Eleven states’ attorneys general filed a petition with the US Environmental Protection Agency to limit state and local government authority to warn of pesticide hazards and issue product label restrictions.
This petition would make it illegal for states and local governments to consider research and data on human health impacts that the EPA ignores in its pesticide review.
If adopted, this will result in more pesticides in our soils, waterways, livestock, wildlife, and bodies.
Tell the EPA: State and local governments must retain their authority over pesticide use.
The EPA is infamously slow to respond to human health and environmental harm caused by pesticides.
For instance, chlorpyrifos has been registered for use since 1965. By 2000, it was clear that even low exposure to the organophosphate pesticide is linked with developmental disorders and lower IQs in children. But federal regulation has been difficult. California banned chlorpyrifos in 2020. As the state with the most agricultural production in the US, and the site of much research on the pesticide’s dangers, California took action to protect its constituents from the danger of the pesticide.
In 2021, the EPA finally banned chlorpyrifos. In 2023, that ban was partially rolled back under legal pressure from chemical and agribusiness giants. Chlorpyrifos is once again sprayed on our fruits and vegetables – but not in California.
Who wins if state and local governments are constrained by the EPA’s slow, or non-existent, response to these harmful toxins? Chemical companies and Big Ag.
Bayer and others have argued that they are seeking reliable “science-based” regulation of important crop protection products – but they only consider research that supports the use of their products. The chemical industry dismisses or fails to recognize the growing body of science showing the serious harm pesticides cause to human health and the environment.
It’s clear that the EPA alone is ill-equipped to protect us from agricultural toxins.
Protect the state and local authority to do what the federal government has not done: Keep us safe from the known harms of the most dangerous pesticides.
Comment before midnight ET on February 20, 2025
For maximum impact, submit your own comments in the Federal Register. You can use the talking points below as a guide. If you have personal stories about how state and local government bans on pesticides or warnings on products have helped you and your family, be sure to share them.
Short on time? Consider signing on to this petition by EWG.
Talking points to edit and personalize:
- I strongly oppose the petition and any other efforts to limit existing state and local authority to regulate pesticides.
- I don’t trust that the EPA can respond quickly to new research findings concerning the risks of pesticide products. My state and local governments can better address the unique needs of their citizens.
- I support organic farms and want organic farmers to be informed by state and local authorities when herbicides are being used in adjoining public spaces (such as roadsides and waterways). Organic businesses will suffer immense harm if the right to warn is impeded.
- I rely on notices from my state and/or local authorities to dictate my choices in products, food, and medicine more than I rely on the federal system, including the EPA, because my local authorities have more accessible, timelier communications.
More resources:
- Chart of state laws and ordinances
- EWG: Schools near pesticide spray zones could lose health protections
- Senator Booker and colleagues urge Senate leadership to protect state and local pesticide regulations
- 140+ state and local officials urge Congress to protect pesticide safety laws
- Letter from 120 Representatives opposing federal pesticide preemption
- Coalition letters to Congress from 185 organizations opposing efforts to block state and local pesticide laws
