FOR PUBLICATION

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

IN RE PESTICIDE ACTION NETWORK

NORTH AMERICA AND NATURAL

RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL, INC.,

PESTICIDE ACTION NETWORK NORTH

AMERICA and NATURAL RESOURCES

DEFENSE COUNCIL, INC.,

Petitioners,

v.

U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

AGENCY,

Respondent.

No. 14-72794

ORDER

Filed June 10, 2015

Before: Diarmuid F. O’Scannlain, A. Wallace Tashima,

and M. Margaret McKeown, Circuit Judges.
2 IN RE PESTICIDE ACTION NETWORK N. AM.

SUMMARY*

Writ of Mandamus 

The panel granted a petition for a writ of mandamus, filed

by the Pesticide Action Network North America and Natural

Resource Defense Council, and directed the United States

Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) to file a status

report with the Court no later than June 30, 2015 concerning

EPA’s response to petitioners’ 2007 administrative petition

requesting that EPA cancel registration for the pesticide

chlorpyrifos.

COUNSEL

Patti A. Goldman (argued), Matthew Baca, and Kristen

Boyles, Earthjustice, Seattle, Washington, for Petitioners.

Sam Hirsche, Acting Assistant Attorney General, and Erica

Zilioli (argued), United States Department of Justice,

Environmental Enforcement Section, Washington, D.C.;

Mark Dyner, Office of General Counsel, United States

Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., for

Respondents.

* This summary constitutes no part of the opinion of the court. It has

been prepared by court staff for the convenience of the reader.
IN RE PESTICIDE ACTION NETWORK N. AM. 3

ORDER

Pesticide Action Network North America and Natural

Resources Defense Council (collectively“PANNA”) petition

for a writ of mandamus directing the United States

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to respond by July

1, 2015, to PANNA’s 2007 administrative petition requesting

that EPA cancel registration for the pesticide chlorpyrifos. 

Based on the briefing in this case, events occurring since the

initial filing of the mandamus petition, and representations

made by counsel for EPA at oral argument, we order as

follows:

EPA shall file a status report with the Court no later than

June 30, 2015. In that status report, EPA shall state whether

it intends to finalize the preliminary denial of PANNA’s

administrative petition to cancel registration of chlorpyrifos. 

If EPA intends to deny the administrative petition, the final

denial shall be issued no later than September 15, 2015. If,

after considering, among other matters, the information

contained in the public comments received as of April 30,

2015, EPA determines that it will grant the petition in whole

or in part, EPA shall inform the Court of the date by which it

intends to issue a final ruling to that effect. Further, EPA

shall provide the Court with an explanation as to why it

believes the proposed date is a reasonable, good faith timeline

for final resolution of the petition.

PANNA may file a response to the status update no later

than July 15, 2015. In that response, PANNA shall inform

the Court of its views regarding the reasonableness of EPA’s

timeline for finally resolving the petition and specifying what

additional relief, if any, it believes is necessary and

appropriate in light of the course of action EPA proposes.
4 IN RE PESTICIDE ACTION NETWORK N. AM.

The panel shall retain jurisdiction over any further

proceedings related to this petition.