Important Bills Protecting Health Need Your Support

Important Bills Protecting Health Need Your Support

Residents of Massachusetts have the opportunity to make the state a national leader in reforming dangerous and outdated pesticide laws.

Several bills before the Joint Committee on Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture would make significant progress in these efforts, improving protections for school children, pollinators, local communities, and the state's agricultural economy.

The Good News? Massachusetts residents showed up in force for the committee hearing in November. As a result, the Committee has already reported favorably on H763, An Act to protect Massachusetts pollinators! That would not have happened without your support!

But there's still work to be done! In addition to protecting pollinators, we must protect children from toxic pesticides, the public from the hazards of glyphosate, and empower localities to pass pesticide reform laws when EPA refuses to act. We need these bills voted favorably out of committee too!

>> Please contact your state lawmakers in support of the legislation below:

H791 An Act Relative to Improving Pesticide Protections for Massachusetts's School Children
While the state of Massachusetts currently prohibits toxic pesticides from being used “cosmetically” outdoors at schools and child care centers, legal loopholes are putting children at risk. Many hazardous chemicals such as glyphosate and 2,4-D are used in Massachusetts schools under the guide of student “safety” or to “maintain quality appearance.”

To remedy this situation, state Representative Carmine Gentile (D-Sudbury) has introduced H791. This law would eliminate dangerous loopholes that allow schoolchildren to be exposed to toxic pesticides where they learn. Under the bill, pesticide use will be limited to the least-toxic, yet still effective products on the market. These are products designated as either organic, or EPA minimum risk.

H776/S447 An Act empowering towns and cities to protect residents and the environment from harmful pesticides

Pesticide preemption subverts local democracy and prevents communities from enacting laws that reflect their values. H776 and S447 would repeal MA state pesticide preemption and allow localities in the state to regulate pesticides in the way they find best for their residents and unique local environment.

H792 An Act relative to the prohibition of the transfer or use of glyphosate in the Commonwealth and S499 An Act relative to the use of glyphosate on public lands
Despite glyphosate's listing as a probable human carcinogen by the World Health Organization in 2015, the U.S. EPA has failed to recognize the cancer-causing potential of the chemical or its formulated products, such as Roundup. H792 would stop any person or corporation's ability legally distribute, sell, or use glyphosate or any products containing glyphosate within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. S499 would prohibit use of this carcinogen on state public lands.

Please urge your state legislators to support these important pieces of legislation. The more grassroots support we can generate, the better the chance of passage will be!

>> After you send a letter, please consider following up with a phone call directly to the chairs of the Joint Committee on Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture: Sen. Anne Gobi (617-722-1540) and Rep. Smitty Pignatelli (617-722-2210).