Protect Our Farmers and Families Act of 2025
The Protect Our Farmers and Families Act of 2025 (H.R. 5196) would immediately end the use of the pesticide diquat in the United States. Introduced by Mrs. Luna and referred to the Agriculture and Energy & Commerce committees, the bill uses the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) and the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act) to cancel all registrations of diquat, revoke any tolerances or exemptions for diquat residues in food, and bar the sale or use of any existing stocks. It also prohibits the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from re-registering diquat in the future. The enactment date marks the key turning point, after which diquat would be effectively removed from the market and from use on crops. In short, the bill would remove diquat from commercial availability and agricultural practice, force a transition to alternative weed-control methods, and remove any allowance for diquat residues in food. It sets up a rapid federal action to address concerns about diquat’s environmental effects, with no built-in phase-out period.
Key Points
- 1Immediate cancellation of all diquat registrations under FIFRA (7 U.S.C. 136 et seq.), deeming diquat to generally cause unreasonable adverse effects on the environment.
- 2Revocation of all tolerances and exemptions for diquat residues in or on foods under the FD&C Act (21 U.S.C. 346a), effective upon enactment.
- 3Prohibition on the sale and use of existing stocks of diquat beginning on the date of enactment.
- 4Prohibition on any future reregistration of diquat under FIFRA section 4 (no new registration attempts allowed).
- 5Transfer of authority and timelines: EPA would carry out registration cancellation, tolerance revocation, and stock prohibitions within the framework of the act, all effective on enactment; no transitional exemptions are specified in the text.