Proposed legislation in the U.S. Senate could result in canceling registration of several pesticides, some of which are used on golf courses.
Senate Bill 3283, known as the Protect America's Children from Toxic Pesticides Act was introduced last November by Sen. Cory Booker, N.J. The bill, which appears to still be in front of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, according to the Congressional Record.
According to the author of the proposed legislation, the EPA "regularly fails to incorporate updated scientific understanding to protect human health and the environment from the harmful effects of pesticide products, as envisioned by the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act, resulting in the use of billions of pounds of pesticides every year that were approved based on outdated science."
If passed, SB 3283 would update the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act of 1972, known as FIFRA, by canceling U.S. Environmental Protection Agency registration of neonicotinoids, organophosphate insecticides and the herbicide paraquat.
Proponents of the bill call it historic and overdue. Its critics call it a waste of time that would override work put in by the EPA.
The bill has the agriculture industry squarely in its crosshairs, and other industries, such as golf, could be affected if it ever becomes law. An earlier version of the bill, that one authored by Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., in 2020, but died in committee without receiving a vote.