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[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2044 Introduced in House (IH)]

113th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2044

 To prohibit the use, production, sale, importation, or exportation of 
                   any pesticide containing atrazine.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 17, 2013

Mr. Ellison (for himself, Mr. DeFazio, Mr. Grijalva, Ms. McCollum, Mr. 
  Moran, and Ms. Schakowsky) introduced the following bill; which was 
   referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the 
Committees on Energy and Commerce, Ways and Means, and Foreign Affairs, 
for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case 
for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of 
                        the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
 To prohibit the use, production, sale, importation, or exportation of 
                   any pesticide containing atrazine.

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

SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Atrazine, a weed-killing pesticide, is the most widely 
        used herbicide in the United States. The United States annually 
        uses 65,000,000 to 80,000,000 pounds of atrazine.
            (2) The toxicity of atrazine is well documented and has 
        shown to have adverse endocrine effects in amphibians, mammals, 
        and humans. There is evidence that atrazine exposure is 
        associated with small birth weight, abnormal development of the 
        gut wall in infants, and spontaneous abortions. In laboratory 
        mammals, exposure is associated with abnormal reproductive 
        system development, impaired prostate gland formation, and 
        abnormal breast tissue development. In aquatic wildlife, 
        exposure is associated with abnormal reproductive system 
        development, impaired reproduction, and impaired immune system 
        function.
            (3) The United States Fish and Wildlife Service 
        acknowledges that atrazine may have potential adverse effects 
        on fish, such as organ tissue disease, disruption to the 
        endocrine and olfactory systems, and reduced reproductive 
        function.
            (4) The United States Geological Survey found atrazine in 
        approximately 85 percent of stream waters and 40 percent of all 
        ground water samples from agricultural areas tested. The United 
        States Geological Survey has found that atrazine has the 
        highest frequency of detection of all pesticides in 
        agricultural streams, and the highest frequency of detection of 
        all herbicides in urban streams. According to data from the 
        Environmental Protection Agency Ecological Watershed Monitoring 
        Program, the surface water sampled in the Midwestern and 
        Southern United States suffers from pervasive atrazine 
        contamination. Sampling of watersheds between 2004 and 2006 
        showed that all 40 watersheds tested had detectable levels of 
        atrazine, and 25 watersheds had average concentrations above 1 
        ppb. While these average elevated concentrations of atrazine 
        are worrisome, high peak concentrations may also be dangerous. 
        Nine watersheds had at least one sample showing levels above 50 
        ppb, and four watersheds had levels above 100 ppb.
            (5) According to data from the Environmental Protection 
        Agency Atrazine Monitoring Program, high levels of atrazine are 
        also evident in drinking water systems. More than 90 percent of 
        the samples taken in 139 water systems had measurable levels of 
        atrazine in both 2003 and 2004. Three systems had annual 
        averages exceeding 3 ppb.
            (6) In 1991, Germany and Italy banned the use of atrazine. 
        In 2003, European regulators announced a ban on the pesticide 
        throughout the European Union.
            (7) The Department of Agriculture estimates that a ban on 
        atrazine would result in crop losses of only 1.19 percent and 
        decrease corn acreage by only 2.3 percent. Since banning 
        atrazine nearly 20 years ago, both Italy and Germany have not 
        experienced a reduction of corn productivity or total acreage 
        of land in production.

SEC. 2. ATRAZINE PROHIBITION.

    Notwithstanding any other law, the use, production, sale, 
importation, or exportation of atrazine or an atrazine product is 
prohibited.

SEC. 3. ENFORCEMENT.

    Any person who violates section 2 shall be fined under title 18, 
United States Code, or imprisoned not more than 2 years, or both.

SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Atrazine.--The term ``atrazine'' or ``active ingredient 
        atrazine'' refers to the pesticide chemical 2-chloro-4-
        ethylamino-6-isopropylamino-1,3,5-triazine.
            (2) Atrazine product.--The term ``atrazine product'' means 
        any pesticide containing the active ingredient atrazine, as 
        identified on the Environmental Protection Agency registered 
        label, either alone or in a combination with other pesticides.
                                 <all>
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