MISCELLANEOUS FISHERIES AND WILDLIFE LEGISLATION-1965 PESTICIDE CONTROLS TUESDAY, JUNE 22, 1965 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SUBCOMMITTEE ON FISHERIES AND WILDLIFE CONSERVATION Washington, D.C. The subcommittee met at 10 a.m., pursuant to call, in room 1334, Longworth House Office Building, Hon. John D. Dingell presiding. Mr. DINGELL. The Subcommittee on Fisheries and Wildlife Conservation will come to order. This morning the Subcommittee on Fisheries and Wildlife Conservation will begin hearings on several bills designed to improve the protection of fish and wildlife from the use of insecticides, herbicides, fungicides, or other pesticides. This subject has been considered by the subcommittee during the past several Congresses and, in the course of the prior hearings, a considerable amount of testimony was received concerning the harmful effects of these poisonous chemicals on fish and wildlife. Much of this testimony has indicated a lack of advance knowledge and information as to the toxic effects of these chemicals. Over the years, we have witnessed an immense increase in toxicity and have seen and heard of the considerable widespread distribution of these lethal poisons in the control of some plantlife without due regard to the effects on anything else. Unfortunately, with each new discovery it appears that the insect kingdom has managed to build up an immunity and is holding its own, while mankind, fish, and wildlife are falling behind, unable to absorb and adapt to the increasingly toxic chemicals. In the last Congress, the committee reported and the House passed H.R. 4487, which would have increased the authorized funds for additional research on the harmful effects of chemicals to fish and wildlife and would have provided some protection to fish and wildlife by requiring these chemicals to be properly labeled. The bills to be heard today are H.R. 4157, which is identical to my bill of the last Congress, H.R. 4487, and H.R. 4158 and the Senate companion bill, S. 1623, which has now passed the Senate and is pending before the subcommittee. The committee is most hopeful that the witnesses this morning will offer valuable information that will be of assistance in determining what legislation would be beneficial to humans, fish and wildlife, and yet adequately control harmful insects and plantlife. Let the bills and agency reports appear at this point in the record. (The bills and agency reports referred to follow :) [H.R. 4157, 89th Cong., 1st sess.] A BILL To amend the Act of August 1, 1958, in order to prevent or minimize injury to fish and wildlife from the use of insecticides, herbicides, fungicides, and pesticides Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the first section of the Act of August 1, 1958 (16 U.S.C. 742d-1), is amended by inserting "(a)" immediately after "That" and by adding at the end thereof the following new subsection: "(b) On the basis of the studies carried on pursuant to subsection (a) of this section, the Secretary of the Interior shall transmit information to the Secretary of Agriculture as to how, in the use of insecticides, herbicides, fungicides, or other pesticides, injury to fish and wildlife can be prevented or minimized and the Secretary of Agriculture, in consultation with the Secretary of the Interior, shall require that such information or warning pertinent to any insecticide, herbicide, fungicide, or other pesticide shall appear on the label of each package of such insecticide, herbicide, fungicide, or other pesticide, as the case may be, which is required to be labeled under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (7 U.S.C. 135-135k)." SEC. 2. The Act of August 1, 1958 (72 Stat. 479), as amended by the Act of September 16, 1959 (73 Stat. 563), is amended by deleting section 2 and by inserting new sections 2 and 3 as follows: "SEC. 2. The Secretary of the Interior is authorized "(1) to conduct a program of evaluating chemicals proposed for use as insecticides, herbicides, fungicides, or other pesticides for the purposes of determining whether the chemicals are harmful or hazardous to the Nation's fish and wildlife resources; "(2) to distribute to interested persons and agencies, both public and private, data collected under this Act showing the effects of insecticides, herbicides, fungicides, or other pesticides; and "(3) to operate and maintain existing facilities, including laboratories, necessary to carry out the purposes of this Act. "SEC. 3. There is authorized to be appropriated the sum of $2,565,000 per fiscal year through fiscal year 1966, $3,200,000 for fiscal year 1967, and $5,000,000 per fiscal year thereafter." SEC. 3. The amendments made by this Act shall take effect on the one hundred and eightieth day after the date of enactment of this Act. [H.R. 4158, 89th Cong., 1st sess.] A BILL To provide for advance consultation with the Fish and Wildlife Service and with State wildlife agencies before the beginning of any Federal program involving the use of pesticides or other chemicals designed for mass biological controls Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That this Act may be cited as the "Chemical Pesticides Coordination Act". SEC. 2. No officer or agency of the Federal Government shall initiate or provide any financial or other assistance for any program involving the use of any chemical insecticide, herbicide, fungicide, rodenticide, or other chemical for the purpose of eradicating or controlling animal or plant pests until such officer or agency has consulted with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, and through such Service, with the head of the agency exercising administration over the wildlife resources of each State to be affected by the program. SEC. 3. The United States Fish and Wildlife Service shall advise the officers and agencies consulting with it, as required by section 2, of the damage to wildlife resources which might result from any proposed program. Such Service shall cooperate with such Federal officers and agencies in developing programs involving the use of chemical insecticides, herbicides, fungicides, rodenticides, or other methods for the purpose of eradicating or controlling any animal or plant pest, with a view to achieving the results desired while minimizing the undesirable effects of the program on the wildlife resources of the area. In the event any Federal officer or agency shall fail to take any action recommended by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, such Service shall make a report thereof without delay to the Congress for referral to the appropriate committees. SEC. 4. The Secretary of the Interior may, by regulations, make exceptions from the application of this Act where, by reason of the limited nature of the program or by reason of the proved harmlessness of the chemical involved, little or no damage to wildlife resources could result from the program. SEC. 5. Any Federal department or agency, in submitting requests to the Congress for appropriations for programs involving the use of chemical insectieides, herbicides, fungicides, rodenticides, or other chemicals for the eradication or control of any animal or plant pest, shall accompany such request by a full description