ELR Citation: ELR 20190
No(s). C 02-01580JSW (N.D. Cal. Sep 19, 2005)

The court holds that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) violated §7(a)(2) of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) by failing to initiate consultation regarding the effects of pesticide registrations on the federally listed California red-legged frog. An environmental group demonstrated that 47 of the disputed 66 pesticides are applied within the frog's habitat and, thus, has demonstrated that further evaluation of the effects on the endangered species is warranted. And there is a reasonable scientific basis for the assertion that the remaining 19 pesticides found in the air and water may bear on the decline in the frog's population. Thus, there is at least some question about whether these pesticide registrations would affect the frog as well. EPA must therefore begin the ESA consultation process, and the court ordered EPA and the group to agree on a time when the studies should be complete.