EPA's Talks To Resolve Pesticide Suit Cast Doubt On 'Sue-And-Settle' Ban

EPA is in talks to settle environmentalists' lawsuit aiming to force Endangered Species Act (ESA) consultations with other agencies on pesticide registrations, casting doubt on whether the agency is still following former Administrator Scott Pruitt's policy banning “sue-and-settle” agreements that result in legal pacts to make policy decisions. But agency and industry attorneys say that concerns about sue-and-settle agreements are “overblown,” and that Pruitt's October 2017 memo that barred settlements unless agency attorneys first overcome a series of hurdles was...