Pesticide industry ‘immunity shield’ stripped from US appropriations bill

Democrats successfully removed a rider from the 2026 congressional appropriations bill that would have shielded pesticide manufacturers from lawsuits and restricted states' ability to warn about pesticide risks. The provision, backed by Bayer and industry allies, would have blocked federal funds from being used for actions inconsistent with EPA human health assessments. Critics argued the language would have prevented states and local governments from issuing warnings about pesticide risks, even with new scientific evidence, and made it harder to sue pesticide companies for failing to warn consumers. Representative Chellie Pingree stated that Senate Republican leaders agreed not to revisit the issue after she opposed the rider. Bayer has been lobbying for similar laws at the state and federal levels.

Explore how the topics in this article connect to other news stories

Discover articles with similar content using semantic similarity analysis.