Pombo's bill to revise FQPA stalls in House committee

By Christine Souza
Assistant Editor

Members of the House of Representatives Agriculture Committee last week halted consideration of the Regulatory Fairness and Openness Act, a bill that would revamp the 1996 Food Quality Protection Act by setting new standards for pesticide safety.

Among other reforms, the bill would have required the Environmental Protection Agency to use sound science and real-world data when evaluating pesticides.

"The California Farm Bureau Federation was disappointed to learn that the House Agriculture Committee canceled the mark-up of the Regulatory Fairness and Openness Act," said CFBF President Bill Pauli. "This bipartisan legislation is critical if we expect to continue offering our consumers the safest and most affordable food supply in the world."

The House Agriculture Committee, on Sept. 6, postponed a scheduled "mark-up" of the bill, sponsored by Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Tracy. According to a House spokesman, the postponement occurred because House members had to complete work on more pressing issues such as the budget before they adjourn in October.

"We are extremely dissatisfied the legislation wasn't given a fair hearing and was postponed. We will continue to pursue every avenue for this to be considered before the end of this session," said Lisa Dillabo, Farm Bureau director, food safety.

According to Pombo's press secretary Doug Heye, the congressman is also disappointed the bill he sponsored to protect children and increase fairness for farmers was set aside.

"This is not what we wanted. We wanted to get this passed yesterday (Sept. 7)," Heye said. "The congressional session is running out of time. We are down to the wire. There is a chance that this won't be considered."

During the "mark-up," Heye said members wanted to examine other amendments to the bill, but now must wait for a reschedule date. He stated if H.R. 1592 is not passed during this congressional session, Pombo intends to reintroduce the bill.

"We'd like to have a hearing next week. Congressman Pombo is going to do what he can to get this into law," Heye said.

Although critics describe Pombo's legislation as an industry-sponsored attempt to weaken pesticide protections, he and the 235 House members who are co-sponsoring it feel it would strengthen pesticide standards and increase fairness to farmers and others.

H.R. 1592 would require the EPA to prepare a written transition analysis report identifying where data was insufficient and assumptions were used in making pesticide tolerance decisions. It would also prohibit the agency from canceling or modifying a pesticide tolerance based on insufficient or default assumptions.

"In a number of cases, the EPA is using assumptions and guesswork in determining decisions that regulate which tools farmers and ranchers can utilize," Dillabo said. "EPA's guesswork is limiting the ability of farmers and ranchers to produce safe and affordable food for U.S. consumers."

Under the Food Quality Protection Act as it stands, the EPA is required to review some 9,000 pesticides to determine whether they pose a threat to children. The proposed bill would give chemical makers more time to produce information about the safety of their pesticides. Opponents of the Food Quality Protection Act, including farm groups and chemical companies, say the EPA has moved too quickly to phase out some of the most popular and widely-used crop chemicals. In addition, integrated pest management strategies that rely on biological controls are jeopardized by the current FQPA process because these programs require the selective use of key pesticides for success.

"Family farmers don't know from one harvest to the next what pesticide they can use. It certainly causes produce prices to rise and that's not good for anybody," Heye said. "It is one big cyclical thing. It is bad for farmers so they raise their prices. Then the consumer in the store may not buy the produce and the children at home do not get the food they need."

Passage of this bill ensures that farmers and others who depend on pesticides will continue to have access to effective, reliable pesticides as long as they meet rigorous, scientific standards, after full and fair review by EPA. The legislation does not remove or change any pesticide safety assessment deadlines, nor does it change safety standards created by FQPA. The bill strengthens safety standards, especially those pertaining to children, by requiring that decisions the EPA makes are based on sound science.

H.R. 1592 was initially referred to the Commerce Committee, but was blocked by committee Chairman Thomas Bliley, a Virginia Republican. Pombo then succeeded in getting it sent to the Agriculture Committee.