On Wednesday, May 24, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Reducing Regulatory Burdens Act (H.R. 953).  H.R. 953 amends the Clean Water Act (CWA) to suspend the requirement to obtain National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits when applying pesticides directly to Waters of the U.S.

 

During debate on the House floor, several letters in support of H.R. 953 were entered into the Congressional record including letters from NPMA and the Pesticide Policy Coalition.  While the bill remained predominantly partisan, NPMA is pleased that some of our strongest allies on both sides of the aisle supported the bill.

 

Last year, the bill passed the House with 23 Democratic representatives supporting the bill and, despite the fact that three of those supporters lost reelection in 2016, H.R. 953 had 25 Democrat supporters in 2017. Click here to see the official roll call.  

 

Next up will be the U.S. Senate, which will remain the largest hurdle for NPDES legislation.  We will need all of your grassroots support as the legislation moves forward.  Click here to see voter voice statistics and Congressional heat map.