Assembly Bill A10074A

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                 10074--A
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                             January 30, 2026
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  M. of A. ROSENTHAL, STECK, KELLES, HEVESI, CLARK, LEVEN-
   BERG, BRONSON, SCHIAVONI, RAGA, STIRPE, RAJKUMAR, R. CARROLL  --  read
   once  and  referred  to the Committee on Environmental Conservation --
   committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as  amended  and
   recommitted to said committee
 
 AN  ACT  to  amend  the  environmental  conservation law, in relation to
   prohibiting the use of the pesticide paraquat
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Legislative findings. 1. Paraquat or paraquat dichloride is
 a  synthetic,  nonselective  contact  herbicide  that is a member of the
 bipyridylium chemical family and  that  kills  all  vegetation  that  it
 touches.
   2.  Paraquat was first registered in the United States in 1964, and in
 1978, the U.S. Environmental  Protection  Agency  (EPA)  classified  all
 paraquat  products  as  restricted  use pesticides because of paraquat's
 high acute toxicity and potential for poisoning.
   3. Paraquat has been classified as a restricted use pesticide, and  24
 currently  registered  pesticide products approved for use in the United
 States contain paraquat.
   4. The Pesticide Action Network's 2024  Consolidated  List  of  Banned
 Pesticides  identifies  72  countries  as  banning  the use of paraquat,
 including Brazil, China, Iraq, the United Kingdom, Malaysia, Peru, Saudi
 Arabia, South Korea, Thailand, Turkey, Vietnam, and Zimbabwe.
   5. The European Union banned paraquat in 2007 after a court determined
 that the relevant regulatory body had failed to apply proper  procedures
 for  evaluation  of  the  herbicide and that the regulatory body was not
 properly thorough in its assessments of paraquat's effects on human  and
 animal health.
   6. As of January 9, 2026, there were no products registered for use in
 Canada that contain paraquat.
   7.  Multiple studies have demonstrated that paraquat exposure substan-
 tially increases the risk of Parkinson's disease in those exposed to the
 herbicide.

  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

                                                            LBD14468-03-6
 A. 10074--A                         2
 
   8. Other studies suggest a possible link with exposure to paraquat  to
 increased  risk  of  non-Hodgkin lymphoma, renal cancer, thyroid cancer,
 and childhood leukemia.
   9.  In  2021,  as  part  of  a product registration review of paraquat
 required under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and  Rodenticide  Act
 (FIFRA),  the  EPA  issued  an  interim decision approving the continued
 registration of paraquat for use in the United States, despite  multiple
 public   comments  objecting  to  approval  and  significant  scientific
 evidence regarding the potential health effects of paraquat exposure.
   10. Multiple parties subsequently petitioned for  judicial  review  of
 the  EPA's  interim  decision authorizing the continued registration and
 use of paraquat. In particular, the challenging  parties  contested  the
 EPA's  assessment  of  the  increased risk of Parkinson's disease due to
 exposure to paraquat from volatilization during use.
   11. In January 2025, after a motion from the EPA, a court placed  that
 case  in  abeyance so that the EPA may reconsider its initial conclusion
 concerning the potential for paraquat to  volatilize  and  to  determine
 whether paraquat continues to meet FIFRA's registration standard.
   12.  The  EPA's  reevaluation  of the risks of paraquat is expected to
 take years, and the EPA's  further  evaluation  does  not  prohibit  the
 continued use of paraquat during that review period.
   13.  Instead  of waiting for EPA action on whether or how to use para-
 quat, the state of New York should ban the use of paraquat in  order  to
 protect  New Yorkers from the known, significant health effects of expo-
 sure to paraquat.
   § 2. Section 33-1301 of the environmental conservation law is  amended
 by adding a new subdivision 14 to read as follows:
   14. A. BEGINNING JANUARY FIRST, TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-EIGHT, IT SHALL BE
 UNLAWFUL  FOR  ANY PERSON TO DISTRIBUTE, SELL, OFFER FOR SALE OR USE ANY
 PESTICIDE CONTAINING THE ACTIVE INGREDIENT PARAQUAT  DICHLORIDE  OR  ANY
 OTHER CHEMICAL FORM OF PARAQUAT.
   B.  AS  USED  IN  THIS  SECTION, "PARAQUAT" MEANS A PESTICIDE WITH CAS
 NUMBER 4685-14-7 AND ANY SALT OF THAT CHEMICAL, INCLUDING METHYL  VIOLO-
 GEN  (CAS  NUMBER  1910-42-5)  AND PARAQUAT BISMETHYLSULFATE (CAS NUMBER
 2074-50-2).
   § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.