ELR Citation: ELR 20442
No(s). 00-0811 (D.D.C. Jan 31, 2002)

The court upholds a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulation extending Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) §6(a)(2), which requires that pesticide registrants report to EPA on an ongoing basis factual information regarding a pesticide's unreasonable adverse effects on the environment, to opinions regarding unreasonable adverse effects rendered by a registrant's employees or agents. An association challenging the regulation argued that the regulation undermines the availability of the work product doctrine and the attorney-client privilege to pesticide registrants to the extent the regulation requires registrants to report the opinions of lawyers or of non-testifying expert witnesses prepared in preparation of litigation. The court first holds that the issue is not ripe for review. The association failed to present any facts to which this argument might be applied. Consequently, because the record failed to provide any indication that EPA's construction of FIFRA §6(a)(2) is unreasonable or contrary to law, the court upheld the regulation.

Counsel for Plaintiffs
Seth Goldberg
Steptoe & Johnson
1330 Connecticut Ave. NW, Washington DC 20036
(202) 429-3000

Counsel for Defendant
Lois G. Wye
Environment and Natural Resources Division
U.S. Department of Justice, Washington DC 20530
(202) 514-2000