Senate Bill S5343

                                
 
BILL NUMBER: S5343

SPONSOR: KAMINSKY
 
TITLE OF BILL:  An act to amend the environmental conservation law, in
relation to prohibiting the use of chlorpyrifos; and providing for the
repeal of such provisions upon expiration thereof

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

The purpose of this bill is to prohibit the use of a specific pesticide
with significant known adverse human health impacts, especially for
children.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

This bill would amend § 33-1301 of the Environmental Conservation Law to
prohibit the use of the pesticide chlorpyrifos. Specifically, the bill
amends Section 33-1301 of the Environmental Conservation Law and makes
it "unlawful for any person to use chlorpyrifos." However, the bill
initially bans aerial application of chlorpyrifos, beginning January 1,
2020. Beginning January 1, 2021, all applications of chlorpyrifos, other
              

than applied to apple tree trunks, are banned. As of December 1, 2021,
all uses of chlorpyrifos are banned.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Chlorpyrifos is an organophosphate pesticide, first introduced for sale
in 1965, which works to block the enzyme cholinesterase and impairs the
central nervous system, an impact also shared with the nerve gas Sarin.
The use of chlorpyrifos, which has increased as the use of DDT waned,
has been consistently controversial. The increasing usage was accompa-
nied by an increased number of accidental poisonings, peaking in 1996
with 7,000 reports to Poison Control Centers. Despite the poisoning
risk, and an increasing number of scientific studies suggesting adverse
health impacts, Dow Chemical continued to insist that the pesticide was
completely safe. In 1993, the New York Attorney General charged Dow with
false advertising, a case subsequently settled with Dow's payment of a
$2 million fine in 2003.  The United States Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) prohibited indoor use of chlorpyrifos in 2001.

Chlorpyrifos and other organophosphate pesticides have been the subject
of extensive scientific study. Links have been made between exposure and
neuropsychological effects including speech difficulties, memory, atten-
tion and coordination (see for example "Chronic Exposure to Organophosp-
hate (OP) Pesticides and Neuropsychological Functioning in Farm Workers:
a Review" published January 2016 in the International Journal of Occupa-
tional and Environmental Health).  Adverse impacts on children have also
been identified in numerous scientific studies. In his 2012 study "A

Strategy for Comparing the Contributions of Environmental Chemicals and
Other Risk Factors to Neurodevelopment of Children," David C.  Bellinger
estimated that the use of organophosphate pesticides like chlorpyrifos
had led to a collective 17 million loss in IQ points among American
children. In his statement regarding the 2003 settlement on the Dow
Chemical false advertising settlement, Dr.  Philip Landrigan, Chair of
the Department of Community and Preventative Medicine at Mount Sinai
Medical Center said: "Excellent studies conducted by independent scien-
tists have clearly shown that chlorpyrifos, the active ingredient in
Dursban, is toxic to the human brain and nervous system and is especial-
ly dangerous to the developing brain of infants." In addition, a 2014
Childhood Autism Risks from Genetics and the Environment (CHARGE) study
performed by the University of California Davis Medical Investigation of
Neurodevelopment Disorders (MIND) found that the risk of having a child
with autism almost tripled for women exposed to chlorpyrifos in their
second trimester of pregnancy.

The EPA recognized the findings of the scientific studies and in Novem-
ber 2016 issued a revised human health risk assessment, laying the
groundwork for a chlorpyrifos ban. This bill would enact a chlorpyrifos
ban based on the compelling scientific evidence of the harmful health
impacts of chlorpyrifos, especially on children.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2018 A10274 passed assembly

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:

None.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
January 1, 2020 for aerial applications. January 1, 2021 for all uses
except apple trees. December 1, 2021 for all uses.