{"id":23270,"date":"2018-08-24T00:00:19","date_gmt":"2018-08-24T04:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/?p=23270"},"modified":"2018-08-23T18:08:50","modified_gmt":"2018-08-23T22:08:50","slug":"tell-house-minority-leader-nancy-pelosi-to-stop-congress-from-trampling-the-right-of-communities-to-restrict-pesticides","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2018\/08\/tell-house-minority-leader-nancy-pelosi-to-stop-congress-from-trampling-the-right-of-communities-to-restrict-pesticides\/","title":{"rendered":"Tell House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi to Stop Congress from Trampling the Right of Communities to Restrict Pesticides"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"(Beyond Pesticides<\/em>, August 24, 2018)\u00a0 We must stop the adoption of a law that will prevent local communities from restricting pesticides. Request that Minority Leader Rep. Nancy Pelosi lead the effort to protect a basic principle of local democratic decision making, especially in light of inadequate federal environmental and health protections.<\/p>\n

As a member of the Farm Bill Conference Committee between the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate, Rep. Pelosi can stop this provision, which was unanimously rejected by Democrats in the House and is not in the Senate Farm Bill.<\/p>\n

Tell Nancy Pelosi to stand up for democracy, public health, and environmental protection in the Farm Bill!<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

In June, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R.2<\/a> (the Farm Bill) with a provision that prohibits local governments from restricting pesticide use on private property within their jurisdictions. Existing local laws in two states, Maine and Maryland, will be overturned with final passage of this law. In those 43 states that forbid local pesticide laws by state law, future reconsideration of such state prohibitions would be foreclosed \u2014a squelching of local authority pushed by the chemical and pest management industries.\u00a0The fight to defend the authority of local governments<\/a> to protect people and the environment has been ongoing for decades, reaching the U.S. Supreme Court in 1991. In response to the Supreme Court decision in Wisconsin Pub. Intervenor v. Mortier, <\/em>which found in favor of localities\u2019 authority, the pesticide lobby immediately formed the \u201cCoalition for Sensible Pesticide Policy,\u201d and developed boilerplate legislative language to restrict local municipalities from passing ordinances on the use of pesticides on private property. The coalition\u2019s lobbyists descended on states across the country, seeking, and in most cases obtaining, pre-emption legislation whose text was often identical to the coalition\u2019s. Since the passage of those state laws, there have been numerous efforts to pre-empt local authority in states that do not prohibit local action on pesticides. The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), an industry-backed group, appeared to be behind a failed effort during the last two years to pre-empt local authority in the Maine state legislature.<\/p>\n

In addition to the pre-emption language, the House Farm Bill contains other provisions that weaken protections against pesticides. The bill would:<\/p>\n