Dangerous Pesticide Preemption Rider Scrapped From 2018 Farm Bill

The Farm Bill Conference Committee released negotiated text of the 2018 Farm Bill last night. The House version of the bill included language that would have weakened environmental and public health protections and stripped states and cities of their ability to protect their communities from toxic pesticides. This dangerous pesticide preemption rider was not included in the negotiated bill released yesterday.

In September, more than 60 local officials, in 39 communities from 15 different states across the country sent a letter to the Farm Bill conference committee urging the rejection of the pesticide preemption rider. More than 100 communities have passed policies to restrict pesticides to protect people, pollinators and the planet.

Tiffany Finck-Haynes, pesticides and pollinators program manager at Friends of the Earth, issued the following statement in response:

We are encouraged by the conference committee's decision to prioritize public health and the environment instead of agrichemical industry profits. The dangerous pesticide preemption rider would have prevented state and local governments from protecting their communities from toxic chemicals. Thousands of people across the country, including dozens of local elected officials, spoke out against this dangerous language in the House Farm Bill. By keeping this troubling component out of the final bill, committee members stood up to preserve state and local governments' ability to protect the public from these toxic chemicals.