Three state attorneys general are suing the Trump administration for indefinitely delaying part of a standard that required employers in the agricultural sector to provide improved training on pesticides poisoning.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s indefinite delay of the provision in the Agricultural Worker Protection Standard violates several requirements of the federal Administrative Procedures Act, according to the lawsuit filed Thursday against the EPA and its administrator, Scott Pruitt, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York by New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood, Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh and California Attorney General Xavier Becerra.

In 2015, the EPA updated the standard “to prevent unreasonable adverse effects from exposure to pesticides among agricultural workers and pesticide handlers, vulnerable groups such as minority or low-income populations, child farmworkers, and farmworker families, and other persons who may be on or near agricultural establishments.” 

In finalizing the rule, the agency concluded that enhanced safety training for farmworkers and pesticide handlers would reduce both the incidence and the severity of pesticide exposures, according to a statement issued on Wednesday by Ms. Underwood’s office. The rule expanded the content for pesticide safety training, set qualifications for trainers and required more frequent training. 

The standard required employers to comply with its enhanced pesticide safety training provisions within 180 days after the EPA published a notice of availability of improved training materials in the Federal Register. However, in December 2017, the EPA delayed the publication of the notice of the availability of these required training materials, indefinitely suspending the safety training requirements. The agency stated that it intended to reconsider certain aspects of the 2015 rule and that it would not publish the notice until its reconsideration was complete. The EPA has taken no public action related to reconsidering the rule, according to the statement.

The agriculture industry in New York employs 40,000 to 80,000 farmworkers every year, according to estimates from the New York State Department of Labor. Using the upper bound employment figure of farmworkers would yield an estimate of up to 1,120 acute pesticide poisonings in the state each year, according to the statement. These estimates would not include chronic illnesses associated with pesticide exposure to farmworkers and their families.

“Pesticides are meant to be poisonous,” Ms. Underwood said in the statement. “Yet, Trump EPA is purposefully denying farmworkers the tools they need to protect themselves and their families from these dangerous chemicals. EPA’s indefinite suspension of critical pesticide safety training is reprehensible and illegal.” 

An EPA spokesperson said the agency does not comment on pending litigation.