EPA to argue against pesticide ban:

The Trump administration has persuaded a US appeals court to reconsider its recent decision ordering the Environmental Protection Agency to ban the widely-used pesticide chlorpyrifos, which critics say can

harm children and farmers.

In an order on Wednesday, the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals said it will again review former EPA administrator Scott Pruitt’s March 2017 refusal to ban chlorpyrifos for use on food crops such as fruits,

vegetables and nuts.

Pruitt’s ruling reversed a 2015 Obama administration plan to extend a 2000 ban on the pesticide that had covered most household settings. The appeals court had, in a 2-1 decision last Aug 9, directed the EPA to ban chlorpyrifos within 60 days.

It cited the agency’s failure to consider, or debunk, “scientific evidence” associating the pesticide with low birth rates, impaired mental development, attention and behavior problems, and other damage to children.