NCEL participant Vermont State Representative David Zuckerman has alerted NCEL to a nationwide effort of the American Legislative Exchange Council and large agri-business to enact state legislation to prohibit local governments from regulating genetically modified organisms (GMO), particularly seeds, in their county or city. According to information Representative Zuckerman received from the Institute for Social Ecology based in Vermont, legislation has already passed in North Dakota, Pennsylvania and Georgia and has been introduced in Arizona, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Oklahoma and West Virginia.

According to the Institute, this is a direct response to the passage of county-wide bans on the use of genetically engineered plants and animals in three California counties last year, as well as the passage of local resolutions in opposition to GMOs in nearly 100 New England towns and cities. There is a pressing concern that pre-emption provisions may be inserted into important end-of-session bills in many more states, and perhaps also pushed through as a congressional rider on the federal level. The bill language is relatively short and may be identical or similar to the following language found in Senate Bill 2277 that passed this month in North Dakota:

"SECTION 1. A new section to chapter 4-09 of the North Dakota Century Code is created and enacted as follows:
Limitation on authority of political subdivisions regarding seed. A political subdivision, including a home rule city or county, may not adopt or continue in effect any ordinance, resolution, initiative, or home rule charter regarding the registration, labeling, distribution, sale, handling, use, application, transportation, or disposal of seed. This section does not apply to city zoning ordinances."

If you are aware of similar efforts in your state, please let NCEL know. Additional information on this issue and an overview of the legislation and the states it has been introduced in are available at http://www.environmentalcommons.org/gmo-tracker.html. For more information, contact NCEL at adam@ncel.net.

Adam Schafer, Program director
National Caucus of Environmental Legislators
7272 Wisconsin Avenue, Suite 300
Bethesda, MD 20814
301-941-1920
301-941-1265 fax
adam@ncel.net
www.ncel.net