EPA seeks comment on plan to address chlorpyrifos petition and lawsuit

EPA is seeking public comment for 15 days (until December 15, 2010) on a draft stipulation in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York that will stay further litigation with the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and Pesticide Action Network North America (PANNA) on their claim that EPA has unreasonably delayed its response to their 2007 petition to cancel all uses and revoke all tolerances for the pesticide chlorpyrifos.
Under the draft Stipulation and Order, the case will be suspended, provided (1) EPA issues a preliminary human health risk assessment for chlorpyrifos by June 1, 2011, and requests comment on that assessment; and (2) EPA sends NRDC and PANNA a written response to their petition by November 23, 2011. If the lawsuit is not reactivated by January 23, 2012, it will be dismissed.

The draft Stipulation and Order and related documents are available in the docket for the chlorpyrifos petition, EPA-HQ-OPP-2007-1005 at Regulations.gov. Comments must be received by the Agency no later than December 15, 2010.