One of the more frustrating policy stumbles in the last session was the blocking of House bills that would have banned the use of chlorpyrifos in Minnesota.
Now federal action will help achieve that end. At the New York Times, Coral Davenport reports in E.P.A. to Block Pesticide Tied to Neurological Harm in Children:
The Biden administration announced on Wednesday that it is banning a common pesticide, widely used since 1965 on fruits and vegetables, from use on food crops because it has been linked to neurological damage in children.
The Environmental Protection Agency said this week it would publish a regulation to block the use of chlorpyrifos on food. One of the most widely used pesticides, chlorpyrifos is commonly applied to corn, soybeans, apples, broccoli, asparagus and other produce.
The new rule, which will take effect in six months, follows an order in April by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals that directed the E.P.A. to halt the agricultural use of the chemical unless it could demonstrate its safety.
Labor and environmental advocacy groups estimate that the decision will eliminate more than 90 percent of chlorpyrifos use in the country.
In an unusual move, the new chlorpyrifos policy will not be put in place via the standard regulatory process, under which the E.P.A. first publishes a draft rule, then takes public comment before publishing a final rule. Rather, in compliance with the court order, which noted that the science linking chlorpyrifos to brain damage is over a decade old, the rule will be published in final form, without a draft or public comment period. . . .
Read the rest at the New York Times.
Two of the Minnesota House members whose bills were stalled by industrial ag chemical interests responded on twitter:
This is great news and an overdue step to protect public health. Ending the use of #chlorpyrifos on food will protect children, pregnant women and agricultural workers from this dangerous pesticide. Thank you @POTUS and @EPA !#ForAHealthyThrivingMinnesota https://t.co/IZeHuD4Rps
— Kelly Morrison (@Morrison4MN) August 18, 2021
Back in March, Session Daily's Mike Cook reported in Pesticide scrutinized for affecting child brain development could be banned:
A widely used pesticide could be banned in Minnesota, out of concern that exposure can stunt child brain development.
HF670, sponsored by Rep. Kelly Morrison (DFL-Deephaven), would ban all sales and application of chlorpyrifos, six years after a nationwide ban was proposed under former President Barack Obama. Former President Donald Trump’s administration decided not to pursue the ban, concluding that further study of the pesticide's effects on brain development was needed.
On Monday, the bill was laid over for possible omnibus inclusion by the House Agriculture Finance and Policy Committee. Its companion, SF2017, is sponsored by Sen. D. Scott Dibble (DFL-Mpls) and awaits action by the Senate Agriculture and Rural Development Finance and Policy Committee.
"It's unconscionable that we as a country are ignoring clear science and putting the health and safety of our children at risk," said Rep. Todd Lippert (DFL-Northfield).
Chlorpyrifos is used on crops such as soybeans, on golf courses and in greenhouses.
It has been illegal to sell chlorpyrifos for most residential uses in the U.S. since 2001. Since then, studies have shown a clearer link between exposure and cognitive delays.
In 2016, the Environmental Protection Agency moved to ban the pesticide, but the agency reversed course under Trump. The agency is currently reviewing the pesticide and plans to release its findings by Oct. 1, 2022.
In written testimony, Megan Horton, an associate professor of environmental medicine and public health at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, said even low-level chlorpyrifos exposure can negatively affect children.
"We have more than enough scientific evidence to ban chlorpyrifos, and have known enough for over 20 years," wrote Emily Marquez, a scientist with the Pesticide Action Network.
But farmers and industry groups say there are few pesticides that work as well as chlorpyrifos and that farmers are careful when applying it.
They also say any decision by lawmakers should wait until the federal review is finished. . . .
In a statement sent to Bluestem Prairie, Morrison wrote:
The federal ban on the use of chlorpyrifos is long overdue. I introduced a bill to ban its use in Minnesota, but a federal ban is appropriate public health policy. Ending the use of chlorpyrifos on food will protect children, pregnant women and agricultural workers from this dangerous pesticide.
We've reached out to Jordan for a statement as well and will post it here when it arrives.
Update, 8/18/2020, 9:20 p.m. : Chair of the Minnesota House Environment and Natural Resources Finance and Policy Committee Rick Hansen, DFL-South St. Paul, just tweeted in response to a DM request for a statement from Bluestem Prairie:
✅The Minnesota Department of Agriculture should immediately suspend the registration of the chlorpyrifos 🧪products affected, rather than continue to let this poison affect people, #wildlife 🐝and our 🌎#environment https://t.co/IGyKQw2orB. Also 18B.01, Subd 31
— Rep. Rick Hansen (@reprickhansen) August 19, 2021
Related posts:
- Annals of regulatory capture: read these Intercept articles on pesticide makers & the EPA
- Session Daily: Pesticide scrutinized for affecting child brain development could be banned
- Session Daily: 'Problem-solving' omnibuzz environment bill passed by House
- Buzz briefs: Bee Lucky lottery tickets; Lawns to Legumes wins Environmental Initative award.
- House enviro omnibus bill centers "the people, & the land, & the water & the wildlife of MN"
- Pollinator protection bills heard today in the Minnesota House Agriculture Committee at 1PM
- MN House Republicans abjectly fail to protect pesticides from radical pollinator-hugging leftists
- Update: MNHouse GOP fails to replace pesticide industry interests over local control
- MN mom spoke out in DC on behalf of bill banning chlorpyrifos, a brain-harming pesticide (2017)
Image: Graphic from The Most Widely Used Pesticide, One Year Later, in Harvard University's SITN's Science Policy blog.
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