North Dakota’s Pesticide Protection Law a First For The U.S.

(Cami Koons/Iowa Capital Dispatch via the North Dakota Monitor)

(By: Jeff Beach. North Dakota Monitor) – North Dakota is the first state in the nation to implement a law that provides legal protections for pesticide manufacturers an issue that has been debated in legislatures across the country in the face of large payouts to cancer victims.

Gov. Kelly Armstrong signed House Bill 1318 that specifies that a label approved by the Environmental Protection Agency acts as sufficient warning to users about the hazards posed by pesticides and herbicides such as Roundup.

Georgia’s General Assembly passed its version of the pesticide protection bill but it has yet to be signed. The National Agricultural Law Center has been tracking the status of similar legislation in Iowa, Florida, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Wyoming.

Elizabeth Burns-Thompson is the executive director of the Modern Ag Alliance, a national group backing the legislation in North Dakota and other states.

“This law sets the standard for states across America to pass legislation similar to HB 1318 and, ultimately, stand up for our farmers,” Burns-Thompson said in a statement.