The New York Times has a post up titled E.P.A. Chief, Rejecting Agency’s Science, Chooses Not to Ban Insecticide. That headline is somewhat misleading. EPA Administrator Pruitt killed the regulation because its scientific basis had been challenged by outsiders, including scientists at the U. S. Department of Agriculture.

The ban would have eliminated chlorpyrifos, one of the most commonly used classes of insecticides. Pruitt has sent the agency staff back to resolve the questions raised by the USDA and others. So, for now, chlorpyrifos will still be used by farmers to protect their crops.

“It means that this important pest management tool will remain available to growers, helping to ensure an abundant and affordable food supply for this nation,” Sheryl Kunickis, director of the U.S.D.A. Office of Pest Management Policy, said in a statement Wednesday.

Read the whole thing. It give a glimpse into a turf war between two of the embedded bureaucracies and how pitting one against the other might be a useful strategy to reign in overregulation.