As the 2020 session of the Oregon legislature ramps up,
several bills have been introduced that would be detrimental to agriculture and
aerial application in the state.
Oregon State Rep. Paul Holvey (D-Eugene) introduced HB
4109 that would immediately ban the aerial application of Chlorpyrifos upon
the bill’s passage. HB 4109 would also add 300-foot buffer zones around any
campus or school for all forms of aerial application.
Furthermore, the bill would prohibit farm workers from
entering an area in which chlorpyrifos was applied within the eight preceding
calendar days.
Lastly, the bill would require the State Department of
Agriculture to revoke all chlorpyrifos uses and ban the sale and purchase of
the product by January 1, 2022.
Such a bill short-circuits the stringent federal regularity
process used by the EPA when registering a pesticide produce, a fact that was
recognized by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo when he vetoed
a bill that would ban the use of chlorpyrifos in the state. New York state
regulators are reviewing ways to evaluate the safety of chlorpyrifos, and NAAA this
week sent
a letter to New York Department of
Environmental Conservation providing data on the product’s safety and efficacy.
Another bill, HB
4025 would place IP 45
on the November 2020 ballot for a statewide vote. Even if this bill does not pass, activists can
still have the measure appear on the November 2020 ballot by gathering 112,020
signatures. Signatures must be turned into the Secretary of State by July 2,
2020.
NAAA will continue to work with Corteva, a major
chlorpyrifos manufacturer, Oregonians for Food and Shelter, and State/ Regional
Ag Aviation Associations to ensure chlorpyrifos policy is developed based on sound
science, not what is politically popular.
 introduced HB
4109 that would immediately ban the aerial application of Chlorpyrifos upon
the bill’s passage. HB 4109 would also add 300-foot buffer zones around any
campus or school for all forms of aerial application.){kind=small}
