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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 6916
January Session, 2025
LCO No. 3920
Referred to Committee on ENVIRONMENT
Introduced by:
(ENV)
AN ACT CONCERNING THE USE OF NEONICOTINOIDS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective from passage) (a) For purposes of this 1
section, "environmental emergency" means the occurrence of any pest 2
that presents an imminent risk of significant harm or injury to public 3
health or to the environment, and "neonicotinoid" has the same meaning 4
as provided in section 22-61k of the general statutes, as amended by this 5
act. 6
(b) On and after January 1, 2028, no person shall use or apply any 7
neonicotinoid to treat any: (1) Golf course; (2) turf grass; (3) lawn; (4) 8
playing field; (5) outdoor ornamental plant; (6) property owned by or 9
leased to the state or any municipality; or (7) corn, wheat or soybean. 10
The provisions of this subsection shall not apply to neonicotinoid 11
applications made within one foot of a building foundation's perimeter 12
to manage structural pests. 13
(c) (1) The Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection 14
may issue a written order to suspend the provisions of subsection (b) of 15
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this section if the commissioner determines that: (A) An environmental 16
emergency exists; (B) the use of a neonicotinoid will be effective in 17
addressing such environmental emergency; (C) the use of a 18
neonicotinoid will not cause unreasonable adverse effects on the 19
environment, including on nontarget organisms, surface water quality 20
and groundwater quality; and (D) no other less harmful pesticide or pest 21
management practice will be effective to address such environmental 22
emergency. Any order issued pursuant to this subdivision shall be for a 23
period of not more than one year and shall constitute a public record. 24
The commissioner shall make any such order publicly available on the 25
Department of Energy and Environmental Protection's Internet web 26
site. 27
(2) Any order issued pursuant to subdivision (1) of this subsection 28
shall: (A) Provide the basis for the determinations made by the 29
commissioner pursuant to subdivision (1) of this section; (B) specify the 30
neonicotinoid pesticides, uses and purposes to which such order 31
applies; and (C) specify such order's geographic scope, start date and 32
duration. 33
(3) Any order issued pursuant to subdivision (1) of this subsection 34
may establish restrictions related to such neonicotinoid use for the 35
purpose of minimizing harm to public health and the environment, 36
including, but not limited to, any harm to nontarget organisms, surface 37
water quality and groundwater quality. 38
Sec. 2. (NEW) (Effective from passage) (a) For purposes of this section, 39
"unreasonable adverse effects on the environment" has the same 40
meaning as provided in subsection (z) of section 22a-47 of the general 41
statutes and "neonicotinoid" has the same meaning as provided in 42
section 22-61k of the general statutes, as amended by this act. 43
(b) On and after January 1, 2029, no person shall distribute, sell, offer 44
for sale or use any agricultural seed for corn, wheat or soybean if such 45
seed is treated with a neonicotinoid unless a waiver is issued by the 46
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Commissioner of Agriculture to the user of such seed pursuant to 47
subsection (c) of this section. 48
(c) (1) The Commissioner of Agriculture may, in consultation with 49
the Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection, issue a 50
waiver to allow the use of agricultural seeds treated with a 51
neonicotinoid for the production of agricultural commodities only upon 52
application by a person who has (A) completed an integrated pest 53
management training; (B) conducted a pest risk assessment; and (C) 54
submitted to the Commissioner of Agriculture a pest risk assessment 55
report. The Commissioner of Agriculture may issue such waiver if, after 56
review of the requisite pest risk assessment report, the Commissioner of 57
Agriculture determines that: (i) The occurrence of a pest presents a 58
significant risk of imminent harm, injury or loss to agricultural crops; 59
(ii) the use of agricultural seeds treated with a neonicotinoid will be 60
effective in addressing the subject pest risk; (iii) the use of agricultural 61
seeds treated with a neonicotinoid will not cause unreasonable adverse 62
effects on the environment, including, but not limited to, nontarget 63
organisms, surface water quality and groundwater quality; and (iv) no 64
other less harmful seed treatment, pesticide or pest management 65
practice will be effective in addressing the pest risk. Any waiver issued 66
pursuant to this subdivision shall be for a period not to exceed one year 67
and shall, in addition to all applicable application materials, constitute 68
a public record. The commissioner shall make any such application and 69
application materials available on the Department of Agriculture's 70
Internet web site. 71
(2) Any waiver issued pursuant to subdivision (1) of this subsection 72
shall: (A) Provide the basis for the determinations made by the 73
Commissioner of Agriculture pursuant to subdivision (1) of this 74
subsection; (B) specify the waiver's geographic scope, which may 75
include only those properties identified in the applicant's pest risk 76
assessment report; and (C) specify the waiver's start date and duration. 77
(d) The Commissioner of Agriculture, in consultation with the 78
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Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection and the 79
Director of the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, may adopt 80
regulations, in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54 of the 81
general statutes, for the issuance of waivers pursuant to subsection (c) 82
of this section. Such regulations may establish fees for any such waiver 83
application for the purpose of defraying associated administrative costs. 84
Any such fee collected in accordance with this subsection shall be 85
deposited in the General Fund. 86
Sec. 3. Section 22-61k of the general statutes is repealed and the 87
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage): 88
Not later than January 1, 2017, the Commissioner of Agriculture, in 89
collaboration with the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station and 90
the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, shall develop 91
best practices for minimizing the airborne liberation of neonicotinoid 92
insecticide dust from treated seeds and mitigating the effects of such 93
dust on pollinators. Such best practices shall include, but not be limited 94
to: (1) Methods to minimize such dust when treated seeds are dispensed 95
from a seed bag into seed planter equipment; (2) guidance on the 96
positioning of the vacuum system discharge of seed planter equipment 97
to direct such discharge toward the soil; (3) time frames for the mowing 98
of flowering vegetation located next to crop fields; (4) identification of 99
weather conditions that minimize drift of such dust; and (5) suggestions 100
for the use of seed lubricants to effectively minimize the drift of such 101
dust. Each such state agency shall make the best practices developed 102
pursuant to this section available to farmers, any person who owns, 103
operates or manages a farm or an agricultural facility and the general 104
public by posting such best practices on the Internet web site of such 105
state agency not later than February 15, 2017. For purposes of this 106
section, section 22-90a, subsection (l) of section 22a-50, sections 22a-61a 107
and 22a-61b, sections 1 and 2 of this act and section 6 of public act 16-17, 108
"neonicotinoid," means any pesticide that acts selectively on the 109
nicotinic acetylcholine receptors of an organism, including clothianidin, 110
dinotefuran, imidacloprid, acetamiprid, thiamethoxam and any other 111
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such pesticide that the Commissioner of Energy and Environmental 112
Protection, after consultation with the Connecticut Agricultural 113
Experiment Station, determines will result in the death of fifty per cent 114
or more of a population of bees when two micrograms or less of such 115
pesticide is applied to each bee within such population. 116
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 from passage New section
Sec. 2 from passage New section
Sec. 3 from passage 22-61k
Statement of Purpose:
To restrict the use of neonicotinoids for certain commercial and
agricultural applications.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except
that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not
underlined.]