NRDC v. EPA et al. Reference : 19-71324 // 20-72794 Complaint date : February 6, 2014 Status : Provisional judgment Place of jurisdiction : United States, San Francisco Plaintiffs types : Environmental NGOs Plaintiffs names : Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) Defendants : EPA, Andrew Wheeler Lawyers for Health and Environmental Justice : Ian Fein, Mae Wu, Aaron Colangelo, Peter J. DeMarco Case nature : Administrative Specificities : Petition for writ of mandate Type(s), Product(s), Active substance(s) : Tetrachlorvinphos (TCVP), Propoxur, Organophosphate, Requests : Order EPA to respond to NRDC's administrative petition requesting that the Agency end the use of a dangerous pesticide in household pet products. Name of the Court : United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit of San Francisco, United States Jurisdiction level : Decision date : April 20, 2022 Decision nature : Positive Decision content : Vacate EPA’s denial of NRDC’s petition and remand to EPA to issue a revised response to NRDC’s petition within 120 days. Legal basis : Court Ruling : Link to the ruling Summary : Without an answer from EPA to its administrative petition from April 2009 requesting that it ends the use of TVCP, a dangerous pesticide in household pet products, NRDC filed a petition for writ of mandamus in Feb. 2014. In March 2014, EPA announced an agreement with Sergeant’s Pet Care Products, Inc. and Wellmark International to cancel the use of propoxur in flea collars due to risk posed to the brain and nervous systems of kids – but did not address related use of other dangerous chemicals, including TCVP. On Nov. 7, 2014, EPA denied NRDC’s 2009 petition seeking to cancel all pet uses of the toxic chemical TCVP because of the risks to kids. On April 22, 2020, the petition is granted. EPA is ordered to respond to the NRDC’s petition to ban the neurotoxic pesticide tetrachlorvinphos (TCVP) in household pet products within 90 days. EPA decided not to ban the pesticide. NRDC has challenged that decision. On Apr. 20, 2022, the court ruling agreed with NRDC that EPA’s risk analysis was inaccurate and is requiring that EPA publish a revised assessment in 120 days. On May 19, 2022 the EPA Office of Inspector General said it plans to determine whether the agency’s response “provides assurance that the collars can still be used without posing unreasonable adverse effects to human health and the environment” and whether the EPA adhered to pesticide registration requirements in approving the popular Seresto collar. And in October 2022, the EPA announced that it will ban the sale of flea and tick collars containing TCVP, a chemical linked to neurological damage in children, which make up more than half of flea and tick collars sold in the U.S. Scientific references : Assessing intermittent pesticide exposure from flea control collars containing the organophosphorus insecticide tetrachlorvinphos Rotkin-Ellman M. et al., Natural Resources Defense Council’experts, Toxic Chemicals in Flea and Tick Collars (2009) Related links : Press release, NRDC V. EPA (tetrachlorvinphos) Press release, EPA on propoxur (2014) Press release, Nrdc (November 7, 2014) Press article, Ecowatch (February 6, 2014) Press article, C&en (April 24, 2020) Press article, Investigate Midwest (March 2, 2021) Press release, Nrdc (April 20, 2022) EPA, Notification of Evaluation: Response to Reported Incidents of Unintended Effects from Pet Collar Pesticides (May 19, 2022) Press article, Investigate Midwest (May 19, 2022) EPA Response to the NRDC's April 2009 Tetrachlorvinphos Petition (octobre 2022) Press article, Investigate Midwest (October 13, 2022) Press article, Center for Biological Biodiversity (July 13, 2023)