The Vermont Senate on Friday voted 25-2 to advance a bill that bans neonicotinoid coated seeds in Vermont starting in 2029, and restricts spraying the chemicals on other crops.
The pesticides are toxic to bees, and more than a thousand peer reviewed studies compiled in a literature review by scientists at Cornell University have found they don't offer farmers much of an economic benefit.
However, the vast majority of corn and soy seeds in America are treated with neonicotinoids prophylactically to fend off the stubborn pest seedcorn maggot.
Members of the Senate Committee on Agriculture initially recommended the ban go into effect in 2031, after they heard much testimony from dairy farmers who expressed concern about the deadline, but an amendment Friday restored the 2029 deadline — which parallels the one set by New York state, which is also phasing the chemicals out of use.
The Vermont House passed its version of the bill, which included the 2029 deadline, with strong support earlier this year.
Orleans Sen. Bobby Starr, a Democrat who chairs the agriculture committee, told colleagues the 2031 deadline represented a compromise with farmers and that he introduced it expecting there would be a committee of conference, where House lawmakers would negotiate back to a 2030 ban.
He said farmers want to let New York’s ban go into effect first.
"We’ve put up with this [neonicotinoids] for 20-odd years. What’s wrong with doing one more year? And it’ll be over with and we’ll move into another era and give our farmers hopefully a better product to use.”Sen. Bobby Starr, D-Orleans County
“It was hard to get the people that even use this seed to agree to anything other than doing away with the bill,” Starr said. “And our farmers are good people to work with. They’re reasonable, considerate … I’ve worked with these people, their dads and grandparents, over the years. And you know, it’s very little to ask of us. I mean, we’ve put up with this [neonicotinoids] for 20-odd years. What’s wrong with doing one more year? And it’ll be over with and we’ll move into another era and give our farmers hopefully a better product to use.”
While data indicates crop yields in Ontario and Quebec, which have already banned the seeds, have remained steady, Starr said Vermont dairy farmers want to see how untreated seeds will perform in New York, which they say has a more similar climate to that of Vermont.
But Sen. Ginny Lyons, a Democrat from Chittenden County who chairs the Senate Committee on Health and Welfare, disagrees.
She introduced the amendment Friday to restore the 2029 deadline, citing a letter several medical professionals shared with lawmakers this week expressing their concern about the pesticides’ impacts on human health.
“We’ve known for many years about the concerns about these chemicals that we have wonderfully produced to protect ourselves and allow our food to grow, and we respect the work that’s happened in the past, but now we know more,” she said, speaking on the Senate floor.
The chamber was divided in its vote to adopt Lyons’ amendment, which passed by a narrow margin of 15 to 12. Democrats from the Northeast Kingdom and Bennington joined Republicans and members of the agriculture committee in voting against restoring the 2029 deadline.
However, when the chamber voted on the final bill, it passed by a vote of 25-2, with Sens. Robert Norris, a Republican from Franklin County, and Russ Ingalls, a Republican from Essex County, casting the no votes.
Paul Burns with the environmental nonprofit Vermont Public Interest Research Group applauded the Senate’s work on the bill and said his group supports the 2029 effective date.
“You know, it’s really pretty incredible,” he said. “Everybody believes that we should do this now, and so one way or another [it looks as though] we’re going to have this.”
“We’ve known for many years about the concerns about these chemicals that we have wonderfully produced to protect ourselves and allow our food to grow, and we respect the work that’s happened in the past, but now we know more,”Sen. Ginny Lyons, D-Chittenden
And while Vermont’s Agriculture Innovation Board, which was created to make recommendations about policy and pesticide use, urged caution in banning treated seeds — something many dairy farmers told the Senate agriculture committee they support — the Champlain Valley Farmer Coalition and beekeepers across the state have expressed support for the 2029 deadline.
The Senate’s version of the bill makes Vermont’s policy contingent upon New York’s law remaining in effect, such that Vermont’s ban would be lifted if New York repeals its ban. It also binds Vermont’s timelines to New York’s regulations, so that if the state delayed or paused some piece of the ban, Vermont would do the same.
Additionally, the chamber rolled back restrictions the House proposed on treating golf courses and lawns with the chemicals and adjusted a process for farmers to apply for an exemption, to make it more closely align with the system in New York’s law.
The House will have to approve the Senate version before it can go to the governor’s desk, where it’s anticipated he will veto the bill. If that happens, it appears lawmakers will have a strong chance at mounting an override effort.
Conor Casey, chief of staff to Speaker Jill Krowinski, said Friday they will be reviewing the bill and speaking to members over the weekend to “focus next steps.”
If the bill becomes law, Vermont would become the second state in the country to ban the pesticides.
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