The Trump Administration wants a two-year delay on a determination on whether a family of pesticides is harmful to endangered species.
The Administration requested the delay in federal court on November 10th.
Environmental groups say the federal government was expected to create restrictions for the chemicals, which studies found had a harmful impact on both animals and humans.
The three chemicals implicated in the research are chlorpyrifos, diazinon and malathion.
In April DOW Chemical and two other chemical companies called federal research on the pesticides flawed and asked the government to set the studies aside.
Tom Zimnicki is the Agricultural Policy Director with the Michigan Environmental Council. He said the delay is unfortunate.
“It’s an environmental concern but it’s also a human health impact. We are obviously concerned by that decision. It’s putting endangered species at risk as well as human health.”
Zimnicki said the decision is consistent with the Trump administration.
“Kinda par for the course for the Trump administration since coming into office. He’s setting himself up for a legacy of exposing more people and more of the environment to dangerous chemicals.”
Representatives with DOW Chemical and the Environmental Protection Agency did not respond to our request for comment.
It’s not clear when a federal judge will rule on the matter.