Pesticide Action Network North America v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 12871

In 2007 PANNA and NRDC filed an administrative petition asking EPA to revoke all food tolerances and cancel registration for the pesticide chlorpyrifos.
PANNA sued for mandamus in 2014, seeking to compel EPA to respond to the administrative petition after years of delay.
This court ordered EPA on August 10, 2015 to issue either a proposed or final revocation rule or a full and final response, and later directed EPA to take final action by March 31, 2017.
EPA issued a denial of the petition on March 29, 2017 (published April 5, 2017).
PANNA moved for further mandamus relief, arguing EPA’s denial was inadequate because it contained no new safety findings and did not make a final determination on revoking tolerances.
The court treated prior mandamus proceedings as addressing timing (delay), found EPA had issued a final response (a valid denial), and held PANNA must pursue administrative objections before judicial review.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether EPA complied with the court's prior orders to issue a response	PANNA: EPA's denial is inadequate—no new safety findings and no final determination on tolerance revocation	EPA: Denial is a valid final response under the statute (an order denying the petition) and complies with the court's mandate	Court: EPA complied by issuing a final denial; mandamus based on substance is premature
Whether further mandamus relief is appropriate to compel substantive action	PANNA: Court should compel EPA to act on substance, not merely timing	EPA: Mandamus was aimed at remedying delay; substantive disputes belong in the administrative process	Court: Denied further mandamus; substantive objections must go through administrative objections and then judicial review
Whether petitioners may seek immediate judicial review of EPA's denial	PANNA: Wants court to assess adequacy of denial now	EPA: Administrative objection process is prerequisite to judicial review	Court: Petitioners must exhaust administrative objections before seeking judicial review under APA
Whether issuance of a denial satisfies statutory response requirements	PANNA: Denial insufficient absent safety findings / tolerance revocation decision	EPA: Statute permits an order denying the petition as a valid response	Court: An order denying the petition qualifies as a final agency response under the statute

In re Pesticide Action Network N. Am., 798 F.3d 809 (9th Cir. 2015) (ordered EPA to issue proposed or final revocation rule or full final response)
In re Pesticide Action Network N. Am., 840 F.3d 1014 (9th Cir. 2016) (directed EPA to take final action by a set deadline)