EPA Plans to Ban Pesticide in Flea Collars

In a reversal of a 2020 decision, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) decided to grant a petition from the Natural Resources Defense Council to cancel the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide registrations for pet collars containing the pesticide tetrachlorvinphos (TCVP). In April 2022, a unanimous panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ordered the EPA to revisit the petition finding that agency failed to provide a “reasoned explanation” for its denial. The EPA subsequently identified risks of concern regarding the use of TCVP in pet collars but reserved the right to change course should new data demonstrate that there is no longer a risk.