NRDC v. California Department of Pesticide Regulation

Pesticide contamination presents grave threats to human health and the environment. That is especially true of neonicotinoid pesticides (neonics), widely used insecticides that are among the most ecologically disastrous pesticides since DDT. In California, neonics have been detected in more than 90 percent of water samples in agricultural areas—indicating near-ubiquitous contamination of the state’s environment. Widespread neonic contamination not only decimates pollinators, aquatic insects, and other wildlife, but these neurotoxins are also increasingly viewed as a threat to human health.

Neonics are most commonly used as seed coatings or “treatments” on crop seeds like corn, cotton, wheat, sugar beet, lettuce, and countless other crops. These "treated seeds" are widespread. In the United States, essentially all corn and most cotton is grown from a neonic-treated seed, amounting to tens of millions of acres. In the past 25 years, researchers estimate that the proliferation of neonic-treated seeds has made U.S. agriculture up to 48 times more acutely toxic to insects.

In California, treated seeds are not regulated as pesticides. This means that none of the rules designed to track use of pesticides, limit their impacts on human health and environment, and periodically review their harms apply to these widely used products. One result of this loophole is that treated seeds can be brought into California and used, even if they are coated with chemicals not reviewed nor approved by the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR).

On February 17, 2023, NRDC and our partners filed a lawsuit in California state court, challenging the DPR's policy that allows treated seeds to go unregulated. Specifically, we argued that the DPR adopted and applied this policy for decades without undertaking rulemaking procedures required under California law to ensure reasoned decision-making and public input in regulatory processes.

In October 2024, we entered into a settlement agreement requiring the DPR to undertake a rulemaking process to address widespread, harmful use of pesticide-treated seeds. The agency must announce its proposed approach by February 2, 2026, and address three key issues:

• Whether treated seeds used in California must be treated solely with DPR-approved products

• The DPR’s authority to limit uses of pesticide-treated seeds

• Reporting of treated seed use

Crucially, the public will have an opportunity to comment on the agency's proposed course. The DPR must take final action within one year after its proposal. The rulemaking presents a groundbreaking opportunity for California to become the first state to comprehensively address the treated seed loophole and regulate widespread, harmful, and unnecessary treated seed use to protect people and the environment.