Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act Amended to Require Federal EPA Approval

Congress passed sweeping amendments to the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act of 1947, giving the EPA authority to register and approve all pesticides sold in the United States and to cancel registrations that pose unreasonable risk to human health. The 1972 amendments created the legal question — unresolved through 2026 — of whether EPA approval of a pesticide preempts state court tort claims alleging injury. The Monsanto-Bayer glyphosate litigation, generating over $11 billion in state court verdicts, brought this preemption question to the Supreme Court.