No official summary available for this bill.
[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9981 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
118th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 9981
To prohibit the use, production, sale, importation, or exportation of
any pesticide containing atrazine.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
October 11, 2024
Mr. Nadler (for himself, Mr. McGovern, Ms. Norton, and Ms. Adams)
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on
Agriculture
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To prohibit the use, production, sale, importation, or exportation of
any pesticide containing atrazine.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Ban Atrazine Toxicants Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Atrazine is the second-most used herbicide in the
United States, with approximately 80,000,000 pounds used
annually.
(2) Atrazine has been banned in the European Union since
2003, and in Italy and Germany since 1991 due to its long-term
persistence in the environment, toxicity to wildlife, and link
to adverse effects on human health.
(3) Atrazine is highly persistent in the environment and
can remain in water for decades. Even after the European Union
banned the chemical over 2 decades ago, atrazine can still be
detected in groundwater.
(4) Atrazine is one of the most commonly detected
pesticides in drinking water, groundwater, and surface water
across the nation. Approximately 75 percent of stream water and
about 40 percent of all groundwater samples from agricultural
areas tested in an extensive United States Geological Survey
study contained atrazine.
(5) The United States Geological Sruvey has found that
atrazine is the most frequently detected of all herbicides in
urban streams.
(6) Atrazine is detected in rainwater, fog, ambient air,
arctic ice, and seawater at great distances from urban and
agricultural areas.
(7) Studies have also concluded that approximately 217-642
tons of atrazine is annually deposited the Gulf of Mexico from
the Mississippi River Basin.
(8) Atrazine's impacts on human health are well documented
in the scientific literature. Exposure to atrazine can cause
elevated cancer risks, heightened risks of birth defects, and
significant reproductive impacts. Birth defects are associated
with atrazine, including chroanal atresis, stenosis, and
gastrochisis.
(9) Farmworkers and rural populations who are most often
exposed may suffer reproductive harms such as low sperm count
and motility, while general exposure in conjunction with other
pesticides increases risk of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in men.
(10) Atrazine is highly toxic to wildlife and causes
adverse endocrine impacts in amphibians, reptiles, mammals, and
birds, including impaired reproduction, lowered reproductive
output, disrupted development, and immunosuppression. Exposure
to atrazine at levels as low as 0.1 parts per billion have been
shown to harm the development of eggs in male frogs. Atrazine
increases stress hormones in immature salmon leading to high
mortality rates and low reproductive success.
(11) The Environmental Protection Agency found in 2022 that
atrazine is likely to adversely affect 1,013 threatened and
endangered species, or 56 percent of all endangered plants and
animals in the nation, including the whooping crane, California
red-legged frog, and the San Joaquin kit fox.
(12) The United States Department of Agriculture concluded
that banning atrazine would only lead to a 1.19-percent
decrease in corn yields.
(13) A 2007 study found that neither Germany nor Italy,
both of which are corn-producing nations, reported drops in
corn yields following their 1991 ban on atrazine.
SEC. 3. CANCELLATION OF REGISTRATION OF ATRAZINE.
Section 6 of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide
Act (7 U.S.C. 136d) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(l) Cancellation of Registration of Atrazine.--
``(1) In general.--
``(A) Cancellation.--Effective on the date of the
enactment of this subsection--
``(i) atrazine shall be deemed to generally
cause unreasonable adverse effects to humans;
and
``(ii) notwithstanding any other provision
of law, including subsection (b), the
registration of all uses of atrazine shall be
immediately and permanently canceled by
operation of law and without further
proceedings.
``(B) Revocation of tolerances and exemptions.--Not
later than 6 months after the date of enactment of this
subsection, the Administrator shall, in accordance with
section 408(b)(1)(B) of the Federal Food, Drug, and
Cosmetic Act, revoke any tolerance or exemption that
allows the presence of atrazine, or any pesticide
chemical residue that results from atrazine use, in or
on food.
``(2) Sale of existing stocks prohibited.--In accordance
with subsection (a)(1), effective on the date of enactment of
this subsection, the continued sale or use of existing stocks
of atrazine shall be prohibited.
``(3) No future atrazine registrations.--Effective on the
date of the enactment of this subsection, the Administrator may
not register any pesticide containing atrazine under section 4.
``(4) Ineligibility for emergency use.--Notwithstanding any
other provision of law, a pesticide canceled under this section
shall not be eligible for use under section 18.
``(5) Definition.--In this subsection, the term `atrazine'
refers to the pesticide chemical 2-chloro-4-ethylamino-6-
isopropylamino-1,3,5-triazine.''.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Agriculture.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Conservation, Research, and Biotechnology.
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