This article was originally published on The Organic and Non-GMO Report.
States’ rights to protect their communities from pesticides are threatened by state legislation and EPA rulemaking petition
Through policy advocacy and grassroots campaigning, Center for Food Safety (CFS) is fighting back against a coordinated, industry backed campaign threatening decades of hard won protections from pesticide exposure through simultaneous efforts at both state and federal levels. In early June, CFS submitted expert policy comments alongside over 10,000 comments from their members asking the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to deny a rulemaking petition with disastrous implications for pesticide regulations nationwide.
CFS and other organizations are opposing these efforts to severely restrict states’ longstanding authority to implement stronger pesticide warnings than allowed for under federal standards, thereby shielding pesticide manufacturers from liability when people are harmed by their products. “This multi pronged attack represents one of the most serious threats to public health protections from pesticides we’ve seen in decades,” said Amy van Saun, senior attorney at CFS. “If successful, these efforts would not only prevent states from warning residents about pesticide dangers, but would also block victims of pesticide exposure from seeking justice.”
The pesticide industry’s campaign is operating on two fronts:
At the state level, legislation introduced in at least ten states—including Iowa, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Georgia—would make EPA’s federal pesticide labels the sole authority on health risks. This means if a harm isn’t specifically listed on the EPA label, affected individuals would be unable to seek damages, effectively shielding manufacturers from lawsuits brought by individuals and communities harmed by their products. Such lawsuits are avail-able for all other industries who make products that hurt people. North Dakota recently passed a pesticide immunity bill. A pesticide immunity bill passed the Georgia legislature and may soon be signed by Governor Brian Kemp. A similar bill has passed Iowa’s senate, but was not taken up by the house due to lack of support and public opposition.
Simultaneously, Attorneys General from eleven states petitioned EPA to amend the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) with language that would preempt states’ ability to impose stronger pesticide warnings and protect manufacturers from liability under state consumer protection laws nationwide. The suppression of human health warnings would not only block restitution for past victims of pesticide-induced disease, CFS contends, but also result in ongoing suffering and death.
“EPA has shown time and again it will always find a way to approve a pesticide, no matter how harmful to human health or the environment,” said Bill Freese, science director at CFS. “States must retain the right to protect their citizens by warning of pesticidal harms like cancer even though EPA is afraid to do so,” he added.