S269-118

Introduced

To amend the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act to fully protect the safety of children and the environment, to remove dangerous pesticides from use, and for other purposes.

118th Congress Introduced Feb 2, 2023

Analysis under review: This bill has generated analysis that may be too generic or incomplete. Clause-level evidence remains available below.

Summary

What This Bill Does

This bill dramatically strengthens pesticide regulations in the United States by immediately banning three classes of harmful pesticides (organophosphates, neonicotinoids, and paraquat), requiring the EPA to suspend pesticides banned in Europe or Canada, and ending the practice of indefinite conditional registrations that keep inadequately tested pesticides on the market for years. It also requires full disclosure of all ingredients on pesticide labels and empowers local communities to pass their own pesticide restrictions.

Who Benefits and How

Farmworkers benefit from new mandatory incident reporting requirements, whistleblower protections, and bilingual labeling requirements. Environmental and public health groups gain citizen lawsuit authority against the EPA and see stronger enforcement mechanisms. Organic farmers and alternative pest control companies may see increased demand as conventional pesticides are restricted. Local communities gain the right to enact their own pesticide regulations.

Who Bears the Burden and How

Pesticide manufacturers (especially makers of organophosphates like chlorpyrifos, neonicotinoids like imidacloprid, and paraquat) face immediate cancellation of product registrations and prohibition on selling existing stocks. Conventional farmers who rely on these pesticides must find alternative pest control methods. Agricultural employers face new mandatory reporting requirements for farmworker incidents with penalties of $1,000/day for non-compliance.

Key Provisions

  • Immediate and permanent cancellation of all organophosphate, neonicotinoid, and paraquat pesticide registrations
  • Automatic suspension of pesticides banned in EU or Canada unless EPA proves the ban was clearly erroneous
  • Two-year hard deadline for conditional registrations (existing ones canceled immediately)
  • Mandatory incident reporting system with $25,000 rewards for whistleblowers and criminal penalties up to $100,000 for retaliation

Evidence Chain:

This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.

At a Glance

What This Bill Does

Strengthens federal pesticide regulations by banning specific harmful pesticides, ending indefinite registration delays, requiring transparency for inert ingredients, protecting farmworkers, and empowering local communities to enact pesticide restrictions.

Key Policy Areas

Agriculture, Environment, Public Health, Labor

Primary Purpose

Strengthens federal pesticide regulations by banning specific harmful pesticides, ending indefinite registration delays, requiring transparency for inert ingredients, protecting farmworkers, and empowering local communities to enact pesticide restrictions.

Policy Domains

Agriculture Environment Public Health Labor

Pesticide Regulation Amendments

Identified Gains
  • Environmental groups
  • Public health advocates
  • Organic farmers
  • Alternative pest control companies
  • Local communities
Model: N/A | Version: bill_summary_v2 | Source: is
Organic farmers: ,
Environmental groups: ,
Public health advocates: ,
Alternative pest control companies: ,
Identified Costs
  • Pesticide manufacturers
  • Conventional farmers
  • Agricultural chemical distributors
Model: N/A | Version: bill_summary_v2 | Source: is
Conventional farmers: ,
Pesticide manufacturers: , ,

Farmworker Safety and Employee Protection

Identified Gains
  • Farmworkers
  • Labor advocacy organizations
Model: N/A | Version: bill_summary_v2 | Source: is
Farmworkers: ,
Labor advocacy organizations:
Identified Costs
  • Agricultural employers
  • Farm operators
Model: N/A | Version: bill_summary_v2 | Source: is
Farm operators:
Agricultural employers:

Legislative Progress

Introduced
Introduced Committee Passed
Feb 2, 2023

Mr. Booker (for himself, Mrs. Gillibrand, Mr. Sanders, Ms. Warren, …

Stakeholder Effects

cui bono?

How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.

Manufacturing
16 mentions across 13 clauses
+2 positive -14 negative

Chemical formulators with proprietary inert blends, Employees in pesticide industry, Employees reporting FIFRA violations

Positive-direction: Employees in pesticide industry, Employees reporting FIFRA violations

Negative-direction: Chemical formulators with proprietary inert blends, Employers in pesticide-related industries, Manufacturers of pesticides banned in EU/Canada, Neonicotinoid pesticide manufacturers, Organophosphate pesticide manufacturers, Paraquat pesticide manufacturers, Pesticide manufacturers, Pesticide manufacturers relying on emergency exemptions, Pesticide manufacturers with conditional registrations, Pesticide manufacturers with overdue registrations

Government
9 mentions across 9 clauses
-9 negative

Department of Labor, Environmental Protection Agency

Agriculture
8 mentions across 7 clauses
+1 positive -7 negative

Agricultural employers, Beekeepers and pollinator-dependent farmers, Conventional farmers using neonicotinoids

Positive-direction: Beekeepers and pollinator-dependent farmers

Negative-direction: Agricultural employers, Conventional farmers using neonicotinoids, Conventional farmers using organophosphates, Farmers relying on emergency pesticide use, Farmers using paraquat herbicides

Labor
7 mentions across 6 clauses
+7 positive

Farmworkers, Farmworkers and pesticide applicators, Farmworkers exposed to organophosphates

Nonprofits
6 mentions across 4 clauses
+6 positive

Environmental advocacy groups, Environmental advocacy organizations, Public health advocacy groups

Trade
3 mentions across 3 clauses
-3 negative

Agricultural chemical distributors

State & Local Government
1 mention across 1 clause
-1 negative

State agricultural agencies

Research & Science
1 mention across 1 clause
+1 positive

Environmental health researchers

14/17
sections analyzed
Full impact breakdown

Bill Structure & Actor Mappings

Who is "The Secretary" in each section?

Domains
Agriculture Environment Public Health
Actor Mappings
"the_administrator"
→ EPA Administrator
Domains
Labor Public Health
Actor Mappings
"the_secretary"
→ Secretary of Labor
"the_administrator"
→ EPA Administrator

Note: The Secretary refers to EPA Administrator in most of the bill but refers to Secretary of Labor in Section 37 (Employee Protection).

Key Definitions

Terms defined in this bill

4 terms
"dangerous pesticide" §4(o)(1)

An active ingredient or pesticide product that may be carcinogenic, be acutely toxic, be an endocrine disruptor, cause harm to a pregnant woman or a fetus, or cause neurological or developmental harm.

"registration review determination" §3(aa)(1)

The final decision to renew the registration of a pesticide product or active ingredient for an additional 15-year period in compliance with all applicable laws. Does not include interim determinations.

"farmworker" §36(a)(1)

An individual of any age employed in agriculture, including as a pesticide user or applicator, for any length of time, including migrant and seasonal employees.

"farmworker incident" §36(a)(2)

Exposure of a farmworker to a pesticide resulting in illness/injury requiring medical attention, inability to work, permanent disability, or death.

We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.

Learn more about our methodology