According to a press release by Neguse’s office:

“PACTPA represents the first comprehensive update since 1996 to the law governing pesticide use in the United States, the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA).

Each year, the United States uses over a billion pounds of pesticides — nearly a fifth of worldwide use. In 2017 and 2018, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approved more than 100 pesticides containing ingredients widely considered to be dangerous. Once approved, pesticides often remain on the market for decades, even when scientific evidence overwhelmingly shows a pesticide is causing harm to people or the environment. Neguse and Udall’s legislation would institute urgently-needed reforms to update protections for children, farmworkers, consumers, and the environment and close dangerous loopholes that prevent adequate pesticide review.”

Some highlights of PACTPA are:

BAN some of the most damaging pesticides: 

• Organophosphate insecticides (including chlorpyrifos), designed to target the neurological system and have been linked to neurodevelopmental damage in children;
• Neonicotinoid insecticides, which have contributed to pollinator collapse around the world (the European Union and Canada have significantly restricted or banned their use to protect pollinators and other wildlife) and have recently been shown to cause developmental defects, heart deformations, and muscle tremors in unborn children;
• Paraquat herbicide, which is one of the most acutely toxic herbicides in the world. According to the EPA, just "one sip can kill." Science has shown that chronic exposure to paraquat increases risk of developing Parkinson's disease by 200% to 600%. It is already banned in 32 countries, including the EU.

RESTORE balance to protect ordinary citizens by: 

• Creating a petition process to enable individual citizens to petition the EPA to identify dangerous pesticides so that the EPA would no longer be able to indefinitely allow dangerous pesticides to remain on the market;
• Closing dangerous loopholes that have allowed the EPA to issue emergency exemptions and conditional registrations to use pesticides before they have gone through full health and safety review by the agency; 
• Enabling local communities to enact protective legislation and other policies without being vetoed or preempted by state law;
• Suspending the use of pesticides deemed unsafe by the EU or Canada until they are thoroughly reviewed by the EPA.

Provide protections for frontline communities that bear the burden of pesticide exposure by: 

• Requiring employers of farmworkers to report all pesticide-caused injuries to the EPA, with strong penalties for failure to report injuries or retaliating against workers;
• Directing the EPA to review pesticide injury reports and work with the pesticide manufacturers to develop better labeling to prevent future injury;
• Requiring that all pesticide label instructions be written in Spanish and in any language spoken by more than 500 pesticide applicators.

Please take action today to help PACTPA get passed in Congress.

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You can download and read the full bill PDF HERE.