A federal appeals court has rejected the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Jan. 12 approval of the use of a controversial pesticide on Florida citrus crops, citing the agency’s failure to follow federal law.
The EPA’s green-lighting of the pesticide aldicarb, which had previously been discontinued for domestic uses, came in the closing days of the Trump administration. The agency had signed off on aldicarb’s use on up to 100,000 acres of orange and grapefruit groves through 2023.
The U.S. Court of Appeal for the District of Columbia, however, rejected the federal approval.
“The Environmental Protection Agency acknowledges it did not make an Endangered Species Act (ESA) effects determination prior to approving aldicarb for use on oranges and grapefruit in Florida and has, therefore, violated section 7(a)(2) of the ESA,” the court’s June 7 opinion states.
The Center for Biological Diversity, one of the groups that filed a lawsuit to block the EPA approval, applauded the court’s decision.
“The court’s ruling on aldicarb is incredibly important in that an agency that has been violating federal law for nearly 50 years is starting to be held to account for this practice,” Nathan Donley, the center’s environmental health science director, told the Florida Record in an email. “The Endangered Species Act is not something you can choose to comply with if it suits you, and the pesticide office at EPA just got a lesson in what that means.”
The North Carolina chemical company Ag Logic, an intervenor in the litigation, said in a statement that it was disappointed with the court ruling and that aldicarb was being singled out when many other pesticides being used in Florida have the same ESA issue.
Florida’s citrus industry can combat citrus greening disease, which results in small, misshapen fruits, without turning to aldicarb, according to Donley.
“There are currently over 20 pesticide ingredients approved for use against the Asian citrus psyllid and sustainable growing practices that can buffer against many of the effects of citrus greening disease – the organic citrus industry in Florida knows this well,” he said. “... The citrus industry in Florida needs help, but using more pesticides like aldicarb is not the answer.”
In April, Florida’s Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services rejected AG Logic’s application to register the pesticide for use in the citrus industry, citing a failure to comply with current federal law.
Opponents have also pointed out that aldicarb is banned in 125 nations due to potential hazards to human health.