More than 40 local laws in place to protect communities from the toxic weedkiller glyphosate could be swept away if Republican state officials get their way. They’ve petitioned the Environmental Protection Agency to “preempt,” or block, any such bans.
The petition, filed by GOP attorneys general from 11 states, broadly asks the agency to block any state and local pesticide laws. If the Trump EPA grants the request, it would prevent communities from not only banning or restricting glyphosate, an herbicide linked to cancer, but also tackling other potentially harmful pesticides.
These limits on the use of certain pesticides help to protect schoolchildren, farmworkers and people living near farms from the health threats of these toxic chemicals. Pesticides can drift through the air, exposing people to a greater risk of cancer or other harms.
Existing local pesticide laws from California to Connecticut, and any new bans, could be blocked if the EPA grants the petition. The agency is accepting public comments on the petition until February 20 and will decide after reviewing them.
The EPA registers pesticides and determines whether they pose an “unreasonable risk” to human health. State and local governments currently have the power to then adopt laws or ordinances to provide added protections, especially for children.
Studies show that children are more susceptible to pesticides’ harmful effects. Their bodies are not yet capable of processing and eliminating toxins as efficiently as adults, so even small doses of exposure to toxic herbicides like glyphosate could cause lasting harm.
EWG previously found more than 4,000 elementary schools located within 200 feet of a crop field where pesticides could be applied.
Many state and local pesticide laws are designed to protect children, but they could be erased if the EPA approves the pending petition.
Pesticide standards near schools
More than 30 states, including Georgia, Kentucky and Texas, have adopted tough standards for how and when pesticides can be sprayed near schools.
California and Texas lawmakers, for example, require school officials to use low-risk pesticides. Alabama and North Carolina ban crop dusting near schools. Arizona, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, New Hampshire and other states have created buffer zones around schools where pesticides can’t be sprayed.
Illinois and other states require that alerts be posted on school grounds to tell students before or after pesticide spraying happens nearby.
Some states, including Kentucky, Minnesota and Nevada, require that parents be notified about pesticide spraying. Others, like Louisiana and Pennsylvania, require schools to track students who are sensitive to pesticides’ harmful effects. Other states, including Georgia and New Mexico, limit the times when pesticides can be sprayed near schools.
Protecting children’s health
Laws designed to protect our kids from toxic pesticides don’t stop at the school fence.
Many states, including Iowa and Kansas, have adopted laws that restrict pesticides from being sprayed in public parks used by children. Dozens of communities have adopted local ordinances to limit pesticide spraying in these parks.
State and local governments have also adopted pesticide standards to protect workers.
Some, like California and Oregon, have restricted the use of certain pesticides, citing cancer risks. Others have acted to protect workers, including farmworkers and landscapers, who use pesticides by requiring additional warnings. They’ve also used their authority to help farmers whose crops have been destroyed by drift by limiting the times when pesticides can be sprayed.
These are just some examples coast to coast of the many ways states and localities have been able to use their long-running ability to enact pesticide bans to protect people.
Granting the Republicans’ petition would eliminate this important right. To keep states empowered for tackling pesticides’ risks, the EPA should deny the petition.
