CBD v. US Fish and Wildlife Service et al

3:11-cv-5108-JSW // 3:02-cv-1580-JSW
December 28, 2007
Final judgment
United States, San Francisco

Environmental NGOs
Center for Biological Diversity (CBD)
Fish and Wildlife Service
Erin M. Tobin, Michael R. Sherwood, Collette Adkins Giese, Justin Augustine

Administrative
Stipulated Settlement Agreement
Carbaryl, Chlorpyrifos, Diazinon, Malathion, Methomyl
Require the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to analyze the impacts of five common pesticides on endangered wildlife across the nation.
United States District Court for the Northern District of California of San Francisco, United States

July 28, 2014
Positive
Settlement requiring the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to analyze the impacts of five common pesticides on endangered wildlife across the nation.

CBD sued the EPA for failing to consult over the impacts of five common pesticides (carbaryl, chlorpyrifos, diazinon, malathion and methomyl) and other pesticides on endangered California red-legged frogs in Dec. 2007. It had obtained an injunction in 2006 imposing restrictions on pesticide use until the consultation was completed. To date those consultations have not been completed. In 2013 the Center again sued, seeking completion of consultation. In 2013, a federal district court approved a settlement requiring the Service to better protect California red-legged frogs from seven common pesticides known to be highly toxic to amphibians. On July 28, 2014, the Center for Biological Diversity reached a settlement requiring the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to analyze the impacts of these five common pesticides (carbaryl, chlorpyrifos, diazinon, malathion and methomyl) on endangered wildlife across the nation. In this settlement the Fish and Wildlife Service resolved that litigation by agreeing to complete consultation and produce the required “biological opinions” in less than five years. As part of the agreement the agency will consider the pesticides’ impacts not only on red-legged frogs but on all endangered species across the country. The analysis is likely to lead to permanent restrictions on some of the most harmful uses of these highly toxic pesticides.