Archive for the 'U.S. Supreme Court' Category
08
Jan
(Beyond Pesticides, January 8, 2026) In a press release published on December 10, 2025, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced the creation of âa $700 million Regenerative Pilot Program to help American farmers adopt practices that improve soil health, enhance water quality, and boost long-term productivity, all while strengthening Americaâs food and fiber supply.â The agency specifically ties the program to Make America Healthy Again (MAHA), diverting resources that could be used to support organic transition and phase out pesticides that are clearly defined as prohibited by USDAâs National Organic Program under the Organic Foods Production Act (OFPA), but allowed in regenerative agriculture programs. Regenerative agriculture, embraced by major food companies, has been identified by Beyond Pesticides and many organizations as greenwashing because it typically allows wide use of weed killers and other petrochemical pesticides and is not defined as a transition to organic practices and compatible products. (See here.) Public health and environmental advocates, farmers, and businesses fear that pouring funding into a loosely defined âregenerative agricultureâ program will not only undermine existing efforts to transition farming and communities to more sustainable and truly regenerative systems but also contribute to greenwashing, where corporations that are enabling the climate, […]
Posted in Alternatives/Organics, National Organic Standards Board/National Organic Program, NOSB National Organic Standards Board, Organic Foods Production Act OFPA, Regenerative, U.S. Supreme Court, Uncategorized, US Department of Agriculture (USDA) | No Comments »
07
Jan
(Beyond Pesticides, January 7, 2026) Chemical manufacturers may have suffered a short-lived setback in their quest for statutory immunity from lawsuits due to their failure to warn those harmed by their products, but their campaign in Congress, state legislatures across the country, and the U.S. Supreme Court is continuing. On Monday, January 6, it was announced that a provision denying people the right to sue chemical companies for nondisclosure of product hazards had been dropped from the FY2026 funding bill in the U.S. House of Representatives. This summer, a provision passed by the House Appropriations Committee would have denied farmers, farmworkers, landscapers, gardeners, and consumers generally the right to sue companies that do not disclose on their product labels and in marketing information potential hazards associated with their productsâ use. âWith the announcement that appropriations legislation moving through Congress does not contain a provision that would shield chemical manufacturers from lawsuits for their failure to warn those harmed by their products, we stress that the industryâs campaign to escape accountability is proceeding with a fierce determination,â said Jay Feldman, executive director of Beyond Pesticides. The chemical industry, spearheaded by the chemical giant Bayer/Monsanto, in the last year has waged an […]
Posted in Congress, Failure to Warn, Preemption, U.S. Supreme Court, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
11
Dec
(Beyond Pesticides, December 11, 2025) In an amicus brief published on December 1, 2025, the Office of the Solicitor General (SG) and the White House are calling on the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) to grant certiorari on Bayerâs petition to shield chemical companies that fail to warn people about the potential hazards of their pesticide products. The U.S. Solicitor General D. John Sauer (former Solicitor General of Missouri, home to Bayer-Monsanto’s U.S. headquarters), in siding with the Germany-based, multinational pesticide corporation, calls for SCOTUS to take on the case, which could lead to a prohibition on state-level failure-to-warn claims based on the arguments laid out in the amicus brief. This move sets the stage for SCOTUS to undermine the main legal argument used to hold pesticide corporations accountable for their harmful products, sending Bayer’s stock price to skyrocket 12 percentage points between December 2 and December 3 after the decision was made public. As of May 2025, Bayer has already paid at least 10 billion dollars in jury verdicts and settlements to cancer victims who have attributed their diagnoses to the use of Bayer/Monsantoâs glyphosate-based Roundup weed killer products, according to Lawsuit Information Center. Two previous petitions […]
Posted in and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), Bayer, Corporations, Failure to Warn, Labeling, Monsanto, Pesticide Regulation, Preemption, U.S. Supreme Court, Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
23
Jul
