Challenging EPA's Failure to Require Pesticide Ingredient Disclosure

Earthjustice is representing a coalition of health and environmental organizations in a legal challenge against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for failing to implement rulemaking that would require pesticide manufacturers to disclose 'inert' ingredients.

• Under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), pesticide manufacturers are only mandated to disclose 'active' ingredients, while 'inert' ingredients—which can be hazardous or toxic and often make up 50 to 99 percent of a formulation—remain undisclosed. This leads to public misconceptions, as a 1997 EPA study indicated consumers often believe 'inert ingredient' refers to water or other harmless substances.
• In 2006, 15 state Attorneys General (including California) and 22 NGOs petitioned for a rule requiring the disclosure of hazardous inert ingredients. Following a lack of response from the EPA, the Center for Environmental Health filed a lawsuit in 2009 to force the start of the rulemaking process.
• Following the 2009 lawsuit, the EPA issued an advance notice of proposed rulemaking with two options: requiring the listing of all ingredients already identified as hazardous, or requiring the listing of all ingredients. The period for public comment on these proposals ended in April 2010.

APA

Earthjustice (2014). Challenging EPA's Failure to Require Pesticide Ingredient Disclosure. https://earthjustice.org/case/challenging-epa-s-failure-to-require-pesticide-ingredient-disclosure

Chicago

Earthjustice. Challenging EPA's Failure to Require Pesticide Ingredient Disclosure. 2014. https://earthjustice.org/case/challenging-epa-s-failure-to-require-pesticide-ingredient-disclosure.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Earthjustice |title=Challenging EPA's Failure to Require Pesticide Ingredient Disclosure |date=5 March 2014 |url=https://earthjustice.org/case/challenging-epa-s-failure-to-require-pesticide-ingredient-disclosure |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{earthjustice2014challenging, author = {{Earthjustice}}, title = {{Challenging EPA's Failure to Require Pesticide Ingredient Disclosure}}, institution = {Earthjustice}, year = {2014}, month = mar, url = {https://earthjustice.org/case/challenging-epa-s-failure-to-require-pesticide-ingredient-disclosure}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }