06
Mar
(Beyond Pesticides, March 6, 2026) The Farm Bill—the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026, H.R. 7567—reported out of the Agriculture Committee in the U.S. House of Representatives yesterday strips environmental and public health protections from pesticides, reversing over 90 years of environmental laws adopted by Congress to protect farmers, consumers, and the environment that stretch back to the first Farm Bill in 1933. The Committee rejected the Protect Our Health Amendment, sponsored by Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-ME), which would have ensured that the final bill maintain three core safeguards in current law: (i) Judicial review of chemical manufacturers‘ failure to warn about pesticide hazards; (ii) Democratic right of local governments in coordination with states to protect residents from pesticide use; and, (iii) Local site-specific action to ensure protection—the safety of air, water, and land from pesticides under numerous environmental statutes. All Republicans and one Democrat (Rep. Adam Gray, D-CA) on the Committee blocked the Pingree amendment. The Agriculture Committee bill adversely affects a wide range of social and conservation issues, including the protection of family farms, food security, environmental and public health, local and state authority, and judicial review, according to a cross-section of groups representing these interests. […]
Posted in Agriculture, Alternatives/Organics, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), Announcements, Clean Water Act, Congress, Corporations, Disease/Health Effects, Endangered Species Act (ESA), Environmental Justice, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Events, Failure to Warn, Farm Bill, Farmworkers, Federal Insecticide, Fertilizer, Fungicide, Label Claims, Litigation, National Environmental Policy Act, Organic Foods Production Act OFPA, Pesticide Regulation, Preemption, State/Local, Uncategorized, US Department of Agriculture (USDA) | No Comments »
03
Nov
(Beyond Pesticides, November 3, 2025) After a series of legal setbacks for the nation’s cornerstone law of environmental protection, the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), Beyond Pesticides has joined a call for members of the U.S. Congress to oppose weakening amendments to the statute—H.R. 4776, the Standardizing Permitting and Expediting Economic Development (SPEED) Act. Environmental advocates say the bill, introduced by U.S. Representatives Bruce Westerman (R-AR) and Jared Golden (D-ME) in July 2025, is a fossil fuel and agriculture industry wish list that will weaken NEPA protections. In recognition of “the profound impact of man’s activity on the interrelations of all components of the natural environment,â€Â NEPA’s statement of purpose “declare[s] a national policy which will encourage productive and enjoyable harmony between man and his environment.â€Â By requiring environmental assessments (EAs) or environmental impact statements (EISs) for federal actions, it creates a procedural barrier to environmentally damaging proposals.  The requirements of NEPA go beyond the production of reports. In the process of producing EAs and EISs, NEPA requires the agency to define the purpose and need for the project and examine all reasonable alternatives. This alternatives assessment is a model for environmental policy that should be adopted by agencies regardless of whether it is considering actions that meet NEPA’s thresholds. […]
Posted in Council on Environmental Quality, National Environmental Policy Act, National Environmental Policy Act, Uncategorized | No Comments »
