Sponsors (10)
The bill reduces permitting burdens for farmers, applicators, and permitting agencies by relying on FIFRA for many pesticide discharges, but it does so at the cost of reduced CWA/NPDES oversight—potentially weakening water-quality protections, limiting state/local control, and shifting health and cleanup costs onto communities and utilities.
Farmers and pesticide applicators: face fewer NPDES/CWA permitting requirements for pesticide discharges authorized under FIFRA, reducing time and permitting costs.
Businesses and regulators (EPA/state permitting programs): experience lower administrative and compliance burdens because the bill narrows when NPDES permits apply and relies on FIFRA as the primary federal standard for authorized pesticide applications.
Public-health and local communities: routine pest- and vector-control operations (e.g., mosquito control) can proceed with fewer permitting delays, enabling faster responses to disease and nuisance threats.
Communities that use surface water for drinking and recreation (urban and rural): the bill reduces CWA/NPDES oversight for many pesticide discharges authorized under FIFRA, raising the risk of increased pesticide pollution in rivers and drinking-water sources.
State and local governments and downstream communities: lose or see diminished authority to impose water-quality-based permit limits or stricter controls on pesticides, reducing local control over water protection.
Children, vulnerable populations, and communities reliant on surface water: could face higher public-health risks if pesticide residues exceed water-quality standards but are not addressed through NPDES permit limits.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Bars EPA and states from requiring NPDES permits for pesticide applications and residues authorized under FIFRA, with narrow exceptions for certain violations and specific discharge categories.
Introduced June 6, 2025 by David Rouzer · Last progress June 6, 2025
Prevents the EPA or state governments from requiring Clean Water Act NPDES permits for point-source discharges into navigable waters that come from pesticide applications or their residues when the pesticide is authorized for sale, distribution, or use under federal pesticide law (FIFRA). Permits may still be required in a few specific cases, such as where a discharge results from a violation of pesticide law that changed the discharge, for certain stormwater discharges, and for categories already covered by the Clean Water Act (manufacturing/industrial effluent, municipal treatment works, and routine vessel discharges).