Conservation

California has already halted sales of the insecticide chlorpyrifos

Activists urge Cuomo to sign pesticide ban.

With California this month agreeing to ban its sale, environmentalists in New York are renewing their call for Gov. Andrew Cuomo to sign a bill that would eliminate the agricultural use of chlorpyrifos, an insecticide that came into heavy use after DDT was banned in the 1970s.

Under the Trump administration, the federal Environmental Protection Agency has resisted calls for a ban even though the insecticide has been disallowed for household use since 2000. That has sparked a lawsuit from Attorney General Letitia James along with the attorneys general of five other states.

Activists have been pushing for Cuomo to sign the bill since August when they sent an open letter to the governor.

“Why haven’t we banned it? The answer is Donald Trump, plain and simple,” said Tyler Smith, a staff scientist with Earthjustice, one of 80 groups pushing for the ban in New York. Not everyone is for the ban. “This bill would negatively impact a variety of farmers and farm types. Farmers rely on pesticides to combat against destructive pests,” said Cynthia Haskins, president and CEO of the New York Apple Association, a trade group for apple growers.

The legislation sets a bad precedent, she added, contending that regulation should be left up to the state Department of Environmental Conservation’s

pesticide registration process.

The pesticide also is used to protect broccoli, onions and kale.

Chlorpyrifos works by blocking the enzyme that controls the neurotransmitter acetylcholine in insects. Without such controls, the acetylcholine builds up and overstimulates the insect’s nervous system, causing death.

Humans, too, have acetylcholine neurotransmitters, leading to concerns about health effects, especially for infants and children.

Exposure has been linked to autism and low IQS, activists say. It is also known to harm bees, which serve as pollinators for a number of plants.

Under the bill, which was sponsored by Sen. Todd Kaminsky and Assemblyman Steven Englebright, it would be illegal to spray chlorpyrifos starting in 2020, although apple growers would have a reprieve and could spray tree trunks until the end of 2021. Both Kaminsky and Englebright are Democrats from Long Island who chair their respective environment committees.

The measure passed largely along party lines in the Senate, 44-18, with Democrats favoring it and Republicans opposed. Chlorpyrifos works by blocking the enzyme that controls the neurotransmitter acetylcholine in insects. Without such controls, the acetylcholine builds up and overstimulates the insect’s nervous system, causing death. But the vote was mixed in the Assembly, with several Capital Region Democrats as well as those from farming areas voting no, including Patricia Fahy, Carrie Woerner, and Angelo Santabarbara. It passed 94-50 in the Assembly.

In James’ lawsuit, which includes California, Washington, Maryland, Vermont and Massachusetts, she notes that the EPA in 2007 was moving toward a ban but that the progress was reversed in 2017.

“On March 29, 2917, the Administrator abruptly reversed EPA’S position on finalizing the proposed rulemaking and issued an order, which denied the 2007 NRDC/PANNA petition to revoke all chlorpyrifos tolerances,” the lawsuit states.

NRDC is the National Resources Defense Council and PANNA is the Pesticide Action Network.