Protect Rural Air, Water, Limit Pesticides
Background
Policies for a healthy rural environment are critical not just for rural residents but also to protect the natural resources on which everyone depends: clean water and air are important for all of us, and these start in rural areas. However, rural communities all too often depend on polluting industries, from mining to industrial agriculture, that compromise their long-term health as well as potential for tourism and other economic opportunities.
State legislators can champion rural environmental health through policies that prioritize clean water and air and limit pesticide use, as well as by regulating polluting industries. These can include measures to keep manure and nitrogen fertilizer from entering waterways and limiting or banning the use of hazardous pesticides like chlorpyrifos,[1] whose use is permitted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency despite the agency also finding that it has no safe use, and pollinator-killing neonicotinoids.
Lawmakers can also ensure that environmental regulatory and enforcement structures in the state are robust. This includes adequate funding for environmental protection agencies and agency authorization to issue penalties for bad actors and repeat violators. If policymakers think that the enforcement agency is not properly enforcing the law, they can advance legislation to hold state agencies accountable.
PFAS
One class of chemicals known as PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) is worth particular note here. [2] These are known as “forever chemicals,” as they take thousands of years to break down. PFAS chemicals are included in a wide range of products, and testing now regularly finds them in drinking water, in many human tissues, and even breast milk. Mounting research links PFAS exposure to multiple kinds of cancer, reproductive damage, endocrine disruption, and impaired fetal development.[3] Remediation is timely and costly.
PFAS is increasingly being found on farms, to devastating effects. The chemicals end up in farm soil from contaminated water, sewage sludge used as fertilizer, and pesticides that may contain traces of PFAS.[4] Farmers who find PFAS contamination lack resources and support for remediation.[5] No longer able to farm on PFAS-contaminated fields, some farmers have lost their farms as a result. Under the Biden Administration, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was active in research, and rulemaking on PFAS, including releasing an important 2024 regulation on PFAS in drinking water.[6] The future of these rules is uncertain, given the Trump Administration’s stated intention to roll back regulations across agencies. States have a critical role to play in addressing the issue[7] – and should be on the lookout for efforts by the pesticide industry to roll back PFAS protections.[8]
Check out FoodPrint for a podcast and more resources on PFAS.
Last updated April 2025
[1] “What You Need To Know About Chlorpyrifos.” EarthJustice, 9 April, 2024. https://earthjustice.org/feature/chlorpyrifos-what-you-need-to-know.
[2] Environmental Protection Agency. PFAS Explained. https://www.epa.gov/pfas/basic-information-pfas.
[3] Lerner, Sharon. “The U.S. Military Is Spending Millions to Replace Toxic Firefighting Foam with Toxic Firefighting Foam.” The Intercept, 10 Feb. 2018, https://theintercept.com/2018/02/10/firefighting-foam-afff-pfos-pfoa-epa/.
[4] Nebeker, Ryan. “The FoodPrint of PFAS.” FoodPrint, 11 Sept. 2023. https://foodprint.org/reports/the-foodprint-of-pfas/#section_3
[5] Schipani, Sam, et al. “Maine Farmers Get Little Help Cleaning Up ‘Forever Chemical’ Contamination.” Bangor Daily News, 1 June 2021, https://bangordailynews.com/2021/06/01/homestead/maine-farmers-get-little-help-cleaning-up-forever-chemical-contamination/.
[6] Environmental Protection Agency. Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS): Final PFAS National Primary Drinking Water Regulation. https://www.epa.gov/sdwa/and-polyfluoroalkyl-substances-pfas.
[7] Hildreth, Kristen, and Shelly Oren. “State and Federal Efforts to Address PFAS Contamination.” National Conference of State Legislatures, 1 Mar. 2021, https://www.ncsl.org/research/environment-and-natural-resources/state-and-federal-efforts-to-address-pfas-contamination.aspx.
[8] Held, Lisa. “Why Are Pesticide Companies Fighting State Laws to Address PFAS?” Civil Eats, 18 Dec. 2024. https://civileats.com/2024/12/18/why-are-pesticide-companies-fighting-state-laws-to-address-pfas/
State Policy Priorities
- Protect surface and groundwater from nitrogen fertilizer contamination.
- Ban winter application of manure.
- Ban hydraulic fracturing or “fracking,” a practice that threatens farmland and groundwater.
- Promote agriculture tourism, activities that provide added value to farmers and landowners in rural areas.
