League of United Latin American Citizens v. New York, No. 17-71636 (9th Cir. 2018)
Annotate this CaseThe Ninth Circuit granted a petition for review of the EPA's 2017 order maintaining a tolerance for the pesticide chlorpyrifos. In this case, the EPA did not defend the order on the merits but argued that despite petitioners having properly-filed administrative objections to the order more than a year ago and the statutory requirement that the EPA respond to such objections "as soon as practicable," the EPA's failure to respond to the objections deprived the panel of jurisdiction to adjudicate whether the EPA exceeded its statutory authority in refusing to ban use of chlorpyrifos on food products. The panel held that obtaining a response to objections before seeking review by this court was a claim-processing rule that did not restrict federal jurisdiction, and that could, and here should, be excused. Accordingly, the court vacated the order and remanded to the EPA with directions to revoke all tolerances and cancel all registrations for chlorpyrifos within 60 days.
Court Description: Pesticides The panel granted a petition for review, and vacated the Environmental Protection Agency’s (“EPA”) 2017 order maintaining a tolerance for the pesticide chlorpyrifos, and remanded to the EPA with directions to revoke all tolerances and cancel all registrations for chlorpyrifos within 60 days. The Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (“FFDCA”) authorizes the EPA to regulate the use of pesticides on foods according to specific statutory standards, and grants the EPA a limited authority to establish tolerances for pesticides meeting statutory qualifications. The EPA is subject to safety standards in exercising its authority to register pesticides under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (“FIFRA”). The EPA argued that FFDCA’s section 346a(g)(2)’s administrative process deprived this Court of jurisdiction until the EPA issues a response to petitioner’s administrative objections under section 346a(g)(2)(C), which it has not done to date. The panel held that section 346a(h)(1) of the FFDCA does not “clearly state” that obtaining a section (g)(2)(C) order in response to administrative objections is a jurisdictional requirement. The panel held that section 346a(h)(1) contains no jurisdictional label, is structured as a
The court issued a subsequent related opinion or order on February 6, 2019.
The court issued a subsequent related opinion or order on April 19, 2019.
The court issued a subsequent related opinion or order on October 16, 2019.
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