"Judge Dismisses Most of a Suit Against EPA Pesticide Approvals"

"A federal magistrate has dismissed most of a lawsuit by environmental advocates challenging the government's approval of numerous pesticides, but said they can pursue claims that federal officials allowed 11 chemicals on the market without getting up-to-date information about hazards to endangered species.

U.S. Magistrate Joseph Spero of San Francisco, ruling Wednesday, rejected the central claim by the Center for Biological Diversity and the Pesticide Action Network that the Environmental Protection Agency since 2005 routinely violated laws requiring consultation with government scientists before approving the sales of potentially harmful pesticides.

The EPA's 'registration,' or approval, of a pesticide's ingredients can be challenged only in a federal appeals court within 60 days of the agency's action. Approvals of pesticide products can be challenged within six years in lower federal courts - but only, Spero said, if a lawsuit raises issues that couldn't have been foreseen earlier."

Bob Egelko reports for the San Francisco Chronicle August 14, 2014.