Sponsors (2)
The bill preserves federal labeling standards while restoring state-law remedies for pesticide victims—improving access to compensation and incentives for safer products at the cost of greater litigation exposure and legal uncertainty for manufacturers and added burdens on state courts.
Individuals harmed by pesticide exposure (including rural residents) retain the ability to bring or continue state tort claims over labeling and packaging, preserving a path to compensation and deterrence.
Consumers and communities benefit from maintaining a single federal labeling standard while allowing state tort suits, which encourages manufacturers to improve labeling/packaging safety without creating a patchwork of state regulatory requirements.
The EPA keeps its regulatory authority intact while private enforcement through state courts is preserved, which can reduce the enforcement burden on federal agencies.
Manufacturers and distributors face increased litigation risk, higher compliance and insurance costs from revived state tort claims, which may raise product prices for consumers.
Uneven state court decisions could create legal uncertainty for producers who already comply with federal labeling, complicating risk management and increasing business unpredictability.
States may face increased litigation and higher court caseloads from new or revived tort claims, imposing administrative and financial costs on state judicial systems and taxpayers.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Clarifies that federal uniformity on pesticide labeling/packaging does not bar state-law tort claims about labeling or packaging.
Official title: To amend the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act to protect tort claims under State law related to labeling or packaging of pesticides or devices, and for other purposes.
Introduced June 29, 2026 by Chellie Pingree · Last progress June 29, 2026
Allows state-law tort lawsuits related to pesticide or device labeling and packaging even though states cannot impose their own labeling or packaging rules that differ from federal law. It clarifies that the existing federal uniformity rule does not block private or public tort claims under State law about labeling or packaging of pesticides or devices. The change preserves the federal prohibition on state-imposed labeling or packaging requirements while making clear that that prohibition should not be read to preempt tort liability claims under state law concerning labeling or packaging.