The House has voted unanimously, 65-0, in favor of the amended version of HB 487a, the bill brought by the cropduster industry to reduce regulation of pesticide spraying by the Idaho Department of Agriculture. Amendments to the bill in the Senate added back some of the language that was removed from the state law; other aspects were left to negotiated rulemaking. The Senate amendments caused the Food Producers of Idaho to drop its opposition to the bill.
The industry brought the bill this year after last year, farm workers in a field in Parma were sickened and hospitalized when a cropduster sprayed the field next to them. Lawmakers also have approved a sales tax exemption for agricultural aviation aircraft this year.
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