EPA Says Pesticide Coated Seed Regulation Deal Should be Dropped

The Environmental Protection Agency says that it responded to a petition to close a loophole that allows seeds coated with pesticides to avoid federal registration and labeling requirements, so a consent decree ordering EPA action should be terminated.

The Center for Food Safety filed a rulemaking petition in 2017 that urged the EPA to amend the exemption—which gives the agency a pass on regulating neonicotinoid-coated seeds. The EPA has a “de facto policy” of treating the seeds as exempt from requirements under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act.

The agency didn’t respond to the petition for five years, so ...