Please join us today by calling on state lawmakers in Colorado to support the Local Government Authority to Regulate Pesticides bill (HB24-1178), sponsored by Representatives Cathy Kipp and Meg Froelich and Senators Lisa Cutter and Sonya Jaquez Lewis. 

>>Urge Colorado legislators to assert local rights to address toxic pesticides!

Local control over pesticides has been prohibited by Colorado state law since 2006. HB24-1178 would offer local governments the tools to address disproportionate exposures through ordinances and regulations that provide solutions to align with specific community needs. 

Federal pesticide law establishes national standards for protection, allowing state and local governments the authority to regulate pesticide use more strictly. The U.S. Supreme Court specifically upheld this delegation of authority in the 1991 case of Wisconsin Public Intervenor v. Mortier, ruling that federal pesticide law does not prohibit or “preempt” local jurisdictions from restricting the use of pesticides more stringently than the federal government throughout their jurisdiction.

While federal law allows local governments the right to craft protections for the health and safety of their residents, state of Colorado law takes away that authority with a preemption provision. Therefore, under the current state law, communities are unable to tackle emerging local challenges to public health and environmental issues—especially important when neither the federal not state government is adequately protective. 

Expanded local control would allow communities to: 

• Protect water sources 
• Increase notification of pesticide applications 
• Create buffer zones to protect sensitive natural resources 
• Increase protections for vulnerable populations, such as children, the elderly, and people of color 

HB24-1178 is vital as it would grant local communities the authority to ban petrochemical pesticides linked to our ongoing public health, biodiversity, and climate crises, and return limited local control to municipalities. 

Colorado communities today have their hands tied as petrochemical pesticides disproportionately impact people of color communities, harm children's health, devastate pollinator populations, and pollute waterways. With complete inaction by federal officials, and state agencies that merely rubber stamp EPA's toxic pesticide approvals, there is a critical role for local governments to play in the protection of their residents' public health and their unique local environment. 

Please take action today—thank you for your help promoting local democracy in Colorado!  

For more information, please see the following factsheets on local authority and HB 24-1178, pesticides as an environmental justice issue, and pesticides and climate change.

>>Urge Colorado legislators to assert local rights to address toxic pesticides.

Co-sponsors: Representatives Andrew Boesenecker, Kyle Brown, Manny Rutinel, Stephanie Vigil, Mike Weissman, Steven Woodrow, Jenny Willford, and Junie Joseph, in addition to Senators Faith Winter and Kevin Priola.

The targets for this Action are the Colorado State House and the Colorado State Senate.