Keeping Pesticides in Check

The Senate Agriculture Committee has asked for more speed in analyzing pesticides used in growing America’s crops. The committee last week approved the first changes in the nation’s pesticide laws in a decade. If enacted in the waning days of the session--and that’s a big if--the bill would streamline procedures for government testing of many pesticides developed before stringent standards to protect public health were enacted.

But the committee action was not all good news. The panel approved an amendment engineered by Sens. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.) and Howell Heflin (D-Ala.) that would weaken protection of ground water against chemical contamination. Their amendment defines ground water so narrowly that only a small portion of the nation’s underground water would be protected. This, at a time when the Environmental Protection Agency has already estimated that 63 pesticides have been found in ground water in 34 states. That part of the bill must be stripped out before it becomes law.

Another critical element of the debate over the law--formally known as the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act--involves allowing states to be tougher in regulating pesticides than the federal government is. Generally speaking, California’s laws have been more rigorous than national laws, and Californians want to keep it that way. Sen. Pete Wilson (R-Calif.) tried to protect the state’s interests from being preempted, but he didn’t have the votes. He should lead the good fight again on the Senate floor.

The pesticide bill may have to go through another Senate committee before it reaches a floor vote. Time is indeed drawing short and those senators should act promptly. The House will not act until it gets a bill from the Senate.

The nation’s current pesticide law is so full of holes it is almost like having no law at all. It’s time to shore it up. This bill, sponsored by Sens. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.) and Richard G. Lugar (R-Ind.), offers the best hope of getting the job done.