BIG WIN FOR BEES! BILL SIGNED INTO LAW BY GOVERNOR KITZHABER!
Beyond Toxics is pleased to announce that Governor Kitzhaber has signed into law the Save Oregon’s Pollinators Act (HB4139-A).
This is the nation’s first statewide legislation passed with the intent to better protect pollinators from the highly toxic class of pesticides called neonicotinoids. The compromise bill passed both the House and Senate with overwhelming bipartisan support.
The bill requires all pesticide applicators to receive training on ways to protect pollinators from pesticide exposure. The pollinator protection information will also be included in applicator licensing exams. The bill also establishes a task force required to study additional bee-protection measures and to work towards offering the 2015 legislature a proposal to protect Oregon’s vitally important pollinators. | Read the final version of the Save Oregon's Pollinators Act (HB4139-A-Engrossed)
TIMELINE OF BILL
- Monday, Feb. 24th: the “Save Oregon’s Pollinator’s Act” (HB4139-A) passed out of the Oregon Senate on a 27-2 vote.
- Monday, Feb. 17th, the Oregon House passed the measure by a large margin: 54 yeahs to 4 nays. And Feb. 19th, the Senate Environment and Natural Resources Committee held a hearing to consider the bill, hearing testimony from Beyond Toxics, the Oregon League of Conservation Voters (OLCV) and the Oregon Nurses Association.
- HB4139 summary
The bill (HB4139-A) will be amended to direct Oregon State University and the Oregon Department of Agriculture to require education and passing a test on pollinator health for licensed pesticide applicators about pollinator protection. The amended bill also creates a task force charged with bringing to the 2015 session new legislation to address the threat that pesticides pose to pollinator health. Emphasis is on four particularly harmful pesticides in the neonicotinoid class: clothianidin, dinotefuran, imidacloprid and thiamethoxam. - For more information on the threat to our pollinators from neonicotinoids and the Oregon bill to protect them, please visit the collaborative web site: www.SaveOregonBees.org.
Return to Save Oregon's Bees home page-->
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Get involved today to help save Oregon's bees from dangerous pesticides! (Photo by Roka Walsh)
There’s an important way to help our work to save Oregon's bees! Become a member of Beyond Toxics TODAY!
After you click on the green button (below), simply choose “Save Oregon's Bees” from the “I want my donation to be designated toward” drop-down option. We need and very much appreciate your support for this project!
- Recommended resources
- Background: The threat to bees
- Read about Cultivating Bee-Friendly Gardens
- Read about Consumer Products to Avoid
- Take action to help Save Oregon’s Bees!
- Beyond Toxics blogs about the decline of bees and the dangers of neonicotinoids
- What are neonicotinoid pesticides?
- Read about the economics of saving bees: Bees by the numbers
- Gardeners Beware 2014 Report
- Read about Eugene, Oregon's ban on neonicotinoid pesticides, the first of it’s kind in the nation
- Save Oregon's Bees Home Page
- Join Beyond Toxics
- Contact us
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