Legal Arguments Begin in Case Challenging EPA’s Decision to Authorize Medically Important Antibiotic as Citrus Pesticide

On January 23, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals will hear oral argument challenging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s approval of the medically-important antibiotic streptomycin as a pesticide on citrus crops. The lawsuit, brought by farmworker and public-interest groups, argues the use of streptomycin on citrus crops is unlawful under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act and the Endangered Species Act.