Pest Management Records Modernization Act

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my good friend from Minnesota (Mr. Walz) for being here to help with this bill today. I also want to thank my good friend and colleague from Oregon, Representative Kurt Schrader, for his leadership on this important piece of legislation.

I rise today in support of H.R. 5714, the Pest Management Records Modernization Act.

Under the current law, the United States Department of Agriculture requires businesses that apply pesticides to maintain and provide access to records on their use, including the product name, amount, approximate date of application, and the location of application of each pesticide used.

While most States allow pesticide applicator businesses to convey information electronically to customers as a way to comply with consumer information requirements, a few States still require that the information be provided in paper or hard copy format. The challenge posed to the industry is not the longstanding consumer information requirements themselves but, rather, the very limited transmission options in certain States.

Today, businesses in virtually all sectors of the economy are going paperless as a way to save costs, increase efficiencies, and, yes, fulfill the range of local, State, and Federal regulatory requirements in a timely and proficient manner. Unfortunately, the transition to a paperless office for many pest management and other pesticide applicator businesses is more difficult than anticipated because of the decades-old State consumer information requirements that mandate transmission of such documents be via paper or hard copy. These requirements are especially disruptive for paperless companies that operate in multiple States, some of which permit electronic conveyance of the required information and others that don't.

The USDA permits records to be retained and conveyed electronically for restricted use pesticide applications. Unfortunately, the overwhelming majority of treatments performed by pest management professionals are general use pesticides.

The Pest Management Records Modernization Act is a commonsense change to existing law that will allow commercial applicators of pesticides to create, retain, and submit pesticide application-related records, reports, and other information in electronic form.

As a member of the House Agriculture Committee, I am proud to be an original cosponsor of H.R. 5714, the Pest Management Records Modernization Act.

I urge my colleagues to support passage of this bipartisan legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source