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Committee advances bill clarifying pesticide labeling liability; supporters and opponents clash over safety and farmer access
Summary
The House committee advanced SB 144, which clarifies the limits of failure-to-warn claims for EPA-registered pesticide labels, after competing testimony from farm groups and public-health witnesses.
The House Agriculture and Consumer Affairs Committee voted to advance Senate Bill 144 after an extended hearing that drew farm groups, pesticide applicators and public-health advocates.
Sponsor Senator Watson described SB 144 as a limited, "surgical" change to state law that clarifies that manufacturers of EPA-registered crop protection products cannot be held liable solely for failing to warn of risks that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency would not permit on a label. "The label is the law," Watson told the committee, describing the federal registration and labeling process and saying manufacturers cannot put on a label what the EPA does not approve.
Sen. Watson and other supporters said the bill does not…
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