COCHRAN VOTES WITH AG COMMITTEE TO APPROVE
LEGISLATION TO BLOCK REDUNDANT EPA PESTICIDE PERMITS
Bill Meant to Impede Double Oversight on Mosquito Control & Other Pesticides
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) today voted for committee passage of legislation to stop the federal government from requiring new and redundant regulations on pesticides, among them the insecticides used to control mosquitoes.
Cochran was among the members of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee that approved the Reducing Regulatory Burdens Act (HR.872) on Tuesday.
HR.872 would prohibit the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from requiring a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit for pesticides that are already approved under Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). The proposed EPA permitting process would subject pesticides to additional regulation under the Clean Water Act while providing no additional environmental protection.
“The flooding this spring has heightened concerns about the public health risks associated with mosquitoes and other insect infestations,” said Cochran, who cosponsored a Senate companion measure (S.718) in April.
“This legislation responsibly addresses the regulatory overreach of the Environmental Protection Agency with regard to pesticide permit requirements. It would help protect public health agencies, communities and farmers from superfluous federal regulations,” he said.
Pesticides already undergo a minimum of 125 safety tests before receiving federal pesticide registration from the EPA. HR.872 and S.718 were developed to address concerns that the EPA’s NPDES would preempt the science-based ecological review of pesticides and label requirements for uses already regulated under FIFRA.
Under the proposed, new EPA permitting system, pesticide users would be subjected to additional performance, recordkeeping and reporting requirements. Annual costs of the EPA plan are estimated at $50.1 million for applicants and $1.7 million for designated authorities as the new permit rule results in an estimated 1.5 million pesticide applications a year. The EPA currently has court approval to implement the NPDES requirement starting Oct. 31.
HR.872 is now available for consideration by the full Senate. It was passed by the House of Representatives (292-130) on March 31 with broad bipartisan support, including the votes of all four members of the Mississippi delegation in the House.
The Delta Council, Mississippi Farm Bureau and mosquito control groups are among more than 200 agriculture and food organizations that support HR.872.
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