Pollinator Cluster Work

Next Coalition Meeting: Tuesday, 11/28 at 9 AM

Agenda:
Updates for initiatives
Legislators, committees

Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86884500968

by phone:  Call 312 626 6799, Meeting ID: 868 8450 0968

Pollinator Coalition Purpose: The Minnesota Environmental Partnership Pollinator Cluster is a coalition of conservation groups and individuals working together for actions to protect pollinators in Minnesota and beyond. Groups include Pollinator Friendly Alliance, Pollinate Minnesota, Xerces Society, Audubon Society, Wild Ones, Humming for Bees, Pesticide Action Network, Land Stewardship Project, Beyond Pesticides, Sierra Club, NRDC, and others. Despite the fact that pollinators are responsible for our most nutritious foods, crucial for biodiversity, create the broad base of the food chain and pollinate our natural world, pollinators are in peril. Major threats include pesticide use, loss of biodiverse habitat, degradation and fragmentation of land, and climate change. Major issues for this coalition include, but are not limited to improving habitat, reducing pesticide use, supporting healthy food systems, legislative actions that favor protection of pollinator species.

Read: Pollinator Cluster Statement here

2023-2024 Initiatives:

  • Neonic/systemic insecticide ban on non-ag use: Lead: Lucas/Margot/Rosemary/Greg

    Lucas and Greg will connect and report back at next meeting on strategy. (include PFAS language)

  • Highways for Habitat program - MNDOT did not implement last year’s statute. This year, our goal is expansion to county and local roadways: Lead: Laurie/Joe / Rich / Chris. We are meeting with counties to garner support for voluntary county roadside buffer program.

  • Treated seed - develop regulatory program: Lead: Lucas/Lori / Rosemary

    Lucas setting up meeting with Rep. Hansen to discuss drafting bill. (include PFAS language)

  • Regulatory Neglect / Polluter capture, agency follow through, enforcement: Lead: Sierra Club National, Lois Norrgard and MEP Laurie, Greg, Joe, Lori.

    Sierra Club is leading this initiative. Our coalition wants to include specific examples of lack of enforcement to include in their factsheet/letter/press release. If you have a specific examples of lack of enforcement - please email lnorrgard@comcast.net

  • Farm buffers for health and diversity (non-legislative action, agency BWSR). Lead: Howard / Wild Ones

    Howard wants to meet with BWSR to find out their ability / interest to support buffers.

Many of these issues are interrelated - clean water, healthy soil, food, environment, pesticide contamination and pollinator protections. Other related issues include nitrogen levels from industrial ag, wetland protection, the sale of chlorpyrifos are banned but they can still be used, ethanol pollution, PFAS forever chemical contamination, groundwater protection, agricultural buffers, pesticide drift and unlawful use.

Strategies:

  • Pressure governor and governors staff

  • Biden conservation plan by 2030: wildlife are going to be measured - use this to influence

  • Human health angle

  • Science

  • PFAS forever chemicals in pesticides and contaminating land, air, water

    List of 2023-2024 Committees

2022-2023 Initiatives

  • 12/2022 Legislation is being written: Prohibit system insecticides and pesticide-coated seed on DNR-managed lands including state parks, state forests, wildlife management areas and scientific & natural areas for the protection of water, people and wildlife. This includes enforcing a standardized land lease which prohibits the same for agricultural lands which reside on public lands. When these agricultural leases expire, they should not be renewed rather should be converted back to native habitat. Lead: Greg Larson

  • 12/20222 Legislation is being written: Highways for habitat will establish a state program to significantly enhance roadsides with needed pollinator habitat and pollution buffers to protect declining pollinator and bird populations and protect water, land and air. This program would require ecologically sound best management practices for the state of minnesota, and offer a voluntary funding opportunity for counties and municipalities to install roadside habitat. Lead: Laurie Schneider, Don Arnosti

  • Reduce systemic insecticide use in Minnesota - this initiative is to be defined and could involve: regulating pesticide coated seed as a pesticide, storage and handling rules for pesticide-coated seed, ban on non-agricultural systemic insecticides. Lead: Erin Rupp

