House lawmakers are seeking to halt …. local ordinances to ban or restrict pesticides that opponents say conflict with state and federal laws.
Local government officials …. are passing ordinances restricting the spraying of bug- and weedkillers …. at the behest of community members …. In the past year, Austin, Texas, passed an ordinance to end spraying of the insecticides chlorpyrifos and neonicotinoids, and restrict the use of the herbicide glyphosate.
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The House and Senate versions of the farm bill, which would authorize hundreds of billions of dollars for agriculture and nutrition programs, are being negotiated in a conference committee. Republican and Democratic lawmakers are far from a compromise. The pesticide pre-emption, called Section 9101, is just one part of the House version (H.R. 2) that Democrats don’t want to accept.
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The tension between state, federal, and local laws on pesticides is not new …. the Supreme Court ruled in Wisconsin Pub. Intervenor v. Mortier [in 1991] that …. the nation’s pesticide registration law, doesn’t pre-empt local government regulation of pesticide use.
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The Mortier decision “created a burdensome patchwork of regulations often created by localities which lack scientific and financial resources necessary to properly regulate,” Rep. Rodney Davis (R-Ill.), chairman of the House Agriculture subcommittee …. told Bloomberg Environment ….
“Our language [clarifies] that [regulation] should occur solely between state lead agencies and the federal government,” Davis said.
Read full, original article: Local Pesticide Bans Face Political Opposition, Court Challenges
