JULY 12, 2019  Washington, D.C. 

Today, Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency is allowing sulfoxaflor, a bee-killing pesticide, back on the market.

The decision comes some four years after the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals said this pesticide could not be used in the United States, following an Earthjustice lawsuit. In 2015, the court found U.S. EPA violated the law by approving sulfoxaflor without reliable studies regarding the impact that the insecticide would have on honeybee colonies.

EPA’s decision today comes on the heels of its decision just last week to defund the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s annual surveys of honeybees in America.

The following is a statement from Greg Loarie, Earthjustice attorney:

“At a time when honeybees and other pollinators are dying in greater numbers than ever before, Trump’s EPA decision to remove restrictions on yet another bee-killing pesticide is nothing short of reckless. Scientists have long said pesticides like sulfoxaflor are the cause of the unprecedented colony collapse. Letting sulfoxaflor back on the market is dangerous for our food system, economy, and environment.”

Alyssa Anderson, a second-generation beekeeper, holds a baby bee in a California orchard.

CHRIS JORDAN-BLOCH / EARTHJUSTICE