USDA Drops Rules Requiring Farmers to Record Their Use of the Most Toxic Pesticides
June 03, 2025 | Source: Civil Eats | by Lisa Held
June 3, 2025 – Many farmers will no longer have to keep any records of when, where, or how they’re using pesticides known to pose the highest risks to human health and the environment after a recent change made by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
On May 12, the agency rescinded regulations on the books since the 1990s that required farmers to record basic details about their use of pesticides classified as “restricted use.” Farmers were required to record the chemical’s name, date of use, volume, location, and type of crop treated, and to keep the records for two years.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) classifies pesticides as “restricted use” (RUPs) when they are known to cause serious health and environmental harms when used without following specific precautions outlined on the label. The EPA’s current list of RUPs is 45 pages long and includes products containing chemicals such as paraquat, atrazine, and chlorpyrifos, which are linked to health harms like Parkinson’s disease and birth defects.