The Federal Immunity Provision passed in the House Appropriations Committee on July 22, 2025.
This provision prohibits the EPA from approving a label or taking action inconsistent with a human health assessment by the EPA - locking in labels with outdated science, leaving children exposed to chemicals that will impact their fertility for the next generation. AND this effectively blocks lawsuits against the company and takes away accountability from the company’s for their products. How can they adequately warn if Congress strips funding for label updates?! How can they be held accountable if federal law blocks them from udpating their labels?! They can’t and that’s their plan! They wrote it in a way so that it’s hard to call it “immunity” - but the outcome is the same - companies are not liable for the harmful impacts of their products! With 453 there will be a federal law that blocks their accountability, makes them immune to lawsuits and exposes kids to dangerous chemicals without proper warnings. This is unacceptable!!! ( if you want even more explanation see way below after the phone numbers!)
The floor vote is expected some time in September - but this could change.
1) Next Step is to contact your legislator ahead of floor vote and flag this issue for them. Let them know this issue is a huge problem for you as a voter.
2) Contact the MAHA Caucus - Send a mass email to the House MAHA caucus staffers - Remind the MAHA caucus what is really needed to American’s healthy, Section 453 must be completely removed from the Appropriations Bill.
will.tucker@mail.house.gov, nate.zimpher@mail.house.gov, rob.sar@mail.house.gov, chase.babair@mail.house.gov, susan.falconer@mail.house.gov, matt.tucker@mail.house.gov, will.smith@mail.house.gov, nick.adams@mail.house.gov, bubba.white@mail.house.gov, juliana.dauchess@mail.house.gov, allie.esau@mail.house.gov, james.schroeder@mail.house.gov, jack.ganter@mail.house.gov, quinn.ritchie@mail.house.gov
Here’s more explanation
Section 453 does two very dangerous things:
1) Section 453 blocks federal funding for label updates that are inconsistent with the EPA’s most recent assessments AND therefore restricts those updates to designated time periods and certain types of reviews such as the Human Health Assessment and Carcinogenicity classification. With all the maneuvering this industry does at the EPA – the deadline for these scheduled updates and reviews always gets delayed, with major delays often occurring on the order of decades!! Like glyphosate’s review hasn’t been updated since 1993! The next updates aren't going to happen for another decade, we're talking the late 2030's if they do them on time!
— Section 453 creates a DELAY between when new science can be used on the label – guaranteeing that labels WILL NOT reflect the most up to date scientific information. This delay places children in the crosshairs of developmental toxins that can alter sexual development for the rest of their lives!! Many of the chemicals regulated under FIFRA are known endocrine disruptors with emerging scientific evidence. When funding is blocked for label updates - it delays important scientific information from being included on the labels. This delay puts children at greater risk FOR INFERTILITY!!
2) Section 453 creates a path to IMMUNITY for the entire Pesticide industry and for the 1,200 registered active ingredients. The EPA registered active ingredients are used in over 57,000 products that are currently on the market - and all of those products would receive immunity as well. It applies to German agrochemical giant BAYER and the Chinese Military Company, ChemChina - Syngenta.
Section 453 will make it impossible to successfully sue the pesticide industry for the harms of their products giving them Immunity! (I have checked this with a number of lawyers).
How Section 453 creates “Immunity”:
When someone sues a company for the harmful impacts of their product, they file the lawsuit in the state where they reside, and sue the company for failing to warn under the state's product liability law. But with Section 453 in place – the Federal law will preempt (or override) the state law that was making them accountable for not warning people – and companies will be able to say – “we weren’t allowed to update the label” – "we complied with the federal law". It is called "impossibility preemption"— state law requires them to warn you about a risk, but federal law says the EPA needs to approve all warnings and those warnings can't be inconsistent with the last health assessment, and then by law the company CAN'T warn you about anything that isn't in that health assessment. The case will be dismissed - because they legally were not allowed to update the label with the proper warnings!
Outcome: Companies won’t be held accountable for the harmful impacts of their products. Leaving families, children and the future generation at risk for more and more harmful chemicals. What dangerous chemicals will these companies sell when they know no one can sue?!