California seeks to block Trump pesticide rule

California and four other states are suing to block a Trump administration rule that will limit pesticide application exclusion zones to a farmer's property.

The rule, set to take effect Dec. 29, will replace an Obama administration regulation that made farmers responsible for maintaining a 100-foot halo around airborne pesticides, no matter the boundary line.

The suing states claim the Tump rule will increase the risk of pesticides drifting onto farmworkers.

"The Trump administration's decision to undercut existing public health protections for these workers is not only reprehensible, it's illegal," California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said in a statement.

President-elect Joe Biden has nominated Becerra to join his administration as head of the Department of Health and Human Services.

Application exclusion zones were a main point of contention as the Trump Environmental Protection Agency revised federal pesticide safety rules. 

Farm groups said enforcing an exclusion zone on someone else's property or an easement was difficult.

The Trump EPA agreed, saying its rule will eliminate confusion and that training pesticide applicators was a more effective way to protect bystanders.

The law still requires on-farm exclusion zones and holds farmers responsible for pesticides that drift off-target. The Trump rule will allow farm families to stay in their homes rather than being forced to leave during pesticide applications.

New York, Illinois, Maryland and Minnesota have joined California in seeking a stay of the Trump rule by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

The states also have sued in the U.S. District Court for Southern New York, as have farmworker advocates, including the United Farm Workers. The suits may be consolidated into one case.

The suits allege the EPA violated the Administrative Procedure Act by not having sufficient reason to discard the Obama application exclusion zone. 

An EPA spokeswoman said the agency does not comment on pending litigation.

Some states, including Washington and Oregon, have adopted application exclusion zones more expansive than the pending Trump rule. The state rules will remain in place.

The suing states claim that even those states will be affected if EPA standards change because they won't get federal help to enforce application exclusion zones.