{"bills":[{"photos":{"featured":"https://assets.causes.com/bill/photo/hr1284-114/featured_saving-america-s-pollinators-act-of-2015-1454548361.jpg","featured_large":"https://assets.causes.com/bill/photo/hr1284-114/featured_large_saving-america-s-pollinators-act-of-2015-1454548361.jpg","shareable":"https://n.causes.com/share-images/bills/hr1284-114.png"},"introduced_on":"2015-03-04","title_override":"Banning Insecticides That Harm Bees And Other Pollinators","summary_override":"

This bill would require the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to suspend the registration — i.e. halt the sale and distribution — of plant, tree, and soil insecticides that bees are attracted to.

It would bar the use of these products until the EPA has determined that they will not cause unreasonable harm to \"pollinators.\" Pollinators in this case are defined as native bees, honeybees, birds, bats, and other species of beneficial insects.

Determining the effects of these insecticides on pollinators would be based on:

An evaluation of the published and peer-reviewed scientific evidence on whether the use of these insecticides has adverse effects on pollinators.
A field study supervised by the EPA Administrator that evaluates residues, annual residual build-up, chronic low-dose exposure, and the cumulative effects of multiple chemical exposures.

This bill would prohibit the EPA Administrator from lifting the ban on the insecticides listed in this act until the study has come to solid conclusions. The insecticides in question are used for seed treatment, soil application, and foliar treatment on bee attractive plants, trees, and grains; imidacloprid, clothianidin, thiamethoxam, dinotafuran, and any other members of the nitro group of neonicotinoid insecticides.

The Secretary of the Interior and EPA Administrator would be required to monitor the health and population status of native bees in annual public reports to Congress, and identify the scope and likely cause of unusual native bee mortality.

","official_title":"To direct the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to take certain actions related to pesticides that may affect pollinators, and for other purposes.","short_title":"Saving America's Pollinators Act of 2015","popular_title":null,"short_summary":"Saving America's Pollinators Act of 2015\n\nThis bill requires the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to suspend the registration of members of the nitro group of neonicotinoid insecticides that are registered under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) for use in seed treatment, soil application, or foliar treatment on bee-attractive plants, trees, and cereals until the EPA determines that the insecticides will not cause unreasonable adverse effects on pollinators. The determination must be based on:\n\n an evaluation of the published and peer-reviewed scientific evidence on whether the use or uses of those neonicotinoids cause unreasonable adverse effects on pollinators, including native bees, honeybees, birds, bats, and other species of beneficial insects; and a completed field study that meets the criteria required by the EPA and evaluates residues, chronic low-dose exposure, and cumulative effects of multiple chemical exposures. The EPA may not issue new re...","summarized":true,"cost":null,"cost_commentary":"A CBO cost estimate is unavailable. ","impact":"Bees and other pollinators under this act, people who use insecticides covered in this legislation, the EPA, the Department of the Interior, and the EPA Administrator.","argument_for":"Suspending the use of these insecticides until the EPA can determine if they are killing bees is a wise move that could save a vital asset to our environment, and the country’s agriculture industry. ","argument_against":"Bees are dying everywhere, not just in places where insecticides are used. Finding out the cause of the bee deaths makes sense, but hurting the agriculture industry in the process is foolish. 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Banning Insecticides That Harm Bees And Other Pollinators