(Beyond Pesticides, July 23, 2025) The pesticide manufacturer Syngenta has settled several lawsuits in federal courts in Pennsylvania and Illinois in recent months and is seeking a global settlement with over 6,000 litigants in order to avoid nationwide trials linking their weed killer paraquat to Parkinsonâs Disease, according to reporting by The New Lede and The Guardian, respectively. Internal Syngenta documents released by these news outlets in a report dubbed The Paraquat Papers indicate that the company was aware of scientific evidence linking paraquat to Parkinsonâs and attempted to quash research efforts to disclose the evidence. Â These lawsuits were filed on behalf of former farmers and agricultural workers who went on to be diagnosed with neurological disorders, including Parkinsonâs Disease, after using paraquat-based herbicide products for long periods of time. This litigation comes at a time when pesticide manufacturers across the board are facing increased scrutiny and subsequent financial repercussions. Simultaneously, their allies in Congress are revamping their efforts to shield chemical manufacturers from âfailure to warnâ lawsuits and establish federal preemption of local state governmentsâ ability to regulate pesticides more stringently than the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Many of the paraquat lawsuits in federal courts, known as multidistrict […]
Posted in Bayer, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Failure to Warn, Syngenta, U.S. Supreme Court, Uncategorized | No Comments »
27
May
(Beyond Pesticides, May 27, 2025) Ever since the Clean Water Act (CWA) became law in 1972, to ârestore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the Nation’s waters,â the definition of the âNation’s waters,â aka âwaters of the U.S.â or âWOTUS,â has been cloaked in controversy. This controversy is coming to a head again as the Trump administration revises regulations in which the Biden administration attempted to interpret the Supreme Court’s decision in Sackett v. EPA (2023) in a way that is consistent with the goals of CWA. The declaration of goals and policy in CWA begins: The objective of this Act is to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the Nation’s waters. In order to achieve this objective it is hereby declared that, consistent with the provisions of this Actâ (1) it is the national goal that the discharge of pollutants into the navigable waters be eliminated by 1985; (2) it is the national goal that wherever attainable, an interim goal of water quality which provides for the protection and propagation of fish, shellfish, and wildlife and provides for recreation in and on the water be achieved by July 1, 1983; (3) it is the national policy that the discharge of toxic […]
Posted in Clean Water Act, Groundwater, Indigenous People, Native Americans, State/Local, Take Action, U.S. Supreme Court, Water | No Comments »
10
Feb
(Beyond Pesticides, February 10, 2025) With the shutting down of key federal government programs, Beyond Pesticides is urging the public to speak out, especially on issues that preserve state and local authority to protect public health and safety in the absence of adequate federal standards. In this context, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is considering a petition with a proposed policy that would, if adopted, prohibit states from issuing warnings of pesticide hazards, like cancer, on product labels. EPA is taking public comment through February 20, 2025, on the petition, filed by the Republican attorneys general (AGs) of 11* states.  The petition asks EPA to prohibit âany state labeling requirements inconsistent with EPA findings and conclusions from its human health risk assessment on human health effects, such as a pesticide’s likelihood to cause cancer, birth defects, or reproductive harm.â [*The 11 states filing the petition include: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Carolina, and South Dakota.] According to Beyond Pesticides: âThe only conclusion that can be derived from this petition is that the AGs do not care if the people, including farmers, of their states are harmed by pesticides, and they should not be able […]
Posted in and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), California, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Failure to Warn, Pesticide Regulation, Preemption, Take Action, U.S. Supreme Court, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
02
Aug
(Beyond Pesticides, August 2, 2024) In a recent study published in Science, a team from the University of Massachusetts and Yale University provides quantitative insight into the significant effects of a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision on the nationâs water quality. This research highlights the essential role of ephemeral streamsâwater sources that flow temporarily after rainfallâin transporting pollutants, including pesticides, sediments, and nutrients from land to larger water bodies. This comprehensive study underscores the devastating risk to U.S. water quality, stemming from the May 2023 U.S. Supreme Court decision, Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which dramatically limits the agencyâs ability to protect ephemeral streams as well as critical wetland ecosystems under the Clean Water Act (CWA). As a May 2024 report by Clean Water for All Coalition notes, âThe [Sackett] decision has endangered the drinking water sources of at least 117 million Americans by stripping protections from over half of the nationâs wetlands, as well as up to nearly 5 million miles of rain-dependent and seasonal streams that feed into rivers, lakes, and estuaries.â At a time when an immediate response to the climate crisis and chemical pollution is more urgent than ever, the U.S. Supreme Courtâs judicial decisions are seen […]
