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OLR Bill Analysis
sSB 120
AN ACT CONCERNING THE USE OF CHLORPYRIFOS ON GOLF
COURSES AND NEONICOTINOIDS FOR NONAGRICULTURAL USE.
SUMMARY
This bill prohibits:
1. using or applying chlorpyrifos (a) on golf courses or (b) for
cosmetic or nonagricultural uses and
2. beginning January 1, 2023, selling, possessing, or using pesticides
containing any neonicotinoid except for use on an agricultural
plant or in pet care, veterinary, personal care, or indoor pest
control pesticide products (see BACKGROUND).
Under the bill, for purposes of the neonicotinoid ban, an “agricultural
plant” is a plant, or plant part, that is grown, maintained, or produced
for commercial purposes, such as for sale or trade, research or
experiments, or use (in whole or part) in another location (e.g., grain,
fruit, vegetable, wood fiber or timber product, flowering or foliage plant
or tree, seedling, transplant, or turf grass for sod). It excludes pasture or
rangeland for grazing.
The bill enables the Department of Energy and Environmental
Protection (DEEP) commissioner to enforce both bans in accordance
with her existing authority under the state’s pesticide control law (CGS
§ 22a-46 et seq.). By law, DEEP regulates pesticide registration, sale, and
application, and the certification of pesticide applicators. Among other
things, the DEEP commissioner has the authority to do inspections,
revoke or suspend certifications, and take court action through the
Attorney General. Existing law, unchanged by the bill, subjects those
who knowingly violate the pesticide laws to criminal fines of up to
$5,000, up to one year in jail, or both. Violators may also be subject to
civil penalties of up to $2,500 per day that violations continue (CGS § 2022SB-00120-R000068-BA.DOCX
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22a-63).
EFFECTIVE DATE: October 1, 2022
BACKGROUND
AGRICULTURE UNDER § 1-1(q)
The state’s general definitions of agriculture and farming include,
among other things, soil cultivation, dairying, forestry, raising or
harvesting an agricultural commodity, including raising, shearing,
feeding, caring for, training, and managing livestock, including horses,
bees (honey production), poultry, fur-bearing animals, and wildlife. The
terms also include such things as aquaculture; operating or maintaining
a farm and its equipment (as part of farming operations); harvesting or
producing maple syrup or lumber (as part of farming operations);
harvesting mushrooms; hatching poultry; making or maintaining
ditches or waterways for farming; and certain actions to market or sell
farm products.
CHLORPYRIFOS
Chlorpyrifos is a “restricted use” organophosphate pesticide used
mainly to control foliage and soil-borne insect pests. By law, because
chlorpyrifos is a restricted use pesticide, it may only be applied by
someone certified under state law to do so, or by someone directly
supervised by a certified individual. Restricted use pesticides are those
classified by the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) or
DEEP as they may cause unreasonable adverse health or environmental
effects.
There is an ongoing review and assessment of the pesticide’s
registration. In 2021, EPA issued a final rule revoking the tolerances of
chlorpyrifos (i.e., the maximum amount of a pesticide that may remain
in or on a food), as of February 28, 2022. The tolerance revocation applies
to land and greenhouse food crops and certain commercial livestock
uses.
NEONICOTINOID
By law, a neonicotinoid is a pesticide that selectively acts on an 2022SB-00120-R000068-BA.DOCX
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organism’s nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (i.e., impacts the nervous
system), including clothianidin, dinotefuran, imidacloprid,
thiamethoxam, and any other pesticide that the DEEP commissioner,
after consulting with the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station,
determines will kill at least 50% of a bee population when up to two
micrograms of it is applied to each bee (CGS § 22-61k).
Neonicotinoids that are labeled for treating plants are “restricted
use,” meaning that they may only be applied by someone certified
under state law to do so, or by someone directly supervised by a
certified person (see Chlorpyrifos, above). Neonicotinoids are also under
EPA review.
COMMITTEE ACTION
Environment Committee
Joint Favorable Substitute
Yea 21 Nay 10 (03/04/2022)