2021-2022 Initiatives

1/15/2023: Testimony to study neonic contamination in mammals

8/10/2022: Read letter to Environmental Quality Board with our cluster recommendations on actions to protect pollinators in Minnesota

Beyond Pesticides statement to EPA on removal of pesticides actions needed: https://www.beyondpesticides.org/assets/media/documents/10_25_21_%20Massive%20Reforms%20in%20EPAs%20OPP%20campaign.pdf

Ongoing 8/2022: Prohibit synthetic insecticide and pesticide-coated seed use on DNR-managed lands

including state parks, state forests, scientific and natural areas, wildlife management areas and aquatic management areas. (5.6 million acres).
STATUS: On 12/1/21, the Natural Heritage Advisory Committee recommended the DNR Commissioner implement this proposal. 2/15/22: The proposal is on Katie Smith’s desk in the DNR Commissioner’s office and “under review” with no end date for action.

Read request to DNR here | Watch video here

Impaired waters announcement

Article on mis-management by DNR

Operational Order #59 on Pesticide Use on DNR Managed Lands

DNR Pesticide Committee Guidelines

MEP Pollinator & Wildlife Letter to DNR to remove pesticides from DNR Managed Lands

List of additional insecticides to prohibit on DNR lands, developed by Xerces Society

Operational Order #137 Annual Cropping on DNR lands

National Wildlife Federation report on rented agricultural lands on public lands (see page 9)

Summary of Dr. Jenks research on neonic effects to wildlife by PBS

In Senate/House transportation committee 4/2022: Highways for Habitat Read Bill HF4313 / SF4110 here.

Establish a statewide program to increase habitat corridors and pollution buffers along state highways and county roadways. State and county roadside managers will need to use integrated vegetation management protocol and plant habitat (hedgerows, native plants and tree buffers) for birds, pollinators and wildlife.
STATUS: Minnesota Legislative Revisors Office is writing the bill. We invite groups to support by adding their name to the proposal and be ready to testify when the bill is in legislative committee. Read proposal here

Highways for Pollinators: Buffer Strips and Best Practices for DOT

(Infrastructure promise “congress invest in bees”)


Support property rights for local communities

to have natural/native landscaping in yards. Read Rep. Rick Hansen’s HF 2618 bill proposal here | Read article here
STATUS: Rep. Rick Hansen authored bill HF 2618 and has been approved by two legislative committees.

Policy change - meetings with state MDA, PCA 6/2022: Move pesticide regulation from MDA to Minnesota Pollution Control.

Pesticide regulation and enforcement is provided to the Minnesota Department of Agriculture Commissioner’s office via statute 18B.03 since 1987, and more recently included pollinator enforcement. Since that time, MPCA, MDA, DNR and other state agency reporting shows increased levels of agricultural chemical residues in our air, soil and water, with an increasing number of water bodies and legacy degradations occurring throughout the state, found in MPCAs Impaired Waters list. Since ability to regulate, enforce, or pass legislation has not been successful to further restrict, mitigate, enforce or remove these residues from the environment by MDA, an investigation into moving mandated enforcement powers from MDA to MPCA has been sought.
STATUS: Meetings were requested with MDA and two representatives from Environment & Ag Committees to discuss. Read factsheet here.

2021 Initiatives, Legislation

Read: “The Wins and Losses of Minnesota’s Legislative Session 2021” by Minnesota Environmental Partnership here

AGRICULTURE - BLOCKED BY SENATE, CHAIR BILL INGEBRIGTSEN:

  • Treated Seed Rulemaking: Section 9 caution statement on neonic treated seed bags, Section 10 bans treated seed to be used for food (Dept of Ag only supported Section 10), feed, oil, or ethanol feedstock and Section 11 deals with proper disposal of treated seed.

