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EPA
Sued For Illegally Taking Direction from Chemical Industry
Group
Conservation
and pesticide watchdog groups filed a lawsuit
on January 15 to stop the Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) from giving illegal special access to a group of
chemical corporations. Documents obtained under the Freedom of
Information Act and other sources reveal that the corporate
insider group has met regularly with EPA officials in secret
and has urged EPA to weaken endangered species protections
from pesticides. The case was filed in federal district court
in Seattle Washington.
The chemical companies are pushing EPA to weaken pesticide
safeguards by cutting expert biologists in the US Fish and
Wildlife Service and NOAA Fisheries out of consultations
determining the effects of pesticides on wildlife. At the
companies’ urging, EPA has started a rulemaking to reserve
authority over such evaluations to itself.
“EPA is letting the pesticide industry have inside influence
over the fate of endangered species poisoned by toxic
pesticides,” said Patti Goldman of Earthjustice,
which brought the lawsuit on behalf of the conservation and
watchdog groups.
Federal law prohibits the government from using and meeting in
secret with such insider groups. Congress has established good
government standards that prevent secret and one-sided
advisory bodies of wealthy special interests. The Federal
Advisory Committee Act prohibits the federal government from
obtaining advice from committees comprised of only the
regulated industry. That act also requires that the meetings
of advisory groups be open to the public.
“EPA has an open door policy to the biggest chemical
companies in America while excluding the rest of us,” said
Mike Senatore of Defenders of Wildlife. “That’s not right.
In America all voices are supposed to be heard, not just
wealthy interests that make campaign contributions.”
In 2000, EPA established this chemical industry group, known
as the FIFRA Endangered Species Task Force, to develop data
disclosing the locations of endangered species. The task force
is comprised of 14 agro-chemical companies. It meets regularly
with EPA officials in closed meetings and has no
public-interest representatives. Over the past year, the
chemical industry task force has shifted its efforts away from
generating data to advocating that EPA circumvent the
Endangered Species Act for pesticide uses that harm federally
protected species. It has become the chief proponent of new
pesticide regulations that would eliminate expert oversight
over species protections. In early 2003, EPA announced its
plan to issue such regulations, and it plans to propose new
rules soon.
“For years, EPA has flouted its obligation to protect
endangered species from pesticides,” said Aaron Colangelo of
Natural Resources Defense Council. “Now that the courts are
directing EPA to comply with its duties, the pesticide
industry and the Bush administration have come up with a new
trick for delaying species protections.”
The lawsuit asks the court to order EPA to commit to bring its
actions into compliance with the Federal Advisory Committee
Act. Natural Resources Defense Council, the Center for
Biological Diversity, Defenders of Wildlife, Washington Toxics
Coalition, and Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to
Pesticides, represented by Earthjustice, filed the lawsuit.
(Beyond Pesticides,
January 20, 2004)
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