a goal of downsizing its workforce by Sept. 30, according to a memo given to employees. Government Executive said the agency "will continue a freeze on external hiring and begin offering early retirement and buyouts," although details were not immediately clear.

Pesticide makers sent letters to federal regulators asking them to "set aside" agency research into the risks to endangered species from three organophosphate pesticides — chlorpyrifos, diazinon and malathion — says The Associated Press. Dow Chemical (whose chief executive "is a close adviser" to President Trump), FMC Corp. and Adama, sent letters to the EPA and the Commerce and Interior Departments to argue the studies should not be used.

President Trump has ordered replacement of the Waters of the United States rule, and Politico says industry groups allied with EPA administrator Scott Pruitt have an idea who should write the replacement: private lawyers.

Worried that Trump administration cuts to the EPA will mean slashing thousands of jobs, EPA employees are organizing to defend their work, says NPR. At one union hall in Washington, D.C., dozens of EPA staffers filed in to discuss the issue. NPR spoke with Marie Owens Powell, an EPA enforcement officer and local union leader.

An Italian researcher says results of a study on animal health and the weedkiller glyphosate will be published in time for an EU decision on whether to allow continued use of the herbicide, says Reuters. Preliminary results show no initial adverse reaction in rats exposed to the herbicide in levels equal to that allowed in humans.

Conservatives intent on reversing the Obama administration’s climate-change legacy are angry that EPA chief Scott Pruitt hasn’t gone further. They’d like to see him try to reverse the “endangerment finding” that provides the legal framework for the Clean Power Plan and other climate-change policies.

The U.S. appeals court based in Washington voided a Bush-era exemption for large livestock farms from reporting emission of air pollutants in a win for environmentalists, said Law360. The lawsuit was filed more than a year ago by eight environmental groups, who said the EPA ignored petitions in 2009 and 2011 for regulation of ammonia, methane and other emissions from concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs).

The Paris climate treaty is a “bad deal” for the U.S. said Scott Pruitt, while adding that the country should stay “engaged" in international climate discussions.

Saying he was using "sound science in decision-making," EPA administrator Scott Pruitt denied a petition by environmental groups to ban the insecticide chlorpyrifos, widely used in agriculture but criticized as a risk to children and farmworkers. Pruitt took a "final agency action" on the chemical, "suggesting that the matter would not likely be revisited until 2022, the next time the EPA is formally required to re-evaluate the safety of the pesticide," said the New York Times.

Last summer, a federal appeals court gave the EPA until March 31 — this Friday — to decide whether to ban or allow continued use of the insecticide chlorpyrifos, used on more than 50 crops, including alfalfa, corn, peanuts and wheat. Mother Jones says the new administration "will have to make a momentous choice" in its early days in office.