Within a year after the EPA approved the pesticide spirotetramat, NRDC and the Xerces Society, a nonprofit that works to protect invertebrate wildlife, challenged the registration of this potentially harmful chemical. On December 23, 2009, a federal court in New York invalidated  the agency's approval of the chemical. Below, NRDC experts discuss the court ruling.

For the past few years, U.S. beekeepers have, on average, lost about one-third of their bees annually. Many have lost entire populations. Although researchers still don't understand the cause, they point to a perfect storm of pesticide contamination, parasites, habitat loss, and climate change.

According to the EPA, the manufacturer's own studies show that spirotetramat use is associated with increased mortality of honeybees and their brood. Now that the agency is redoing the registration process, it needs to take a detailed look at the environmental effects of this pesticide.

When the EPA approved spirotetramat for use on hundreds of crops, it identified but ignored the serious risk of harm to bees, whose pollination is critical to our ecosystem and food supply. The lawsuit highlights the importance of considering the synergistic and long-term effects of such chemicals.

In the scientific world, articles go through a peer-review process before publication to verify the quality of the work. The EPA should do the same. Public notice and comment periods are the only opportunity for all the stakeholders to review and critique the agency's work. Without this, pesticide companies are left alone to influence the process of regulating their own products.