I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 9981 

To prohibit the use, production, sale, importation, or exportation of any 

pesticide containing atrazine. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 11, 2024 

Mr. NADLER (for himself, Mr. MCGOVERN, Ms. NORTON, and Ms. ADAMS) 

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture 

A BILL 

To prohibit the use, production, sale, importation, or 

exportation of any pesticide containing atrazine. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Ban Atrazine Toxi5 cants Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) Atrazine is the second-most used herbicide 

9 in the United States, with approximately 80,000,000 

10 pounds used annually. 


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1 (2) Atrazine has been banned in the European 

2 Union since 2003, and in Italy and Germany since 

3 1991 due to its long-term persistence in the environ4 ment, toxicity to wildlife, and link to adverse effects 

5 on human health. 

6 (3) Atrazine is highly persistent in the environ7 ment and can remain in water for decades. Even 

8 after the European Union banned the chemical over 

9 2 decades ago, atrazine can still be detected in 

10 groundwater. 

11 (4) Atrazine is one of the most commonly de12 tected pesticides in drinking water, groundwater, 

13 and surface water across the nation. Approximately 

14 75 percent of stream water and about 40 percent of 

15 all groundwater samples from agricultural areas 

16 tested in an extensive United States Geological Sur17 vey study contained atrazine. 

18 (5) The United States Geological Sruvey has 

19 found that atrazine is the most frequently detected 

20 of all herbicides in urban streams. 

21 (6) Atrazine is detected in rainwater, fog, ambi22 ent air, arctic ice, and seawater at great distances 

23 from urban and agricultural areas. 

24 (7) Studies have also concluded that approxi25 mately 217–642 tons of atrazine is annually deposVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:04 Oct 24, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H9981.IH H9981

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1 ited the Gulf of Mexico from the Mississippi River 

2 Basin. 

3 (8) Atrazine’s impacts on human health are 

4 well documented in the scientific literature. Expo5 sure to atrazine can cause elevated cancer risks, 

6 heightened risks of birth defects, and significant re7 productive impacts. Birth defects are associated with 

8 atrazine, including chroanal atresis, stenosis, and 

9 gastrochisis. 

10 (9) Farmworkers and rural populations who are 

11 most often exposed may suffer reproductive harms 

12 such as low sperm count and motility, while general 

13 exposure in conjunction with other pesticides in14 creases risk of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in men. 

15 (10) Atrazine is highly toxic to wildlife and 

16 causes adverse endocrine impacts in amphibians, 

17 reptiles, mammals, and birds, including impaired re18 production, lowered reproductive output, disrupted 

19 development, and immunosuppression. Exposure to 

20 atrazine at levels as low as 0.1 parts per billion have 

21 been shown to harm the development of eggs in male 

22 frogs. Atrazine increases stress hormones in imma23 ture salmon leading to high mortality rates and low 

24 reproductive success. 


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1 (11) The Environmental Protection Agency 

2 found in 2022 that atrazine is likely to adversely af3 fect 1,013 threatened and endangered species, or 56 

4 percent of all endangered plants and animals in the 

5 nation, including the whooping crane, California red6 legged frog, and the San Joaquin kit fox. 

7 (12) The United States Department of Agri8 culture concluded that banning atrazine would only 

9 lead to a 1.19-percent decrease in corn yields. 

10 (13) A 2007 study found that neither Germany 

11 nor Italy, both of which are corn-producing nations, 

12 reported drops in corn yields following their 1991 

13 ban on atrazine. 

14 SEC. 3. CANCELLATION OF REGISTRATION OF ATRAZINE. 

15 Section 6 of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and 

16 Rodenticide Act (7 U.S.C. 136d) is amended by adding 

17 at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(l) CANCELLATION OF REGISTRATION OF

19 ATRAZINE.— 

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.— 

21 ‘‘(A) CANCELLATION.—Effective on the 

22 date of the enactment of this subsection— 

23 ‘‘(i) atrazine shall be deemed to gen24 erally cause unreasonable adverse effects to 

25 humans; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) notwithstanding any other provi2 sion of law, including subsection (b), the 

3 registration of all uses of atrazine shall be 

4 immediately and permanently canceled by 

5 operation of law and without further pro6 ceedings. 

7 ‘‘(B) REVOCATION OF TOLERANCES AND

8 EXEMPTIONS.—Not later than 6 months after 

9 the date of enactment of this subsection, the 

10 Administrator shall, in accordance with section 

11 408(b)(1)(B) of the Federal Food, Drug, and 

12 Cosmetic Act, revoke any tolerance or exemp13 tion that allows the presence of atrazine, or any 

14 pesticide chemical residue that results from 

15 atrazine use, in or on food. 

16 ‘‘(2) SALE OF EXISTING STOCKS PROHIB17 ITED.—In accordance with subsection (a)(1), effec18 tive on the date of enactment of this subsection, the 

19 continued sale or use of existing stocks of atrazine 

20 shall be prohibited. 

21 ‘‘(3) NO FUTURE ATRAZINE REGISTRATIONS.— 

22 Effective on the date of the enactment of this sub23 section, the Administrator may not register any pes24 ticide containing atrazine under section 4. 


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1 ‘‘(4) INELIGIBILITY FOR EMERGENCY USE.— 

2 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a pes3 ticide canceled under this section shall not be eligible 

4 for use under section 18. 

5 ‘‘(5) DEFINITION.—In this subsection, the term 

6 ‘atrazine’ refers to the pesticide chemical 2-chloro-4- 

7 ethylamino-6-isopropylamino-1,3,5-triazine.’’. 

Æ 


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