House to Mark-up Controversial Farm Bill

The House Agriculture Committee will mark-up H.R. 2, Agriculture and Nutrition Act of 2018 (the Farm Bill) today at 10:00 a.m. In addition to addressing traditional agricultural and food policy, the Farm Bill has major implications for wildlife and our environment. The proposed House legislation contains anti-wildlife riders, including one that weakens or eliminates key Endangered Species Act protections as they apply to pesticide registration and use, and others that would further weaken species protections and critical safeguards for national forestlands.

Former Defenders of Wildlife President and CEO, Jamie Rappaport Clark, issued the following statement:

“The legislation proposed by the chairman of the House Agriculture Committee hijacks the Farm Bill. This important legislation has been turned into a vehicle for attacking bedrock environmental laws and damaging our wildlife and national forests. Congress should craft a balanced bill that serves the needs of people that rely on Farm Bill programs, while protecting the fish, wildlife, and plants that depend on private lands, wetlands and forests nationwide.

“The bill undermines Endangered Species Act requirements for the Environmental Protection Agency to work with the expert federal wildlife agencies when approving pesticide use, while shielding the pesticide industry from liability for harming endangered wildlife. This reckless provision gives the pesticide industry a free pass to poison pollinators and hundreds of endangered and threatened species with potentially dangerous chemicals.

“The forestry title reneges on a bipartisan compromise to pass a fire funding fix, more than doubling the agreed-to exemption, and further attacks environmental safeguards for clean drinking water, endangered species, forest restoration and science-based decisions on our federal forests. It undermines laws like the National Environmental Policy Act, Clean Water Act and Endangered Species Act.

“The proposed Farm Bill is divisively partisan. It unnecessarily attacks environmental laws and will irreparably damage our national forests and wildlife. Given the extreme nature of the provisions in the bill, it deserves no chance of ever becoming law.”