Saving America’s Pollinators Act of 2023

Pollination services are a vital part of agricultural production, valued at over $125,000,000,000 globally. According to a 2014 Presidential memorandum, pollinators provide for an annual amount of $24,000,000,000 to the economy of the United States and honey bees account for $15,000,000,000 of such amount. Similarly, pollination services of native pollinators, such as bumblebees, squash bees, and mason bees, contribute over $3,000,000,000 to the United States agricultural economy and are estimated to contribute between $937,000,000 and $2,400,000,000 to the economy of California alone.

One-third of food produced in North America, including nearly 100 varieties of fruits and vegetables such as almonds, avocados, cranberries, and apples, depends on pollination by bees.

Documented incidents of colony collapse disorder and other forms of excess bee mortality have been at a record high, with some beekeepers repeatedly losing 100 percent of their operations. National surveys report an 11-year average loss of 39 percent of honey bee colonies, with the 2020–2021 season representing the highest hive loss on record at over 50 percent.

The national honey crop is down over 29 percent since 2014, and 2021 was the first time in 35 years that honey yield rates dipped below 50 pounds per hive.

According to scientists at the United States Department of Agriculture, current losses of honey bee colonies are too high to confidently ensure the United States will be able to meet the pollination demands for agricultural crops.

More than one-quarter of North American bumble bees are facing risk of extinction, while iconic species like the monarch butterfly and the American bumblebee have declined by 85 percent and 90 percent respectively. More than 70 pollinator species are listed as threatened or endangered, with the rusty patched bumble bee, powesheik skipperling, and Dakota skipper listed within this past decade due, in part, to threats from pesticides.

Scientists have linked the use of a certain class of systemic insecticides, known as neonico-tinoids, to the rapid decline of pollinators and to the deterioration of pollinator health.

Neonicotinoid pesticides cause sublethal effects, including impaired foraging and feeding behavior, disorientation, weakened immunity, delayed larval development, and increased susceptibility to viruses, diseases, and parasites. Numerous reports also document acute, lethal effects from the application of neonicotinoid pesticides.

The overwhelming body of scientific evidence concludes that systemic pesticides, primarily neonicotinoid pesticides, are causing significant damage to a wide range of beneficial invertebrate species, are a key factor in the decline of bees, lead to high levels of freshwater contamination, and pose a global threat to ecosystem services.

Both Canada and the European Union have recently moved to ban outdoor uses of the neonicotinoid pesticides imidacloprid, clothianidin, and thiamethoxam and restrict its use as a seed-coating, citing extreme risks to bees, other insects, the health of waterways, and the overall ecosystem.

Seeds coated with neonicotinoid pesticides are used on nearly 150 million acres across the country, where they cause both acute and chronic bee kills, contribute to pollinator decline, pollute soil and water, and harm wildlife, including threatened and endangered invertebrate and bird species. This seed coating is prophylactic, meaning it is used even where it is not even targeting a specific pest problem. The vast majority of some commodity crops, such as corn, are grown using neonicotinoid pesticide-coated seeds.

Studies have shown that ingestion of a single corn kernel coated with neonicotinoid pesticides using is toxic enough to kill a songbird, while assessments by the Environmental Protection Agency have found that neonicotinoid pesticide seed coatings provide little benefit to overall soybean crop yield, with other agency studies determining that seed coatings in approximately 80 to 90 percent of row crop are unnecessary.

In addition to concerns raised by scientists, Federal agencies and conservationists, State pesticide regulators have urged the Environmental Protection Agency to address the ubiquitous and unregulated use of neonicotinoid pesticide seed coatings and their harmful impacts. The Association of American Pesticide Control Organization’s State FIFRA Issues Research and Evaluation Group has raised concern about the adverse impacts of neonicotinoid pesticide-treated seeds, and has pushed the Environmental Protection Agency for additional measures to protect people and the environment from unregulated use of treated seeds.

In late 2022, the Environmental Protection Agency denied a legal petition to close a loophole that exempts neonicotinoid pesticide seed coatings from the pesticide registration and labeling requirements of the Environmental Protection Agency that are meant to protect people and the environment from harm.

In late 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that the decision of the Environmental Protection Agency to allow new uses of the most recently approved neonicotinoid insecticide, sulfoxaflor, was in violation of the Endangered Species Act. The EPA’s own assessments of sulfoxaflor had found significant harm to pollinators from sulfoxaflor.

In 2022, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service established the Center, with a key task of identifying and coordinating actions across the agency and with other partners to reverse pollinator declines.

Insect biodiversity is essential to the proper functioning of ecosystems, and worldwide declines driven by the expansion of industrial agriculture and systemic use of pesticides use are disrupting pollination, natural pest control, food resources, nutrient recycling, and decomposition services provided by insects.

Since insects constitute the world’s most abundant and speciose animal group and provide critical ecosystem services, such event cannot be ignored and should prompt decisive action to avert a catastrophic collapse of nature’s ecosystems.

Neonicotinoid insecticides play an outsized role in driving pollinator declines in the United States and urgent action on neonicotinoid insecticides has been recommended by scientists as a measure that would provide immediate benefit to restore beleaguered pollinator populations.

Sale of existing stocks prohibited— Effective on the date of enactment of this subsection, the continued sale or use of existing stocks of neonicotinoid pesticides shall be prohibited.

No future neonicotinoid pesticide registrations— Effective on the date of enactment of this subsection, the Administrator may not register any neonicotinoid pesticide under section 4 of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (7 U.S.C. 136a–1).

Treated seeds no longer exempt— Effective on the date of enactment of this subsection, the Administrator shall no longer consider seeds for planting coated with systemic pesticides intended to kill pests of the plant instead of pests of the seed itself as a treated article as defined in section 152.25(a) of title 40, Code of Federal Regulations (or successor regulations).

In general— The Center shall develop and coordinate the policies and activities of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service to conserve pollinators and reverse declines in pollinator populations, taking into account the widespread use of neonicotinoid pesticides, other systemic insecticides, and other pesticides, including by carrying out the following activities:

Administrator— The term “Administrator” means the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.

Center— The term “Center” means the Center for Pollinator Conservation of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.

Neonicotinoid pesticide— The term “neonicotinoid pesticide” means any active ingredient or pesticide product that contains at least 1 of the active ingredients—

Pollinator— the term “pollinator” means—

$3,000,000 for fiscal year 2024 through 2026;

$4,000,000 for fiscal year 2027 through 2030; and

such sums as are necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act thereafter.