--- title: SB 144. Fertilizers or Pesticides; a manufacturer cannot be held liable for failing to warn consumers of health risks above those required by the United States Environmental Protection Agency; clarify collection: bills id: 2025-2026/sb144 cite_as: SB 144, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.) canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb144 md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb144.md text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb144/text source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/70190 date: 2025-05-09 status: passed 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/sb143.md next: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb145.md index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md omitted: votes and history omitted_chars: 1144 omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb144.md?full=1 bill_number: SB 144 session: 2025-2026 Regular Session session_slug: 2025-2026 chamber: Senate bill_type: bill status_date: 2025-05-09 last_action: Effective Date 2025-07-01 sponsors: - Sam Watson - Steve Gooch - John Kennedy - Brandon Beach - Russ Goodman - Drew Echols - Carden Summers - Lee Anderson - Billy Hickman - Marty Harbin - Jason Anavitarte - Timothy Bearden - Max Burns - Matt Brass - Larry Walker - Frank Ginn - Shawn Still - Clint Dixon - Bill Cowsert - Randy Robertson - Angie O'Steen text_version: Enrolled has_text: true legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/SB144/2025 upstream_id: 1965834 summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5 topic_tags: - pesticide regulation - agriculture law - product liability - consumer protection - farming --- # SB 144. Fertilizers or Pesticides; a manufacturer cannot be held liable for failing to warn consumers of health risks above those required by the United States Environmental Protection Agency; clarify ## Text 25 SB 144/AP Senate Bill 144 By: Senators Watson of the 11th, Gooch of the 51st, Kennedy of the 18th, Beach of the 21st, Goodman of the 8th and others AS PASSED 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, subject to an exception; to provide for legislative findings; to provide for related5 matters; to provide for 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 (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 S. B. 144 - 1 - 25 SB 144/AP (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; provided, however, that the provisions of this subsection shall not apply when a40 determination has been made by the Environmental Protection Agency that a manufacturer41 knowingly withheld, concealed, misrepresented, or destroyed mat erial information42 S. B. 144 - 2 - 25 SB 144/AP regarding the human health risks of such pesticide in order to obtain or maintain approval43 of its label by the Environmental Protection Agency."44 SECTION 3.45 All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.46 S. B. 144 - 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 Georgia Senate bill would shield pesticide manufacturers from state lawsuits over inadequate warning labels, as long as the product's label matches what the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency approved. ### Plain-language summary Under current Georgia law, people can sue pesticide manufacturers if they believe a product's warning label failed to disclose health risks. This bill changes that starting January 1, 2026. If a pesticide's label has been approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the federal Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), or is consistent with the most recent EPA human health risk assessment, that label counts as a legally sufficient warning under Georgia law, including any common law duty to warn. There is one exception: the protection does not apply if the EPA has determined that the manufacturer knowingly withheld, concealed, misrepresented, or destroyed material information about the pesticide's health risks in order to get or keep EPA approval of its label. The bill also states legislative findings about Georgia agriculture's reliance on crop protection products and concerns about supply chains, and it repeals conflicting laws. ### What it does - Adds a new Georgia Code section (O.C.G.A. ยง 2-7-171) stating that an EPA-approved pesticide label is a sufficient warning for state law claims about failure to warn, starting January 1, 2026. - Applies the protection to pesticides registered either with Georgia's Commissioner of Agriculture or with the EPA under the federal FIFRA law. - Creates an exception removing the legal protection if the EPA has found the manufacturer knowingly withheld, concealed, misrepresented, or destroyed health risk information to get label approval. - States legislative findings about the economic importance of Georgia agriculture and concerns about dependence on foreign supply chains for pesticide ingredients. - Repeals any Georgia laws that conflict with this new rule. ### Who it affects Pesticide manufacturers, who gain protection from certain state lawsuits over labeling; Georgia farmers who use pesticides and fertilizers; consumers or others who might otherwise sue over inadequate health warnings; and the EPA, whose approval and determinations now carry direct legal weight in Georgia courts. ### Why it matters People who believe a pesticide label failed to warn them of health risks could find it harder to sue a manufacturer in Georgia courts if the label matches EPA-approved language, shifting more responsibility for warning adequacy to federal regulators unless fraud on the EPA is proven. ### Key provisions - Section 1 lists legislative findings about Georgia agriculture's economic size, reliance on crop protection products, and concerns about foreign supply chains for pesticide ingredients. - Section 2 adds new Code Section 2-7-171, defining 'Environmental Protection Agency' and 'FIFRA' for purposes of the new rule. - Subsection (b) states that starting January 1, 2026, a pesticide label approved by the EPA or consistent with the latest FIFRA human health risk assessment counts as a sufficient warning label under any state law duty-to-warn claim. - Subsection (b) also creates an exception: the protection does not apply if the EPA determines the manufacturer knowingly withheld, concealed, misrepresented, or destroyed material health risk information to obtain or keep label approval. - Section 3 repeals any conflicting Georgia laws. ## Status - Status: Passed (2025-05-09) - Last action: Effective Date 2025-07-01 (2025-05-09) - Sponsors: Sam Watson, Steve Gooch, John Kennedy, Brandon Beach, Russ Goodman, Drew Echols, Carden Summers, Lee Anderson, Billy Hickman, Marty Harbin, Jason Anavitarte, Timothy Bearden, Max Burns, Matt Brass, Larry Walker, Frank Ginn, Shawn Still, Clint Dixon, Bill Cowsert, Randy Robertson, Angie O'Steen - Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/70190 > The history, votes, and amendments (1,144 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb144.md?full=1