NPMA Leads on Pesticide Preemption

Late in 2021, NPMA started work on what will be the industry’s biggest-ever federal push: pesticide preemption. This issue impacts us all over the country, from the states without it to the states who attempt to roll it back every year. Thanks to the hard work of NPMA, state associations and SPARs, the industry has never seen a preemption rollback, but rather than fighting this battle in multiple states every year, we have been working hard to get it fixed at the national level.

Ever since 2018, when NPMA was successful in getting text that would have fixed this issue into the House version, but ultimately not in the final version of the Farm Bill, we have kept this issue alive in staff and member visits with Congress. It has been an issue at every Legislative Day since 2018, and earlier in 2022, NPMA was proud to support a standalone bill introduced by Representative Rodney Davis (R-IL-13). H.R. 7266 would prohibit localities from regulating pesticides and would reaffirm the state lead agency role as the co-regulator of pesticides with the Environmental Protection Agency. NPMA was overjoyed to see the outpouring of support for the bill. In addition to 11 House cosponsors, NPMA spearheaded a letter that was signed by 160 state and national organizations. NPMA has also built a coalition including four other associations, and we are jointly creating talking points and doing Hill visits in support of H.R. 7266.

Our industry has made amazing progress, but we still have work to do. Over the next 12 months, we will need every member of the industry united in this effort. From visiting with your policymakers in the district, to attending Legislative Day in DC, to sending VoterVoice messages, we need your efforts to make this a reality.

If you would like to help push pesticide preemption, please contact any member of the public policy team and we can get you involved!