New Jersey-2010-AR173-Introduced

An Assembly Resolution urging the United States Department of Agriculture to support, and the United States Environmental Protection Agency to approve, the State's application for Section 18 registration of an insecticide to eradicate the brown marmorated stink bug in the State.

Whereas, The "Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act" ("FIFRA"), 7 U.S.C. s.136 et seq., and the rules and regulations adopted pursuant thereto, govern the use of insecticides, fungicides, and rodenticides nationwide; and

Whereas, FIFRA authorizes the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to approve labeling of insecticides, and the labeling dictates the approved uses of the insecticide, which cannot be deviated from unless an exemption is registered pursuant to section 18 of FIFRA; and

Whereas, This exemption is commonly referred to as "Section 18 registration," and under that provision, a federal or state agency may apply to the EPA to use an insecticide in a specific emergency on a pest for which the insecticide is not labeled therefor by the EPA; and

Whereas, The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, the New Jersey Department of Agriculture, Rutgers University Department of Entomology, and the Rutgers Cooperative Extension Integrated Pest Management Program, operating as a working group to find solutions to the brown marmorated stink bug infestation, have documented that none of the usual insecticides in their usual applications are effective on the bug; and

Whereas, The brown marmorated stink bug, once thought to be only a nuisance, has since been found to be extremely destructive to agriculture, especially in its current large numbers; and

Whereas, While the population of other insects that are pests to agriculture often ebb with the closing of the growing season, the brown marmorated stink bug population does not - overwintering in people's homes, continuing to grow and multiply, and ready to emerge in spring to cause more damage to plants and crops; and

Whereas, The brown marmorated stink bug population has grown exponentially since 1996 when it was first identified in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and has now significantly infested 30 of the 50 United States, of which New Jersey is one with a particularly severe infestation; and

Whereas, The brown marmorated stink bug is not native to the United States of America and has no known natural predator to reduce its population; and

Whereas, Although efforts are being made to identify a natural predator in Asia and promote its use in the United States, it may take years or decades to accomplish this goal, and the extent and rapidity of the bug's destructiveness to fruits and vegetables grown and distributed in the State is unprecedented; and

Whereas, The working group has identified an insecticide that is not labeled for use on the brown marmorated stink bug, but which may be effective in reducing its population and safe to use for this purpose in certain circumstances or in different concentrations for agricultural and residential applications; and

Whereas, The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and the New Jersey Department of Agriculture are seeking Section 18 registration of the insecticide for use on the brown marmorated stink bug population in the State; now, therefore,

Be It Resolved by the General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

1. The United States Department of Agriculture is urged to support, and the United States Environmental Protection Agency is urged to approve, New Jersey's application for Section 18 registration, under the "Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act," of an insecticide to eradicate the brown marmorated stink bug in the State.

2. Duly authenticated copies of this resolution, signed by the Speaker of the General Assembly and attested to by the Clerk of the General Assembly, shall be transmitted to the President and Vice President of the United States, the Administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the United States Secretary of Agriculture, the Governor and the Lieutenant Governor, the Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, the Secretary of the New Jersey Department of Agriculture, the President of Rutgers, The State University, and the directors of the Rutgers University Department of Entomology and the Rutgers Cooperative Extension Integrated Pest Management Program.

STATEMENT

This resolution urges the United States Department of Agriculture to support, and the United States Environmental Protection Agency to approve, the State's application for Section 18 registration, under the "Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act," of an insecticide to eradicate the brown marmorated stink bug in the State.