  • State ban on the highly toxic pesticide, chlorpyrifos

  • Dicamba enforcement money from raised pesticide fees amendment

  • Increase in pesticide registration fees for research

ENVIRONMENT - BLOCKED BY SENATE, CHAIR TORREY WESTROM

  • Prohibit toxic neonicotinoid and chlorpyrifos pesticide use in protected wildlife areas

  • DNR bumble bee license plate money

  • Authority back to local communities for local pesticide use

  • Treated seed rulemaking

  • Republican senators held up the entire environmental bill over the clean car rule and forced Laura Bishop to resign from Minnesota Pollution Control Agency criticizing her support of clean cars in Minnesota.

ENVIRONMENT - PASSED.

  • Lawns to Legumes funding held up from last year, and funding for this year, 2 million.

  • Soil healthy farming policy language in partAlthough we did not pass the full 100% Soil-Healthy Farming bill or the compromise "30% soil-healthy farming by 2030" goal. $1.35 million for the Board of Water and Soil Resources (BWSR) to administer a cost-share program for implementing farming practices that build soil health and improve water quality.

LEGISLATORS TO THANK FOR AUTHORING AND SUPPORTING PROVISIONS: Rick Hansen, Reps Van and Morrison, Chair Sundin. House leaders Hortman and Winkler.

Reverse Preemption: HF718 / SF1642 Delegate authority to local communities to give them control over pollinator-lethal pesticide use on public and private property. 

Program for farmers to evaluate the need for pesticide coated seed (not a bill):  HF701 This bill is the Soil Healthy Farming bill that the Land Stewardship Project is backing.  

Label coated seed as pesticide: HF766 / SF794 Prevent treated seeds from being used in ethanol plants. While this bill does not necessarily regulate seed as a pesticide which is what we originally asked for, it does include proper disposal of excess corn or soybean seed treated or coated with neonics and that those seeds cannot be used or sold as food, feed, oil, or ethanol feedstock any seed treated or coated with neonicotinoid pesticide. SF1594 is the language originally introduced by the department of agriculture in 2017 as it was recommended by their own Neonicotinoid Review of 2106. Read testimony here

Prohibit neonicotinoids and chlorpyrifos in protected wildlife management areas:  HF1210 / SF1312, "Section 1. [97A.138] INSECTICIDES ON STATE LANDS.  A person may not use a product containing an insecticide in a wildlife management area, state park, state forest, aquatic management area, or scientific and natural area if the insecticide is from the neonicotinoid class of insecticides or contains chlorpyrifos." Also HF670 Chief Author Kelly Morrison is a statewide ban of chlorpyrifos.

Support pollinator corridors: HF30/SF166 include $900k this year for Lawns to Legumes. HF151/SF690 includes $993k next year for Lawns to Legumes.

Insecticide fee increase to pollinator research: HF408, HF1450 Hansen and SF1595 Murphy calls for "Pollinator lethal insecticide fee increased, and fee revenue allocated to pollinator research” with companion bills that increase pesticide fees and make

Neonics in deer spleen study results: Under much pressure the DNR finally released some preliminary results regarding their neonics in deer study. PAN has submitted a data request for the study results and the underlying data but so far no word from DNR one way or another.

Water Quality Standards for Neonics clothianidin and imidacloprid: Call or write the PCA to develop water quality standards for the levels of neonics in the PCA’s 2021 workplan. Open comment period until April 9, 2021.

Pollinators Need More Than a Lottery Ticket to Survive (Mpls Tribune, Karin Winegar, April 2021 for MEP Cluster)

It’s going to take more than a bumble bee lottery scratch off to save pollinators. In the current legislative session, pollinator advocates, farmers, scientists and conservationists introduced a record number of bills regarding the use of toxic pesticides to the Minnesota legislature. 

A coalition of nearly 40 national and local conservation groups including the Xerces Society, Land Stewardship Project, and Audubon Society brought forward five bills intended to abate or halt pesticide exposure in urban and rural areas, backyards, school yards, croplands, wildlife refuges and communities.  Among their efforts to enact environmentally protective legislation are bills banning chlorpyrifos, an organophosphate pesticide known for its damaging effects on the human nervous system, especially in children. It is highly toxic to animals and pollinators and is now a common contaminate in U.S. drinking water.

