[Pollinator] EPA blocks a dozen products containing pesticides thought harmful to bees

[Joey Lee]

Hi Pam,

I work for Center for Food Safety, the nonprofit that took EPA to court to get the dozen neonics cancelled. Here's a link to our press release about the case: https://www.centerforfoodsafety.org/press-releases/5601/epa-cancels-a-dozen-pesticides-that-harm-bees-and-endangered-species 

Our legal director and lead counsel on the case, George Kimbrell, posted a more detailed explanation, that I've included below my signature, to a different pollinator listserv yesterday. I hope this helps put the case into context!

Warmly, 

-Joey

Joey Lee
Digital Manager
Center for Food Safety

Here's more from George:

First, it's absolutely true that this is not on all fours with European's broad prohibition on neonics.  That's why in the release we said it was a step in the right direction, and part of the longer fight.  

Second, to clarify, our case only dealt with select clothianidin and thiamethoxam pesticide products, 57 to be specific, not all the products in those active ingredient class.  This was unfortunately the case because the way FIFRA is set up, and because of statute of limitations restrictions.  But it allowed us to address some products in advance of the re-registration process, which is otherwise impossible.  In any event, in the best case the remedy in our case could only involve these products at issue.  Even if we had gotten all of them vacated, there were others in existence that were not at issue in the case that industry could sell and use.  In the settlement, we got 12 of them, which run the gamut of all uses and included a good many seed coatings.

Third, I would push back on the conclusion that the removal of these products won't reduce overall use. In the remedy portion of the case we introduced strong expert evidence in support of the conclusion that their removal could well lead to reductions, in part because it is not a given that farmers will switch to another neonic; instead there are other more sustainable options, including reduced risk pesticide alternatives and IPM options.  More generally it is contrary to common sense to conclude that removing harmful pesticides is not environmentally beneficial, even if there are other toxin sources; that is nearly always the case in environmental cases and context.  

Fourth, it is important to recognize that the removal of these pesticides in a settlement of this nature is an absolute first - industry and EPA has never before agreed to do this in this context.  So not just as a practical but also as a precedential matter, the measure is a significant one. There are different ways to measure impact, and overall use is not the only one.

Finally, the settlement also had very important Endangered Species Act provisions, which are the claims we won in the case: EPA has to analyze the impacts of clothianidin and thiamethoxam on endangered species and their critical habitat by two years from now.  For context, this will be the first time ever that EPA has analyzed the impacts of any neonic on endangered species, and will lead to restrictions on use.

Here is a good piece from yesterday that summarizes the settlement and its import:  https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/the-energy-202/2019/05/22/the-energy-202-epa-blocks-a-dozen-products-containing-pesticides-thought-harmful-to-bees/5ce46c34a7a0a46b92a3fd6a/?utm_term=.7cd5779d6619 

In short this is a hard-won victory for our side that took 6 years of battle royale litigation by our legal team against EPA and 3 pesticide companies that overcame numerous legal challenges to get to a successful and precedential settlement.  

-----Original Message-----
From: Pollinator [mailto:pollinator-bounces+jlee=centerforfoodsafety.org at lists.sonic.net] On Behalf Of Pam_Phillips at comcast.net
Sent: Thursday, May 23, 2019 10:20 AM
To: pollinator at coevolution.org
Subject: Re: [Pollinator] EPA blocks a dozen products containing pesticides thought harmful to bees

Why these specific twelve products? They are barely the tip of the iceberg. For instance, I 
don't see Bayer Advanced Rose and Flower Care. Here's the list, buried in the Federal 
Register PDF:

Meridian 0.20G
Meridian 0.14G
Avicta Complete Corn 500
THX_MXM_FDL_TBZ FS
Adage Deluxe
Adage Premier
Ernesto Quantum
V-10170 0.25 G GL Insecticide
Inovate Seed Proctectant
Inovate Neutral Seed Protectant
Aloft GC G Insecticide
Flower, Rose & Shrub Care III

Pam Phillips

On 23 May 2019 at 6:53, David Inouye wrote:

From:           	David Inouye <dwinouye at gmail.com>
To:             	"pollinator at coevolution.org" <pollinator at coevolution.org>
Organization:   	University of Maryland
Date sent:      	Thu, 23 May 2019 06:53:22 -0600
Subject:        	[Pollinator] EPA blocks a dozen products containing pesticides
	thought harmful to bees

> https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.washingtonpost.com_news_powerpost_paloma_the-2Denergy-2D202_&d=DwICAg&c=euGZstcaTDllvimEN8b7jXrwqOf-v5A_CdpgnVfiiMM&r=NrQuoNAI0NrvumqwxU_s_L2RxQC9SUJq7NIF0BEgW6I&m=iQjr_DOwg-MMYBF-XE-yLMUPZgOd2yCZAE2m5bfUw8w&s=byjIU7LcZjvNNk3Uv7yOF7JGT7Wsg044EFYQL5u_s_g&e=
> 2019/05/22/the-energy-202-epa-blocks-a-dozen-products-containing-pes
> ticides-thought-harmful-to-bees/5ce46c34a7a0a46b92a3fd6a/?utm_term=.
> 0d3ccaec2d2a
> 
> -- 
> Dr. David W. Inouye
> Professor Emeritus
> Department of Biology
> University of Maryland
> College Park, MD 20742-4415
> inouye at umd.edu
> 
> Principal Investigator
> Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory
> PO Box 519
> Crested Butte, CO 81224
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