By Delia Montgomery
This morning I received a digital letter from our 2nd District Hawai’i Congresswoman Mazie K. Hirono. The letterhead is from the Congress of the United States House of Representatives in DC.
The purpose of sharing is in regard to the House Bill HR 872 and mangrove eradication with poisons encouraged by Monsanto in Hawai’i. There were a lot of comments on BIC and Congresswoman Hirono did vote against the legislation. Accordingly, I think BIC readers may be interested, so here goes …
Dear Ms. Montgomery,
Thank you for contacting me regarding H.R. 872, the Reducing Regulatory Burdens Act of 2011.
The goal of the Clean Water Act (CWA) is to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of our nation’s waters. This law makes it illegal to discharge any pollutant into the waters or wetlands of the United States unless that discharge has been approved by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) or appropriate state authority. This law is vitally important to ensuring water quality, protecting public health, and preserving our environment.
The use of pesticides is governed under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), which empowers EPA to regulate the sale and use of pesticide products. This law requires that EPA analyze these compounds to prevent unreasonable adverse effects on human health and the environment. Pesticides regulated under FIFRA must be used in accordance with their labeled and registered use. The regulatory standard under CWA is more stringent than that of FIFRA.
As you know, H.R. 872 seeks to create a CWA exemption for pesticides regulated under FIFRA. The proponents of this legislation claim that FIFRA’s standard is adequate, and therefore CWA merely presents a situation of “duplicative regulation.”
However, there are serious concerns with the validity of that claim. For example, according to EPA’s 2010 National Summary of State Information, states have reported that approximately 16,599 miles of rivers and streams, 1,380 square miles of bays and estuaries, and 372,020 acres of lakes are currently impaired or threatened by pesticides. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, pesticides have been shown to be present in ground water in 61 percent of agricultural, 55 percent of urban, and 33 percent of mix-land-use areas surveyed.
These are troubling statistics. We must have a better understanding of what exactly has caused this level of contamination, and what the long-term effects on our water, health, and environment are before any statutory changes to CWA should even be contemplated. In addition, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in National Cotton Council v. EPA that EPA create a registration regime for pesticides under the CWA. This permitting regime is scheduled to be prepared by October 31, 2011, and should address this issue without creating statutory exemptions to CWA.
However, on March 31, 2011, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 872 on a 292-130 vote. Based on the concerns I have outlined above, I voted against this legislation. The bill now moves to the United States Senate for consideration. You may want to contact our Senators on this as well, if you have not done so already.
Please do not hesitate to contact me again in the future on this or any other issues of importance to you.
Sincerely,
Mazie K. Hirono
Member of Congress
RELATED POSTS:
Make Noise For Precious Water Before Tuesday
Hawaii Island Mangrove Poisoned: Update on Who is Really Behind the Eradication
Monsanto Insanity Update
Amongst other things, blog contributor Delia Montgomery, d/b/a Chíc Eco, is an agent for environmental farmers, fishermen, designers, and artists.
June 3rd, 2011 at 9:08 pm
So Mazie voted against a bill that was doomed anyway. For nearly two years we’ve heard very little from our representative (who doesn’t even live in the district, as far as I know), but now that she wants to run for Dan Akaka’s Senate seat she’s going to tell us about every thing she does….
June 4th, 2011 at 7:12 am
Though unable to defend Mazie, Mike, I would note the residency thing has been a sham almost since the two-district format was established.
I know of no Congressperson who lived in the district being represented othetr than the late Cec Heftel. Currently neither is sleeping in her own district.
June 4th, 2011 at 7:56 am
Case did, though it was Windward Oahu.
June 4th, 2011 at 10:13 am
As Julia Butterfly Hill once explained, conventional practices are really the natural normal way. It’s the industrial revolution supporting giant corporations that have the public believing “alternative” is not feasible. These companies should be asking us (the public) permission for polluting and not the other way around. A prime example is property owners being forced to post signs to stop our own local gov’t from spraying toxins, — even though these practices are clearly unhealthy to humans and Earth. Non-polluters are not alternative they are the norm! We’re literally at war w/ these corp thugs — there are fatalities and land/sea disasters to prove it. I pray locals demand the switch to respect our aina and ignore the self-destructive unsustainable Feds.
June 4th, 2011 at 12:32 pm
I couldn’t decipher the polit-speak enough to get her point. In any case, it’s hard to take seriously any concerns about chemicals and pesticides from anyone in Monsanto’s pocket.
Why isn’t the non-residency issue ever discussed? I didn’t know that. The least us “outer Islanders” can expect is a resident of our district representing us.
June 4th, 2011 at 12:49 pm
MAHALO Russell, … according to your comments, you got my point/s precisely!
Think about this the next time you see a sign that reads: Organic Farm – Don’t Spray Here. Also know that the farmer has the obligation to mark the property lines for no spray and simply trust that the gov’t employees respect those wishes.
June 4th, 2011 at 2:07 pm
Thanks Delia.
It was Maize’s point I couldn’t decipher!
June 4th, 2011 at 9:13 pm
Regarding Mike’s comment, both Delia and I received this e-mail letter because we had written Mazie Hirono to express our concern about this bill. In this case, I don’t think it is a matter of “telling us everything she does” because she is running for the Senate.
June 5th, 2011 at 2:42 am
I don’t understand what this post is about. Hirono’s letter is pretty clear – HB872 is a Republican-backed bill which adopts the looser regulations of FIFRA for pesticide discharge, instead of the more restrictive ones of the Clean Water Act. She voted against allowing more pesticide discharge. What’s the problem?
June 5th, 2011 at 9:03 am
What does mangrove eradication have to do with pesticide applications? Are people eradicating mangrove trees with pesticides? I think not. These are separate items.
June 5th, 2011 at 9:55 am
Indeed, mangroves are being eradicated w/ pesticides and toxic chemicals WITHOUT EPA assessments. References are in the RELATED POSTS; click on each title to read it. Also, Google “Should We Be Afraid of Monsanto Hawaii?” + view results. Councilman Pete Hoffman presented a video 2 years ago + is mysteriously gone. HR 872 was pushed by chemical lobbyists for a way out of future penalties from water pollution.
June 5th, 2011 at 10:11 am
Mangrove trees are not being eradicated with the use of PESTICIDES. The legislation is about the use of pesticides, not HERBICIDES. You are confusing two very different types of chemicals.
June 5th, 2011 at 11:24 am
Pesticides or herbicides, both nasty stuff. The county has the option of mowing. Why poison us unnecessarily with corrupt Monsanto Round Up? No Spray signs are often ignored.
June 5th, 2011 at 12:55 pm
Hey, Says:, explain the procedure for mowing mangroves. I have friends in Fiji who would love to know that trick.
June 5th, 2011 at 3:40 pm
“Says” brings up a very good point. Evironidiots like Sid Singer ridicule the careful and specifically targeted eradication of invasive Mangroves, yet choose to ignore the thousands of gallons of herbicide dumped annually on our roadsides.
I would give Delia a lot more credibility if she jumped off of pseudo scientist Sid’s “invasives supremacy” bandwagon and attacked the prolific use of Monsanto’s Roundup.
June 6th, 2011 at 6:12 pm
Amongst people who seem to agree that pesticide (or herbicide) use is out of hand there is way too much bickering about semantics and idealology and not enough effort to end or at least slow down this deadly practice. Lets save our venom for Monsanto and quit picking on each other.
July 26th, 2011 at 12:04 pm
Tell Secretary Vilsack that it’s time to protect family farmers and stop letting Big Ag write the rules.
http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/sign/leafygreens/