Another key effort by the coalition is legislation that would restrict the use and disposal of pesticide-coated corn and soy seed treated with neonicotinoids, a systemic pesticide. (“Neonics” have been banned for outdoor use by the European Union since 2018).  Neonicotinoids remain the most common pesticides in Minnesota agriculture. Currently, pesticide-coated seeds are not handled as hazards in Minnesota since they fall into the same loophole category with pesticide-treated wood, plants, and seeds called “treated articles.”

An additional proposal would ban both neonicotinoids and chlorpyrifos from use in wildlife refuges, and another would give local communities jurisdiction over pesticide use for their own communities.

The proposed environmentally protective bills are facing opposition largely by Republican legislators. Rep. John Burkel (Dist. 1A) wanted to strip the treated seed provisions out of the Minnesota agriculture omnibus bill.  Sen. Bill Ingebrigtsen (Dist. 8) is trying to strip all provisions in the environment bills for pollinator protections including the successful Lawns to Legumes program. These and other legislators, according to coalition members, are influenced by multi-billion dollar agriculture and pesticide companies. (Read more here)

Research shows the current lack of adequate federal or state safeguards and enforcement in the handling, use and disposal of pesticides have resulted in widespread exposure of these carcinogenic substances, documented water contamination, food contamination, lethal and sublethal effects to pollinators, birds, deer, wildlife and humans. (read more effects on birds) (read more effects on white tailed deer)

Minnesota lags behind other states in several respects such as imposing a ban on chlorpyrifos, which has been adopted by Hawaii and California. In August 2018, a federal court ruled that the EPA must ban chlorpyrifos nationwide, and New York is leading a coalition of state attorneys general in suing the EPA for not yet enforcing a nationwide ban.

Although educational efforts to increase public awareness of the dangers of pesticide remain important, it’s not enough - legislation is required to adequately address insecticide pollution.  

According to agricultural ecologists in the coalition, there are alternate methods to synthetic chemical use available to farmers, including regenerative practices. These non-toxic methods emphasize soil health, protecting pollinators and water quality and are increasing in popularity.

Farmer Lori Cox, owner of Roots Return Heritage Farm in Carver Minnesota, uses these chemical-free methods. Cox testified over the past month in both the agriculture and environmental committees of the Minnesota legislature to help pass this legislation.

“Some ag sectors believe it is a threat to their revenue, others don’t know how to make a change and it is difficult for them,” she said, explaining the resistance. “If Minnesota ag is to succeed at all, Covid has taught us it needs to succeed not just in certain sectors. To have a good, workable, accessible, profitable ag system throughout Minnesota, we have to grow it locally which includes our pollinator communities. The new group of emerging farmers in the last decade are important in our own communities and food sheds. The 2019 Minnesota Department of Agriculture study defined the profile of our new emerging farmer, and it spoke of these alternative ways, caring for the land and no use of chemicals.”

There’s an urgency in Lori’s voice that matches the urgency of beekeeper and President of Pollinator Stewardship Council, Steve Ellis “the science is here, and we have seen the evidence in our state and around the world. We are running out of time – it’s long past time for Minnesota to step up and take action as pollinator species continue to decline at disturbing rates.”

Other Policy Work:

2021 Letter to MN Environmental Quality Board regarding Pollinator Protection Team, read here.

Who to Contact, State of MN Legislature?

State representatives work for us (the people) and need direction - emails, phone calls and letters are encouraged to make our voice heard. Find out who your state legislators are here

Also, contact Governor Walz who has input on the final outcome of most bills

After a bill is proposed, it is heard, discussed and voted on in “committees”. The representatives on these committees decide by voting if the bill will pass and sometime amend the bill. The committees in the Minnesota House and Senate then discuss and vote on their combined bills for a final vote which also includes a vote from the Governor.

Following are the committees that hear most of the pollinator protection bills:

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVE COMMITTEES
Agriculture Finance & Policy
Climate & Energy Finance & Policy
Environment & Natural Resources Finance & Policy
Transportation Finance

SENATE COMMITTEES
Agriculture & Rural Development Finance & Policy
Environment & Natural Resources Finance
Environment & Natural Resources Policy & Legacy Finance

seed list