[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2609 Introduced in House (IH)]







105th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2609

 To make a regulatory correction concerning methyl bromide to meet the 
obligations of the Montreal Protocol without placing the farmers of the 
  United States at a competitive disadvantage versus foreign growers.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 6, 1997

Mr. Miller of Florida (for himself, Mr. Condit, Mr. Pombo, Mr. Thomas, 
  Mr. Canady of Florida, Mr. Bishop, and Mrs. Thurman) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Commerce, and in 
     addition to the Committee on Agriculture, for a period to be 
subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration 
  of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 
                               concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To make a regulatory correction concerning methyl bromide to meet the 
obligations of the Montreal Protocol without placing the farmers of the 
  United States at a competitive disadvantage versus foreign growers.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Methyl bromide is a broad spectrum pesticide which 
        protects plants and agricultural products from a wide range of 
        insects, rodents, viruses, fungi, weeds, and nematodes.
            (2) American farmers depend on methyl bromide to grow, 
        store, ship, process, and trade over 100 different crops.
            (3) The agricultural community has no safe, effective, 
        commercially available alternatives to methyl bromide. Some 
        nonchemical pest control alternatives have proven effective in 
        small scale tests but are largely untested, much less proven, 
        for commercial food production purposes. The Environmental 
        Protection Agency's Office of Prevention, Pesticides, and Toxic 
        Substances reports that few substitutes exist, all of which 
        pose potential human health and environmental risks.
            (4) In 1992, the Montreal Protocol on Substances Depleting 
        the Ozone Layer was amended to include methyl bromide.
            (5) According to the 1992 Science Assessment Report to the 
        Montreal Protocol, agricultural use of methyl bromide accounts 
        for less than 3 percent of the threat to the ozone layer, and a 
        similar report issued in 1994 notes that the Earth's ozone 
        layer will return to normal by the middle of the next century 
        even if methyl bromide remains available to farmers.
            (6) In 1993, despite the importance of methyl bromide, the 
        lack of alternatives, and many scientific uncertainties, the 
        Environmental Protection Agency, citing the Montreal Protocol, 
        listed methyl bromide as an ozone depleting chemical under the 
        provisions of the Clean Air Act and ordered United States 
        production frozen at 1991 levels and an end to production by 
        January 1, 2001.
            (7) Given current alternatives, analysis at the University 
        of Florida predicts a 43 percent decline in affected vegetable 
        acreage in Florida. A 1993 United States Department of 
        Agriculture study finds that the ban will cost as much as 
        $1,500,000,000 in Florida, Georgia, California, North Carolina, 
        and South Carolina, the 5 States where methyl bromide is most 
        utilized.

SEC. 2. CONTROL OF METHYL BROMIDE.

    (a) Definitions.--For purposes of this section:
            (1) The term ``use as a pesticide'' includes farming and 
        post-harvest uses.
            (2) The term ``pesticide'' has the same meaning as when 
        used in the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide 
        Act.
            (3) The term ``control'' means, with respect to any 
        substance, any ban, phase-out, or other restriction on the 
        production, importation, export, consumption, or use of the 
        substance.
            (4) The term ``Administrator'' means the Administrator of 
        the Environmental Protection Agency.
    (b) Restrictions on EPA Authority.--Except as provided in 
subsection (c) or (d), the Administrator may not--
            (1) control the production, importation, or export of the 
        substance methyl bromide pursuant to title VI of the Clean Air 
        Act (42 U.S.C. section 7671-7671q) for consumption or use as a 
        pesticide;
            (2) control the consumption or use of methyl bromide as a 
        pesticide; or
            (3) require the labelling of any agricultural product 
        treated with methyl bromide.
    (c) Existence of Substitutes or Alternatives.--The Administrator 
may take any action described in paragraph (1), (2), or (3) of 
subsection (b), or any combination of such actions, if the Secretary of 
Agriculture has certified by rule that there exist viable, cost-
effective substitutes or other alternatives to the consumption or use 
of methyl bromide as a pesticide for specified agricultural commodities 
and products. If the Secretary has made a certification under this 
paragraph, a control permitted pursuant to such certification shall 
apply only with respect to those specified applications and to those 
specified commodities and products for which the certification is made.
    (d) Montreal Protocol.--The Administrator may take any action 
described in paragraph (1), (2), or (3) of subsection (b), or any 
combination of such actions, if the United States is required by the 
Montreal Protocol to implement a control on the production, 
importation, or export of methyl bromide for consumption or use as a 
pesticide or a control on the consumption or use of methyl bromide as a 
pesticide. The applicability, contents and timing of any such control--
            (1) shall be no more stringent or restrictive than 
        specifically required by the Montreal Protocol,
            (2) shall be equally required of all parties to the 
        Montreal Protocol; and
            (3) shall include all exemptions, exceptions, and other 
        flexibility (including exemptions for production, importation, 
        export, and consumption, for both preshipment and quarantine 
        uses) allowed by the Montreal Protocol.
    (e) Inconsistent EPA Actions.--All rules, standards and other 
regulatory actions promulgated, published, or otherwise issued by the 
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency before the date of 
enactment of this Act are repealed to the extent they impose a control 
which is not specifically required by the Montreal Protocol.
    (f) Savings Clause.--Nothing in this Act shall be construed to 
affect the provisions of 40 C.F.R. Sec. Sec. 82.9, 82.10, 82.11, and 
82.12 (relating to Article 5 parties and transfers), or any other 
regulatory provisions granting exemptions, exceptions, or other 
flexibility not prohibited by the Montreal Protocol.
                                 <all>