Washington, Sept. 6--Without notice or explanation, the House Agriculture Committee today abruptly "postponed" a scheduled mark-up of legislation in all likelihood written by the pesticide industry and introduced by Rep. Richard Pombo (R-CA). The bill, which would significantly delay regulation of insecticides and other chemicals, has been a top priority for Pombo and pesticide lobbyists for several years and would largely override the landmark Food Quality Protection Act of 1996, which EPA has used to begin restricting dangerous pesticides.

The committee has not rescheduled the mark-up of the bill. In a Washington Post investigation published in May, a pesticide industry lobbyist admitted he wrote the bill for Pombo.

The postponement comes as another blow to Pombo's effort to move the legislation forward and thwart ongoing EPA regulatory actions. The Agriculture Committee mark-up was expected to be quick and almost pro forma, as 43 of 50 committee members already co-sponsor the Pombo measure.

Pombo called for the mark-up after fellow Republican Rep. Thomas Bliley predicted earlier this year that the measure would not be considered by Congress this year. Bliley, whose Commerce Committee shares jurisdiction on pesticide legislation, stated that opposition from the Administration and environmentalists made passage of the bill a remote prospect.

Pombo reportedly went to House Speaker Dennis Hastert to end run his bill past Bliley's jurisdictional claims and directly onto the House floor for a pre-election vote. But with legislative days growing scarce for a Congress that has yet to complete 11 of 13 annual spending bills, the cancelled agriculture committee mark-up could mean the end of the Pombo bill in this Congress.

Pombo had earlier predicted to an industry group that the bill would pass the full House by mid-July.

"We assumed the Pombo bill would sail through Agriculture Committee," said Richard Wiles, a pesticide expert with the Environmental Working Group. "But beyond the committee, on the House floor, Pombo's bill is an election-year nightmare for moderate Republicans and Democrats alike. It's an ethically challenged bill that poses real threats to children's health, which is a political third rail for any member of Congress."