of the proposed program, including the comments and recommendations of the Fish and Wildlife Service of the Department of the Interior. SEC. 6. This Act shall take effect one year from the date of its enactment. [S. 1623, 89th Cong., 1st sess.] AN ACT To amend the Act of August 1, 1958, relating to a continuing study by the Secretary of the Interior of the effects of insecticides, herbicides, fungicides, and other pesticides upon fish and wildlife for the purpose of preventing losses to this resource Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That section 2 of the Act of August 1, 1958 (72 Stat. 479), as amended by the Act of September 16, 1959 (73 Stat. 563), is amended to read as follows: "SEC. 2. In order to carry out the provisions of this Act, there are authorized to be appropriated for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1966, not to exceed $3,200,000, and not to exceed $5,000,000 for each of the two fiscal years immediately following such year." Passed the Senate April 29, 1965. FELTON M. JOHNSTON, Secretary. Hon. HERBERT C. BONNER, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, Chairman, Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries, DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: Thank you for your letter of February 5, 1965, giving us the opportunity to review and report on H.R. 4157, a bill entitled "To amend the Act of August 1, 1958, in order to prevent or minimize injury to fish and wildlife from the use of insecticides, herbicides, fungicides, and pesticides." The bill would authorize the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a program of evaluating chemicals proposed for use as pesticides for the purpose of determining whether the chemicals are harmful or hazardous to fish and wildlife resources. It provides that on the basis of these studies, the Secretary of the Interior shall transmit information to the Secretary of Agriculture as to how njury to fish and wildlife through the use of insecticides, herbicides, fungicides, or pesticides can be prevented or minimized, and that the Secretary of Agriculrure shall require such information or warning to appear on the label of each parkage of such insecticide, herbicide, fungicide, or pesticide under the authorty of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act. The bill further provides that the Secretary of the Interior would distribute, to interested persons and agencies, both public and private, data collected showing the effects of pesticides and would authorize him to operate and maintain facilities necessary to carry out the purposes of the bill. H.R. 4157 also would authorize the appropriation of the necessary funds to carry out its purposes. The proposed amendments would be effective 180 days after the bill's enactment. This Department has no objection to the proposed bill to the extent that it would provide new and more extensive research data on the relation of pesti 52-104-65-5 cides to fish and wildlife and increased information to this Department for use in the administration of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act. However, we defer to the Department of the Interior as to the need for this provision. The provisions of that part of the proposed amendment dealing with the labeling of products registered under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act would appear to create the possibility of a conflict of authority between the Secretary of Agriculture an the Secretary of the Interior in the administration of the act. Further, these provisions are being carried out administratively through an interdepartmental agreement among the Departments of Health, Education, and Welfare: the Interior; and Agriculture developed as a result of the President's Science Advisory Committee report on the "Use of Pesticides." Therefore, this Department does not recommend enactment of H.R. 4157. The Bureau of the Budget advises that there is no objection to the presentation of this report from the standpoint of the administration's program. Sincerely yours, ORVILLE L. FREEMAN, Secretary. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, EDUCATION, AND WELFARE, June 15, 1965. Hon. HERBERT C. BONNER, Chairman, Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries, House of Representatives, Washington, D.C. DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: This letter is in response to your request of February 5, 1965, for a report on H.R. 4157, a bill to amend the act of August 1, 1958, in order to prevent or minimize injury to fish and wildlife from the use of insecticides, herbicides, fungicides, and pesticides. Section 1 of H.R. 4157 would require the Secretary of the Interior on the basis of studies of the effects of insecticides, herbicides, fungicides, or pesticides on fish and wildlife, to transmit to the Secretary of Agriculture information as to how, in the use of such chemicals, injury to fish and wildlife can be prevented or minimized. The Secretary of Agriculture, in consultation with the Secretary of the Interior, would be required to have such information appear on the label of each package of pesticides which is required to be labeled under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act. Section 2 of H.R. 4157 would authorize the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a program of evaluating chemicals proposed for use as pesticides, to determine whether the chemicals are harmful or hazardous to fish and wildlife; to distribute data showing the effects of pesticides on fish and wildlife; and to operate and maintain facilities necessary to these purposes. It also provides for an increase in the present appropriations ceiling for the Department of Interior. We are in accord with the objectives of this bill to give due consideration to the interests of conservation of fish and wildlife in the regulation of pesticides. We believe, however, that section 1 of the bill in regard to labeling is unnecessary. In 1964 an interdepartmental agreement was entered into between the Departments of Agriculture, Interior, and Health, Education, and Welfare to coordinate the activities of the three departments pertaining to pesticides. This agreement outlines the responsibilities of the respective departments which relate to the registration of pesticides and the setting of tolerances for pesticide residues. The agreement further provides that each department will undertake to keep each of the other departments fully informed of developments in knowledge on this subject from research or other sources which may come into its possession. The agreement also outlines the procedures to implement these interdepartmental coordination procedures. This interdepartmental agreement is intended to provide a mechanism for the efficient coordination of matters relating to pesticides which section 1 of H.R. 4157 undertakes to remedy. A copy of this agreement is attached for your information. We defer to the views of the Department of the Interior with respect to section 2 of the bill. We are advised by the Bureau of the Budget that there is no objection to the presentation of this report from the standpoint of the administration's program. Sincerely, WILBUR J. COHEN, Under Secretary. |