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Take Action Before 10 a.m. ET Tuesday: Tell Congress, No Liability Shield for Pesticide Makers!
Congress is considering federal legislation that would grant pesticide companies sweeping legal immunity — not only for Roundup, but for over 16,000 pesticide products regulated by the EPA.
Congress is considering federal legislation that would grant pesticide companies sweeping legal immunity — not only for Roundup, but for over 16,000 pesticide products regulated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
A subcommittee vote is expected to take place Tuesday at 10 a.m. ET. The markup will be livestreamed and can be found on the committee’s website.
TAKE ACTION: Call these Congress members today or before 10 a.m. Tuesday and ask them to reject this federal liability shield for pesticide makers:
What to know
If this bill passes, nothing would stop a foreign chemical company from pushing a new product they know is likely to drift or damage nearby fields. They could downplay the risks to the EPA, get a label approved, and leave neighboring farmers with scorched crops, lost yields and no legal recourse.
Even when livelihoods are wiped out, immunity means farmers would be stuck with the costs — not the companies who caused the damage.
That’s the danger here: Once pesticide companies know they can’t be held accountable, cutting corners and lying to regulators will become the business strategy. And it’s U.S. farmers and families who will pay the price.
Here’s what’s at stake
- This isn’t about one product — it’s about the future of 16,000 chemicals. From household weedkillers to restricted-use agricultural pesticides, this legislation would apply across the board. It gives companies a free pass, even when they conceal risks or fail to warn about dangers — as long as their label was once approved by the EPA.
- The EPA doesn’t independently test these products — it relies on the companies. Federal law allows pesticide manufacturers to submit their own safety studies. The EPA does not conduct its own testing and relies heavily on industry-submitted studies. And when companies manipulate or withhold critical data — as they’ve done in the past — this bill would still protect them. Immunity rewards companies for hiding the ball.
- This legislation eliminates accountability — even when companies break the rules. It would override state protections, block juries from hearing the facts, and tie the hands of farmers and families when harm is caused. Illnesses linked to these pesticides include cancer, Parkinson’s disease, infertility and developmental harm to children. If this becomes law, even when companies act unreasonably or deceptively, foreign chemical companies couldn’t be held responsible.
- It gives total immunity to Chinese military-controlled pesticide giants. ChemChina — a state-owned company the Pentagon identifies as a Chinese military entity — owns Syngenta, which sells paraquat and hundreds of other EPA-regulated pesticides in the U.S. despite some of them being banned in China. If this bill passes, American families could be barred from suing a Chinese military-controlled company for harm caused by its dangerous products. Why would Congress protect China instead of American farmers and families?
- It protects companies that destroy farmers’ crops — even when they lied to get EPA approval.
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