--- title: HB 424. 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 collection: bills id: 2025-2026/hb424 cite_as: HB 424, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.) canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb424 md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb424.md text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb424/text source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/70269 date: 2025-04-04 status: introduced corpus_version: bills-2026-08-28 license: Public record of the Georgia General Assembly, via LegiScan; see about.md publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice. up: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026.md previous: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb423.md next: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb425.md index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md omitted: votes and history omitted_chars: 249 omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb424.md?full=1 bill_number: HB 424 session: 2025-2026 Regular Session session_slug: 2025-2026 chamber: House bill_type: bill status_date: 2025-02-12 last_action: House Withdrawn, Recommitted sponsors: - Steven Meeks - Robert Dickey - James Burchett - Will Wade - Lauren McDonald - Bruce Williamson text_version: Comm Sub has_text: true legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HB424/2025 upstream_id: 1968170 summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5 topic_tags: - pesticide regulation - agriculture law - product liability - EPA labeling - farming --- # HB 424. 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 ## Text 25 LC 44 3071S The House Committee on Agriculture and Consumer Affairs offers the following substitute to HB 424: A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT To amend Article 6 of Chapter 7 of Title 2 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated,1 relating to liability for use of fertilizers, plant growth regulators, or pesticides, so as to clarify2 that a manufacturer cannot be held liable for failing to warn consumers of health risks above3 those required by the United States Environmental Protection Ag ency with respect to4 pesticides; to provide for legislative findings; to provide for related matters; to provide for5 applicability; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.6 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:7 SECTION 1.8 The General Assembly finds that:9 (1) Agriculture and its related industries contribute over $91 billion to Georgia's economy,10 and Georgia farmers are the backbone of that activity;11 (2) As the nation's largest producer of peanuts and the second largest producer of cotton,12 Georgia farmers rely on inputs to grow their crops and keep yields high;13 (3) Without reliable access to the most widely used crop prote ction products, costs to14 farmers could more than double;15 H. B. 424 (SUB) - 1 - 25 LC 44 3071S (4) A domestic supply chain for crop protection products is cr itical to ensuring farmers16 have access to all the tools they need to grow food and fiber;17 (5) Dependence on Chinese imports for critical ingredients in crop protection products18 creates supply chain vulnerabilities for the United States and opportunities for foreign19 adversaries to restrict access to crop protection products for American farmers; and20 (6) Every effort must be made to strengthen the United States domestic production of21 pesticides, including clarifying regulatory authority of pesticide labeling.22 SECTION 2.23 Article 6 of Chapter 7 of Title 2 of the Official Code of Georg ia Annotated, relating to24 liability for use of fertilizers, plant growth regulators, or p esticides, is amended by adding25 a new Code section to read as follows:26 "2-7-171.27 (a) As used in this Code section, the term:28 (1) 'Environmental Protection Agency' means the United States Environmental29 Protection Agency.30 (2) 'FIFRA' means the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rode nticide Act, 7 U.S.C.31 Section 136, et seq., and the amendments thereto.32 (b) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this chapter, beginning on January 1, 2026,33 any pesticide registered with the Commissioner, pursuant to Code Section 2-7-55, or the34 Environmental Protection Agency, pursuant to FIFRA, which displays a label that has been35 approved by the Environmental Protection Agency in registering the pesticide or is36 consistent with the most recent human health risk assessment performed under FIFRA shall37 be deemed a sufficient warning label for the purposes of an action commenced under any38 provision of state law concerning the duty to warn or label, or any other common law duty39 to warn."40 H. B. 424 (SUB) - 2 - 25 LC 44 3071S SECTION 3.41 All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.42 H. B. 424 (SUB) - 3 - ## Summaries written by Georgia Commons The following was written by claude-sonnet-5 from the text above and is not part of the bill. Quote the text, not the summary. A House committee substitute for HB 424 would say that a pesticide label approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency counts as a sufficient warning under Georgia law, limiting lawsuits against pesticide manufacturers over health risks not covered by that label. ### Plain-language summary 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. ### What it does - 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. ### Who it affects 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. ### Why it matters 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. ### Key provisions - 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. ## Status - Status: Introduced (2025-02-12) - Last action: House Withdrawn, Recommitted (2025-04-04) - Sponsors: Steven Meeks, Robert Dickey, James Burchett, Will Wade, Lauren McDonald, Bruce Williamson - Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/70269 > The history, votes, and amendments (249 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb424.md?full=1