HB424: HB424 Agriculture; clarify that a manufacturer cannot be held liable for failing to warn consumers of health risks above those required by the United States Environmental Protection Agency

Georgia law currently allows lawsuits against fertilizer, plant growth regulator, and pesticide manufacturers or sellers under various legal theories, including claims that a product's label failed to warn users about health risks. This substitute bill adds a new Code section (O.C.G.A. § 2-7-171) to Georgia's pesticide liability law (Article 6 of Chapter 7 of Title 2) stating that, starting January 1, 2026, any pesticide with a label approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the federal Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), or one consistent with the most recent EPA human health risk assessment, will be treated as having a sufficient warning label in any lawsuit under Georgia law concerning a duty to warn. The bill opens with legislative findings about the size of Georgia's agriculture economy, the state's role as a top peanut and cotton producer, reliance on crop protection products, and concerns about dependence on Chinese imports for pesticide ingredients. It repeals conflicting laws and does not include other substantive changes beyond the new Code section.

• Adds a new Georgia Code section (O.C.G.A. § 2-7-171) stating that an EPA-approved pesticide label is a sufficient warning for lawsuits based on any state law duty to warn.
• Applies the protection to labels approved by the EPA under FIFRA or those consistent with the EPA's most recent human health risk assessment for that pesticide.
• Sets the new rule to take effect for pesticides on or after January 1, 2026.
• Includes legislative findings framing the bill as a response to Georgia's reliance on crop protection products and concerns about foreign supply chains for pesticide ingredients.
• Repeals any existing Georgia laws that conflict with the new rule.

Pesticide manufacturers and sellers, who gain a legal shield against failure-to-warn lawsuits when their labels match EPA requirements; Georgia farmers who use pesticides; and consumers or others who might otherwise sue over pesticide-related health harms based on state duty-to-warn claims.

If enacted, Georgians who believe they were harmed by a pesticide and sue under a state law theory that the label should have warned them more thoroughly could find that an EPA-approved label alone defeats that claim, shifting protection standards toward federal approval rather than additional state-law warnings.

• Section 1 lists legislative findings about Georgia's agriculture economy, reliance on crop protection products, and concerns about pesticide ingredient supply chains from foreign sources.
• Section 2 adds new Code Section 2-7-171, defining 'Environmental Protection Agency' and 'FIFRA' for purposes of the new rule.
• Section 2(b) states that starting January 1, 2026, a pesticide label approved by the EPA under FIFRA, or consistent with the EPA's most recent human health risk assessment, is deemed a sufficient warning label in any state law duty-to-warn lawsuit.
• Section 3 repeals all laws and parts of laws that conflict with the Act.

1. 2025-04-04House Withdrawn, Recommitted (House)
2. 2025-02-19House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (House)
3. 2025-02-18House Second Readers (House)
4. 2025-02-13House First Readers (House)
5. 2025-02-12House Hopper (House)

• Steven Meeks (R, HD-178)Primary sponsor
• Robert Dickey (R, HD-134)
• James Burchett (R, HD-176)
• Will Wade (R, HD-009)
• Lauren McDonald (R, HD-026)
• Bruce Williamson (R, HD-112)

• pesticide regulation
• agriculture law
• product liability
• EPA labeling
• farming