We need your help to protect all Americans from harmful agrochemicals.

It would be a dream come true for agrochemical giants such as German company Bayer/Monsanto, Chinese company Syngenta/ChemChina, and US-based Dow/Dupont to never face a lawsuit again for cancer, birth defects, nervous system damage or other harms from their products. Existing laws that thousands of our supporters worked tirelessly to get passed, such as organic priority landscaping around schools or homeowners associations, city and state-wide bans or restrictions on glyphosate, and even 24-hour notifications of spraying that most schools and counties must provide to residents who sign up for the alerts, would GO AWAY.

We cannot allow that to happen.

Every company in America should be held accountable for the safety of their products. Make what you want, sell what you want - we are a free market country that supports innovation - just make your products SAFE.

CALL TO ACTION:

The EPA is collecting comments on a petition to preempt many state and local pesticide laws, including laws designed to limit pesticide applications at schools and notify parents.

Here’s an action alert EWG launched last week. The deadline to submit comments is 2/20.

Please comment today. Share this article with your friends and ask them to share.

We have less than 2 weeks to generate thousands of comments.

Comment about why you want to protect local and state regulations and notifications about pesticides. Tell them about you and your children’s sensitivities to chemicals. Chemicals cause and exacerbate many health issues, such as obesity, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, infertility, and mental health disorders, all of which are robbing our children and adults of their fullest potential. Tell them about your concerns about soil and water quality, marine life, insects, birds, and endangered species. The EPA works for us, but they need to hear from us. THANK YOU.

Resources:

• EWG: Schools near pesticide spray zones could lose health protections
• Background 
• Chart of state laws and ordinances
• Senator Booker Dear Colleague
• Letter from 140-plus state and local officials urge Congress to protect pesticide safety laws
• Letter from 120 Representatives opposing federal pesticide preemption
• Coalition letters to Congress from 185 organizations opposing efforts to block state and local pesticide laws

Bills that are currently being proposed in 7 states, with 21 suspected, would cut off access to justice, meaning the ability for farmers, and pesticide applicators or citizens to sue for cancer or other harms from pesticides. The chemical companies want the same (even better, no special court or fund for victims) immunity as the vaccine companies. Many of you have called and emailed and we successfully stopped the Wyoming bill from moving forward. We must do this for the 6 other states as well, as listed in our article. Oklahoma is next.

In addition, the pesticide company filing of the petition, if adopted by the EPA, would preempt existing state and local laws that will rob state and local governments of the ability to limit or ban glyphosate applications. The pesticide companies are covering all their bases. If even one state law gets passed to protect them, they will use it to push federal adoption. If the EPA petition passes, they would also get massive protection and can sell their poisonous products with impunity.

AT RISK - American existing state and school laws for pesticide application and notification, click here.

Preserving State and Local Pesticide Laws and Ordinances

• Hundreds of state and local pesticide laws and ordinances provide critical safeguards, especially for our children
• Some Republican Attorneys General have petitioned the EPA to block state and local pesticide laws and ordinances. 
• Some members of Congress have proposed bills and amendments which, if enacted on their own or as part of a Farm Bill, would block states and local governments from setting their own pesticide standards for pesticides such as glyphosate, paraquat, and neonicotinoids. 
• Many states, cities, and counties have adopted standards to restrict pesticide spraying near schools, citing the risks they pose to children. Some of these chemicals have been linked to serious health harms, including cancer, brain damage, and harm to development and reproduction. Children are especially susceptible to potential health problems. Some states, including Minnesota, require that parents be notified when pesticides are sprayed - despite parents having a right to know what is happening in schools that could impact their child’s health. These warnings to parents could be undone. 
• Among the state and local laws and ordinances that could be blocked are laws and ordinances designed to warn workers and consumers about pesticide risks, set tougher state and local standards for the use of pesticides, and ban the use of pesticides on parks and playgrounds.

Background: 

• Pesticides are regulated under a combination of federal, state, and local laws. The primary federal law governing pesticide registration and use is the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). 
• States can pass laws regulating pesticide use so long as those laws do not directly conflict with federal law. A state may regulate the sales or use of a pesticide within the state’s borders so long as the state regulation does not permit the sale or use of a pesticide prohibited by FIFRA. 
• States can, and do, register pesticides to address special local needs without being preempted. For example, many states regulate which pesticides are used within the state by requiring state registration in addition to EPA registration.
• Local governments also regulate pesticides, and the Supreme Court has ruled that FIFRA does not prevent local jurisdictions from restricting pesticide use more strictly than the federal government.
• Weakening state power to regulate pesticides endangers the ability of people who have been harmed by pesticides to bring legal claims against pesticide manufacturers. Minimizing manufacturers’ potential liability under state law would also disincentivize pesticide manufacturers from putting adequate warnings on products.
• Some pesticides have been linked to serious health harms, including cancer, neurotoxicity, and harm to development and reproduction. Children are especially susceptible to potential health problems.
• Congress intended, and the courts have agreed, that states and localities should have a significant role in pesticide regulation.
  

State and Local Action:

• State, county, and local governments have enacted hundreds of pesticide laws to protect workers, students, children, wildlife, and pets from toxic pesticides: 
• State and local action is critical to protecting children, farmers, workers, and wildlife.
• Many of the local laws are designed to protect workers for farms and landscaping companies from toxic pesticides.
• Farmworkers and rural communities are most at risk of pesticide drift.
• Other local laws are designed to prohibit the use of toxic pesticides from being sprayed on schoolyards or on playgrounds to protect children and pets. 
• More than 4,000 elementary schools across the U.S. are located within spitting distance of farm fields where toxic pesticides are likely sprayed.  
• Some local laws are designed to protect rare species, like bees and butterflies. 
• Some examples:
  • Texas requires schools to use low-risk pesticides. 
  • Many states, including Iowa and Kansas, have laws that restrict pesticide spraying in parks used by children and pets.
  • Many states, including Florida and Texas, have restricted some uses of glyphosate, citing cancer risks. 
  • Many states, including Indiana and Minnesota, have restricted some uses of pesticides known to harm bees. 
• While EPA reviews pesticides for safety, EPA does not always take the special risks posed to children or wildlife into account. 
• EPA also may not consider the risks pesticides may pose to workers, such as workers for landscaping companies or farm workers. 
• EPA standards may not reflect the latest science because EPA reviews the safety of pesticides once every 15 years. Blocking state and local pesticide laws would prevent states from responding to emerging risks.

Supporting Documents:

• List of state and local laws
• Schools near cropfields could lose protections
• Let States and Communities Protect Their Citizens from Pesticides
• Letter from more than 140 mayors, lawmakers and other officials from more than 30 states. 
• Letter from hundreds of members of Congress and 20 Senators
• Letter from 185 environmental, health and agricultural organizations
• Letter from organizations representing state and local elected officials. 

Additional Resources:

• EWG
• NRDC
• Center for Food Safety
• Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation
• Washington Post
• Civil Eats