CFS Files Suit to Compel EPA to Respond to 2008 Petition

The Center for Food Safety (CFS) filed suit on December 16, 2014, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over its failure to regulate novel nanomaterial pesticides.  CFS states in its press release that in 2008, it filed a legal petition requesting that EPA regulate nanosilver products as pesticides.  EPA opened a public comment period on November 19, 2008, in response to the petition, but according to CFS, “nearly six years later the agency has still failed to respond to Plaintiffs’ 2008 Petition, a failure that violates the mandates of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA).”  The petition states that since the 2008 petition was filed, “hundreds of new pesticidal nano-silver products have reached the market without any pesticide oversight from EPA.”  CFS asks the court to order EPA to respond to its petition “without further unlawful delay.”  The plaintiffs represented by CFS legal counsel in the lawsuit are CFS, its sister non-profit, the International Center for Technology Assessment, as well as Beyond Pesticides, the Center for Environmental Health, Clean Production Action, and the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy.