H.R. 9981

[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9981 Introduced in House (IH)]

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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.''.
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