- Ban neonicotinoids and chlorpyrifos (including in seed treatments) and other dangerous pesticides and insecticides that are particularly harmful to pollinators and young children.
- Protect rural residents from exposure to pesticide and herbicide drift and volatilization.
- Regulate the use of PFAS in industrial processes and sale of goods containing PFAS.
- Set maximum contaminant levels for PFAS in drinking water.
- Direct funds for increased testing and environmental remediation of PFAS contamination and compensate farmers harmed by PFAS contamination.
State Examples
- Several states, including Minnesota, prohibit the spreading of nitrogen fertilizer during fall or winter months as a means to protect groundwater. Many states have done this through rulemaking; however, Michigan (2019 MI SB 247) attempted to prohibit the practice through legislation.
- Nebraska (2024 NE LB 1368) is offering incentives for farmers to adopt sustainable agriculture practices, in an effort to reduce nitrogen contamination of surface and ground waters. Minnesota (2024 MN HF 4135) attempted to add “drinking water fees” to certain fertilizers and soil amendments to establish a drinking water assistance program for rural domestic well users.
- Oregon (2023 OR SB 85) revisited how the state regulates concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs), including the spreading of manure in areas with impaired groundwater. The law also reversed parts of the state’s right to farm act, allowing counties to assert control over the siting of livestock operations from neighboring property lines.
- States including Maryland (2017 MD HB 1325) and New York (NY 2019 S 6906) have banned hydraulic fracturing, a practice also known as fracking. New York (NY 2019 S 3392) closed a fracking waste loophole by classifying it as hazardous waste.
- Several states, like Pennsylvania (2021 PA HB 101), have revisited their agritourism laws to shield farmers from liability during agritourism activities. Agritourism helps promote local farms and ranches, while providing value-added income to farmers and ranchers.
Chemicals, including PFAS
- New York (2024 NY SB 1856-A & AB 7640) passed the “Birds and the Bees Protection Act,” the first law in the nation to prohibit the use of neonicotinoid-treated seeds for corn, soybean, and wheat agricultural production.
- Washington (2024 WA SB 5972) passed a law prohibiting the residential use of neonicotinoid pesticides, becoming the 11th state to do so.
- Nebraska (NE 2021 LB507) considered a bill to prohibit neonicotinoid-treated seeds in ethanol production.
- Six states have restricted the use of chlorpyrifos, including Maryland (2020 MD 300). In 2018, Hawai’i (2018 HI SB 3095) was the first state to prohibit the use of chlorpyrifos.
- Several states, including New York (NY 2021 S 7400), have worked on pollinator protection bills, with various aspects of the bill aimed at improving the well-being of honey bees and other critical pollinators. Illinois (2021 IL HB 3357) is considering amending the state’s Bees and Apiaries Act to prohibit a commercial applicator from spraying pesticides toxic to bees on blooming crops when the pesticide application is within one mile of a registered apiary.
- Washington (HB 2478-2016) Requires all state agencies give preference to replacing pollen-rich or nectar-rich noxious weeds with native forage plants that are beneficial to honeybees and other pollinators.
- Maine enacted bills to appropriate funds for soil and groundwater PFAS testing (2021 ME LD 1600), to set maximum PFAS contaminant levels in community water systems, and outline ongoing water monitoring (2021 ME LD 129).
- Minnesota (Sec. 116.943 MN Statutes) passed a law to ban all nonessential uses of PFAS.
- Massachusetts (2024 MA S 39) considered legislation to protect soil and farms contaminated by PFAS, while granting immunity from lawsuits and civil liability to farmers for damages caused by PFAS contamination.
- Michigan’s PFAS Action Response Team promulgated new rules outlining strict PFAS limits in drinking water.
- Alaska recently appropriated funds directing its Department of Environmental Conservation to collect data regarding the quantity of PFAS present in its soil and water, and Colorado established the PFAS Cash Fund to administer both a PFAS takeback and a PFAS grant program in the state.
Many states that have enacted legislation to address soil health choose to address nutrient runoff by incentivizing producers to enhance nutrient cycling on their operations. See Support Farmers and Ranchers Using Responsible, Climate-Friendly Land Practices for examples of bills.
Toolkits
Inspired? Ready to dig in on these issues with your rural neighbors? Our practical communications toolkits will help you connect with new communities through common values. The toolkits provide examples on narrative framing, press release templates, sample talking points, and more.
Click here for the communications toolkit on Promoting Environmental Stewardship.