The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled in favor of farmworkers and public-interest groups’ call for reversal of the US Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) approval of the medically important antibiotic streptomycin as a pesticide on citrus crops.
The court determined the EPA’s 2021 decision to allow spraying of streptomycin on citrus crops across the country to be unlawful under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) and the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The court also held that the seriousness of the EPA’s errors required it to vacate the EPA’s approval of the pesticide.
The decision protects pollinators, imperiled species, and the health of farmworkers who would otherwise face heightened risk of antibiotic-resistant infections.
“We don't need to blast medically important antibiotics into the environment – it undermines the effectiveness of those substances and threatens the pollinators that the food system requires. We do not have to choose between a stable food supply AND pollinators – we need both. Organic producers show that we do not have to sacrifice one for the other by building healthy farm ecosystems without wanton antibiotic usage." Allison Johnson, Senior Attorney, Health & Food, NRDC
“The court’s decision to vacate the EPA’s unlawful approval of streptomycin is a win for public health, pollinators and endangered species. I hope that the EPA understands now that it can’t just wave away its legal obligations to examine the impacts of the pesticides it approves.” Hannah Connor, Attorney, Center for Biological Diversity.
For more information:
Kari Birdseye
Tel.: +1 415-875-8243
Email: [email protected]