Court revives suit over US EPA’s pesticide approvals

A federal appeals court has revived a sweeping lawsuit accusing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency of endangering scores of protected species by approving toxic pesticides without required consultation with wildlife officials.
 

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed part of a lower court ruling in the 2011 suit against the EPA by environmental groups. The groups say the EPA has approved hundreds of pesticides that are known to be harmful to endangered and threatened species such as the California condor without legally required consultations with wildlife officials that could limit the pesticides’ impacts.
 

The EPA says on its website that it evaluates risks to endangered and threatened species as part of the pesticide registration process.
 

An email to a spokesman for the agency was not immediately returned.