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The Federal Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026 Bill Passed the House in April 2026 WITHOUT language
Threatening Our Right to Pass State Level Restrictions on Pesticides
Thank you for your advocacy. Your voices were heard.
The US House of Representatives Farm Bill had contained language that threatened to preempt, and thereby nullify, all state and local pesticide restrictions.
In Connecticut
Pesticide Reporting Modernization
This bill, as originally written, would have made vital improvements to the systems that track what pesticides are sold and used in Connecticut, in what quantities, and where. It was amended instead to require the creation of a working group of stakeholders including a spokesperson for pesticide applicators, the Farm Bureau, CT DEEP, Dept. of Agriculture, and environmental advocates, which will produce a report by January 2027 with recommendations for a bill in 2027.
Here is a factsheet about the original goals of the bill.
Here is the testimony submitted during the public hearing for the bill.
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Quick Facts
A 2025 Connecticut Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) report identifies major deficiencies in the way Connecticut collects and reports pesticide use data.
The core concept of the bill is to make data currently collected by DEEP usable.
The over 3000 certified pesticide applicators in the state report pesticide use on handwritten forms that include their names and addresses.
There is no way to aggregate or summarize that data to show which pesticides are being used, in what quantities, and on what pests.
This leaves state agencies, researchers, and the public without access to basic data on pesticide use.
Better data is foundational for understanding how to create smart policy to protect the environment, especially pollinators, birds, clean water and human health.
The proposed system would remove public access to personal names and addresses and aggregate data at the county level, which aligns with approaches used in other states (MA, NY).
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