It takes a lot to get the Ninth Circuit to issue a writ of mandamus ordering an administrative agency to get off its duff. It happens here.
The opening paragraph of the opinion by Judge Gould sets the tone for the rest of the thing:
"For more than a decade, the Natural Resources Defense
Council (NRDC) has waited in vain for the United States
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to respond to its
administrative petition requesting that the Agency end the
use of a dangerous pesticide in household pet products.
Repeatedly, the EPA has kicked the can down the road and
betrayed its prior assurances of timely action, even as it has
acknowledged that the pesticide poses widespread, serious
risks to the neurodevelopmental health of children. Guided
by our case law and the history of these proceedings, we hold
that the EPA has unreasonably and egregiously delayed the
performance of its statutory duties on this critical matter of
public health and that the circumstances warrant the
extraordinary remedy of issuing a writ of mandamus. We
grant NRDC’s petition for a writ of mandamus."
The opinion is an example of litigation being good for one side until it's not. There were prior efforts by the NRDC to speed up the EPA's response to its petition, but they generally came to nothing. The judiciary didn't want to intervene and set potentially artificial deadlines.
But, at some point, enough is enough. This opinion ends in exactly the opposite manner, with hard and fast deadlines. "We order the EPA to issue a full and final response to the
Administrative Petition within 90 days of the date that this
decision becomes final, either by denying the Petition or by
initiating cancellation proceedings. If the EPA initiates
cancellation proceedings, we order the EPA to file status
reports with this court every two months, until registration
of TCVP has been cancelled. We note, however, if the EPA
begins cancellation proceedings, then we expect cancellation
proceedings to conclude within one year of the date of this decision, and any extension beyond that must be supported
by a showing of good cause. By contrast, if the Agency
denies NRDC’s Petition on the merits, then NRDC may
appeal that final agency action under the standards of the
APA and any other applicable law. This court shall retain
jurisdiction until the EPA has taken a final action subject to
judicial review."
That'll speed things up for sure.
