CBD v. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Reference :

3:15-cv-658-JCS

Complaint date :

February 12, 2015

Status :

Final judgment

Place of jurisdiction :

United States, San Francisco

Plaintiffs types :

Environmental NGOs

Plaintiffs names :

Center for Biological Diversity (CBD)

Defendants :

Fish and Wildlife Service, Sally Jewell, Dan Ashe, Department of the Interior

Lawyers for Health and Environmental Justice :

Collette Adkins, Justin Augustine

Case nature :

Administrative

Specificities :

Civil action for injunctive and declaratory relief

Type(s), Product(s), Active substance(s) :

Atrazine, 2,4-D, Herbicide, Alachlor

Requests :

injunctive and declaratory relief, including an order compelling FWS to complete the consultations and placing restrictions on pesticide use to prevent jeopardy to the listed species until consultation is completed.

Name of the Court :

United States District Court for the Northern District of California of San Francisco, United States

Jurisdiction level :

Decision date :

February 19, 2016

Decision nature :

Positive

Decision content :

Settlement: FWS will analyze the impacts of atrazine and glyphosate, the two most commonly used pesticides in the US, on 1,500 endangered U.S. plants and animals and develop conservation measures on these two pesticides, along with propazine and simazine, which together represent nearly 40 percent of annual pesticide use in the United States.

Legal basis :

No description

Court Ruling :

Link to the ruling

Summary :

CBD files a lawsuit against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for failing to ensure atrazine, 2,4-D and alachlor, three widely used pesticides, don't jeopardize the survival of the delta smelt and Alameda whipsnake, two Bay Area endangered species. A settlement is reached, by which FWS will analyze the impacts of atrazine and glyphosate, the two most commonly used pesticides in the US, on 1,500 endangered U.S. plants and animals and develop conservation measures on these two pesticides, along with propazine and simazine, which together represent nearly 40 percent of annual pesticide use in the United States. As a result of the settlement, the EPA released a draft biological evaluation on 11/25/2020 finding that glyphosate is likely to injure or kill 93% of the plants and animals protected under the Endangered Species Act.

Scientific references :

Maternal Residential Atrazine Exposure and Risk for Choanal Atresia and Stenosis in Offspring