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 Ag-
riculture 
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 Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Ban Atrazine Toxi-
cants Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) Atrazine is the second-most used herbicide 
in the United States, with approximately 80,000,000 
pounds used annually. 
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(2) Atrazine has been banned in the European 
Union since 2003, and in Italy and Germany since 
1991 due to its long-term persistence in the environ-
ment, toxicity to wildlife, and link to adverse effects 
on human health. 
(3) Atrazine is highly persistent in the environ-
ment and can remain in water for decades. Even 
after the European Union banned the chemical over 
2 decades ago, atrazine can still be detected in 
groundwater. 
(4) Atrazine is one of the most commonly de-
tected pesticides in drinking water, groundwater, 
and surface water across the nation. Approximately 
75 percent of stream water and about 40 percent of 
all groundwater samples from agricultural areas 
tested in an extensive United States Geological Sur-
vey study contained atrazine. 
(5) The United States Geological Sruvey has 
found that atrazine is the most frequently detected 
of all herbicides in urban streams. 
(6) Atrazine is detected in rainwater, fog, ambi-
ent air, arctic ice, and seawater at great distances 
from urban and agricultural areas. 
(7) Studies have also concluded that approxi-
mately 217–642 tons of atrazine is annually depos-
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ited the Gulf of Mexico from the Mississippi River 
Basin. 
(8) Atrazine’s impacts on human health are 
well documented in the scientific literature. Expo-
sure to atrazine can cause elevated cancer risks, 
heightened risks of birth defects, and significant re-
productive impacts. Birth defects are associated with 
atrazine, including chroanal atresis, stenosis, and 
gastrochisis. 
(9) Farmworkers and rural populations who are 
most often exposed may suffer reproductive harms 
such as low sperm count and motility, while general 
exposure in conjunction with other pesticides in-
creases risk of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in men. 
(10) Atrazine is highly toxic to wildlife and 
causes adverse endocrine impacts in amphibians, 
reptiles, mammals, and birds, including impaired re-
production, lowered reproductive output, disrupted 
development, and immunosuppression. Exposure to 
atrazine at levels as low as 0.1 parts per billion have 
been shown to harm the development of eggs in male 
frogs. Atrazine increases stress hormones in imma-
ture salmon leading to high mortality rates and low 
reproductive success. 
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(11) The Environmental Protection Agency 
found in 2022 that atrazine is likely to adversely af-
fect 1,013 threatened and endangered species, or 56 
percent of all endangered plants and animals in the 
nation, including the whooping crane, California red- 
legged frog, and the San Joaquin kit fox. 
(12) The United States Department of Agri-
culture concluded that banning atrazine would only 
lead to a 1.19-percent decrease in corn yields. 
(13) A 2007 study found that neither Germany 
nor Italy, both of which are corn-producing nations, 
reported drops in corn yields following their 1991 
ban on atrazine. 
SEC. 3. CANCELLATION OF REGISTRATION OF ATRAZINE. 
Section 6 of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and 
Rodenticide Act (7 U.S.C. 136d) is amended by adding 
at the end the following: 
‘‘(l) 
CANCELLATION
OF
REGISTRATION
OF 
ATRAZINE.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.— 
‘‘(A) CANCELLATION.—Effective on the 
date of the enactment of this subsection— 
‘‘(i) atrazine shall be deemed to gen-
erally cause unreasonable adverse effects to 
humans; and 
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‘‘(ii) notwithstanding any other provi-
sion of law, including subsection (b), the 
registration of all uses of atrazine shall be 
immediately and permanently canceled by 
operation of law and without further pro-
ceedings. 
‘‘(B) REVOCATION
OF
TOLERANCES
AND 
EXEMPTIONS.—Not later than 6 months after 
the date of enactment of this subsection, the 
Administrator shall, in accordance with section 
408(b)(1)(B) of the Federal Food, Drug, and 
Cosmetic Act, revoke any tolerance or exemp-
tion that allows the presence of atrazine, or any 
pesticide chemical residue that results from 
atrazine use, in or on food. 
‘‘(2) SALE
OF
EXISTING
STOCKS
PROHIB-
ITED.—In accordance with subsection (a)(1), effec-
tive on the date of enactment of this subsection, the 
continued sale or use of existing stocks of atrazine 
shall be prohibited. 
‘‘(3) NO FUTURE ATRAZINE REGISTRATIONS.— 
Effective on the date of the enactment of this sub-
section, the Administrator may not register any pes-
ticide containing atrazine under section 4. 
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‘‘(4) INELIGIBILITY
FOR
EMERGENCY
USE.— 
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a pes-
ticide canceled under this section shall not be eligible 
for use under section 18. 
‘‘(5) DEFINITION.—In this subsection, the term 
‘atrazine’ refers to the pesticide chemical 2-chloro-4- 
ethylamino-6-isopropylamino-1,3,5-triazine.’’. 
Æ 
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