Posted in California, Cancer, Clean Water Act, Colorado, contamination, Deleware, Disease/Health Effects, Drinking Water, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Fertilizer, Florida, Herbicides, Litigation, Louisiana, Maryland, Missouri, New Mexico, Nitrates, Nitrites, North Carolina, Parks for a Sustainable Future, Pesticide Regulation, South Carolina, State/Local, Synthetic Fertilizer, Tennessee, U.S. Supreme Court, Washington, Water Regulation, Wisconsin | No Comments »
25
Jul
(Beyond Pesticides, July 25, 2024) On July 10, the Oregon Court of Appeals ruled that the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) does not preempt pesticide exposure victimsâ state law claims against pesticide manufacturers, based on reporting from The New Lede. This decision builds on years of judicial precedent from the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) that protects individualsâ right to use failure-to-warn claims against producers of toxic pesticides, including Bayer-Monsanto. The importance of judicial review is critical to protecting the public against public health impacts of toxic pesticide use in the context of last monthâs SCOTUS decision ending Chevron Doctrine, and with it the end of deferring to federal regulatory agencies on ambiguities in statutory mandates. A growing coalition of environmental and public health advocates, organic farmers, trial attorneys, farmworkers, and physicians are united in pushing back against a concerted effort by industry and its allies to attack victimsâ ability to sue under “failure-to-warn” through the Farm Bill, state legislatures, and the proposed federal budget for Fiscal Year 2025. Oregon Court of Appeals In 2022, a local trial court in Oregon ruled in favor of Monsanto on a lawsuit initiated by Jackson County residents Larry and […]
Posted in Bayer, Congress, Corporations, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Failure to Warn, Glyphosate, Label Claims, Litigation, Monsanto, non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma, Oregon, State/Local, U.S. Supreme Court, Uncategorized | No Comments »
04
Jul
(Beyond Pesticides, July 4, 2024) In reflecting on recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions that reduce federal government powers to restrict hazardous chemicals, including pesticides (see Clean Water Act decision and federal restrictions of toxic hazards under the reversal of Chevron decision), two remaining authorities in state and local governments and in the courts have become the next battleground to protect health and the environment. What is at stake are two major backstops to weak federal controls and chemical company disregard for safety: the critical importance of state and local governmentsâ exercise of authority to restrict toxic chemicals, and the ability of people to sue corporations for their failure to warn about their productsâ hazards. The attack on state and local authority in the Farm Bill The Farm Bill in the U.S. House of Representatives: Prohibits the rights of states and local governments to restrict pesticidesâŻand protect public health and the environment. The language says the Farm Bill will âprohibit any State, instrumentality or political subdivision thereof… from directly or indirectly imposing or continuing in effect any requirements for, or penalize or hold liable any entity for failing to comply with requirements with respect to, labeling or packaging that is in […]
Posted in Agriculture, Alternatives/Organics, Congress, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Farm Bill, Holidays, Preemption, Take Action, U.S. Supreme Court, Uncategorized | No Comments »
15
Jun
(Beyond Pesticides, June 15, 2023) The Supreme Courtâs recent ruling in Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on the Clean Water Actâs jurisdiction dramatically limits the EPAâs ability to protect critical wetland ecosystems. On May 25, in a 5-4 majority decision, the Supreme Court ruled that EPA has authority to protect only âwetlands with a continuous surface connection to bodies that are âwaters of the United Statesâ in their own right.â Wetlands must appear âindistinguishableâ from larger waterways at a surface-level perspective. Wetlands next to a large waterway are no longer protected if they are separated by a manmade or terrestrial barrier. Water flows underground from upstream to downstream sources and exits the confines of its customary boundaries during periods of flooding, so to declare waterways distinct based merely on a surface-level perspective defies scientific understanding of ecosystem health. Critical Nature of Wetland Ecology The conservation of wetland ecology is critical to the health of our environment. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) states, âWetlands are among the most productive habitats on earthâ given their role in flood resilience, improvement in water quality, and coastal erosion control. Wetlands are essential nursery grounds for many species of fish and oases for […]
Posted in Clean Water Act, Climate, contamination, Department of Justice, Drinking Water, Ecosystem Services, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Groundwater, Litigation, National Politics, U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Supreme Court, Water, Water Regulation | 2 Comments »
