Riverside pesticide limits will continue.

Byline: Susan Palmer The Register-Guard

A Supreme Court decision announced Monday means court-ordered limits for pesticide users will continue in Oregon, Washington and California.

The court refused to review lower court rulings creating pesticide buffer zones along salmon streams and rivers while the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency learns more about the toxic effects of certain chemicals on endangered fish.

The decision was a disappointment for CropLife America, an industry group that sought the review, spokesman Allan Noes said.

But the environmental groups that first sued the EPA in 2000 over the potential harmful effects of dozens of common herbicides and insecticides were pleased by the decision.

"At no point did either the government or CropLife argue that these pesticides did not cause harm. It was all over process," said Aimee Code, spokeswoman for the Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides, which filed the suit six years ago along with the Washington Toxics Coalition and the Pacific Coast Federation of Fisherman's Associations.

The groups took the EPA to court for approving the pesticides without making sure they would not harm endangered salmon and steelhead.

In 2002, a U.S. District Court judge in Seattle agreed and told the EPA to consult with another federal agency - the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency's Fisheries Division.

In 2004, the same judge imposed buffer zones along salmon-bearing waterways, to be enforced until the EPA has evaluated the threat the chemicals pose to endangered fish.

Farmers, golf course operators and others who use herbicides and insecticides were barred from applying them within 20 yards of streams and rivers, 100 yards for those doing aerial spraying. The judge also ordered retailers who sell such products to warn shoppers about the potential hazards to fish.

In 2005, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the district court's decision.