Major Agricultural State AGs Challenge EPA Rollback That Leaves Farmworkers, Communities at Increased Risk of Exposure to Toxic Pesticides

Washington, D.C. — A coalition of five attorneys general representing large agricultural states, led by New York Attorney General Letitia James, filed a lawsuit yesterday challenging the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) final rule that needlessly increases agricultural workers’ exposure to harmful pesticides. In their lawsuit, the attorneys general urge the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York to vacate the EPA’s “unjustified and unwarranted” changes to its Worker Protection Standard regulations, which were strengthened in 2015 for the first time in more than two decades.

“Pesticides are poisons. Many are dangerous to humans and can have long-term, deadly effects,” said Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh. “It is EPA’s job to protect farmworkers, their families and others who are exposed to pesticides. These regulations prioritize killing bugs over protecting people.”

“Instead of strengthening protections for agricultural workers, who are the very definition of essential, the Trump administration has planted changes that put their health and safety directly at risk,” said David J. Hayes, Executive Director of the State Energy & Environmental Impact Center. “Today’s lawsuit will prevent this rollback from taking root.“

The EPA’s rollback significantly curtails an element of the Worker Protection Standard regulations known as the Application Exclusion Zone, which defines a buffer area that must be free of all persons aside from trained handlers with appropriate protective equipment during pesticide applications. The rollback modifies the Application Exclusion Zone so it is only applicable and enforceable on an agricultural employer’s property and does not extend to adjacent areas, and no longer applies to immediate family members of farm owners. The rollback also allows pesticide applications to occur while individuals not employed by the farm are present.

The attorneys general emphasize that the EPA’s reversal “runs counter to the evidence before the agency,” was made “without adequate justification or factual support” and relies “on an analysis of costs and benefits that fails to justify any changes” to the Application Exclusion Zone requirements. The attorneys general note that the EPA’s own analysis indicates the rollback will “cause more agricultural workers to be exposed to harmful levels of pesticides, and thus will cause more agricultural workers to develop illnesses from acute or chronic exposure to these pesticides.”

The attorneys general also warn that the EPA “failed entirely to identify and address the disproportionately high and adverse effects of this policy change on minority and low-income populations.” As of 2017, the majority of farmworkers are people of color. As the complaint notes, “[f]armworkers are predominately low-income and Hispanic, and are particularly vulnerable to exploitative labor conditions and resultant overexposure to harmful pesticides due to linguistic barriers, immigration status, and other factors.”

The attorneys general of California, Illinois, Maryland and Minnesota joined AG James in filing the lawsuit.

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About the State Energy & Environmental Impact Center:
The State Energy & Environmental Impact Center at NYU School of Law is a nonpartisan academic center at NYU School of Law. The Center is dedicated to working towards a healthy and safe environment, guided by inclusive and equitable principles. The Center studies and supports the work of state attorneys general (AGs) in defending, enforcing, and promoting strong laws and policies in the areas of climate, environmental justice, environmental protection, and clean energy.