As more and more communities across the country outlaw pesticides on their public land, parks, and playing fields, most states prohibit (or preempt) localities from restricting hazardous use on private property. As a result, pesticides used on landscapes—uses that can be replaced by organic management practices—result in chemical drift and runoff, putting the community in harm's way and people involuntarily exposed. The Protect America's Children from Toxic Pesticides Act of 2023 (PACTPA), recently introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives (H.R. 5085), and previously introduced in the U.S. Senate (S.269), includes a provision that grants communities under federal pesticide law (the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act—FIFRA) local authority to restrict pesticides on all property, public and private, within their jurisdiction. While the U.S. Supreme Court (in Wisconsin Public Intervenor v. Mortier) in 1991 found that FIFRA does not preempt local governments' authority to restrict pesticide use in their town, cities, or counties, state governments have taken that authority away in 44 states at the behest of the pesticide lobby.
A guarantee of local authority is necessary because FIFRA is more protective of the pesticide industry than human and ecological health. The toxic core of FIFRA permits the unnecessary dispersal of toxic chemicals in the environment. If passed, PACTPA will “fix” some major problems, which are symptoms of this toxic core. PACTPA:
Despite this impressive list of reforms, PACTPA does not touch the toxic core of FIFRA, which permits the unnecessary dispersal of toxic chemicals in the environment, regardless of the availability of regenerative organic management practices and products. To eliminate this toxic core, Congress must pass legislation to:
The targets for this Action are the U.S. Congress.
Thank you for your active participation and engagement!
Help stop the pesticide lobby from enshrining in federal law
a prohibition on local authority to restrict pesticides!
>>Part I: Call or email your local officials urging them to sign onto a letter opposing the preemption language in the 2023 Farm Bill.
>>Part II: Tell Congress to support communities by opposing anti-democratic preemption language in the 2023 Farm Bill.