Back to Iowa

SF2316 • 2026

A bill for an act prohibiting a pesticide containing paraquat, making penalties applicable, and including effective date provisions.

A bill for an act prohibiting a pesticide containing paraquat, making penalties applicable, and including effective date provisions.

Passed Legislature

This bill passed both chambers and reached final enrollment, even if later executive action is not shown here.

Sponsor
STAED
Last action
2026-02-14
Official status
Subcommittee: Driscoll, Gruenhagen, and Zimmer.
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Using official source text because the generated explanation was unavailable or could not be confirmed against the official bill text.

A bill for an act prohibiting a pesticide containing paraquat, making penalties applicable, and including effective date provisions.

A bill for an act prohibiting a pesticide containing paraquat, making penalties applicable, and including effective date provisions.

What This Bill Does

  • A bill for an act prohibiting a pesticide containing paraquat, making penalties applicable, and including effective date provisions.

Limits and Unknowns

  • This entry is temporarily using official source text because the generated explanation could not be confirmed against the official bill text during the last sync.

Bill History

  1. 2026-02-14 Iowa Legislature

    Subcommittee: Driscoll, Gruenhagen, and Zimmer.

  2. 2026-02-12 Iowa Legislature

    Introduced, referred to Agriculture. S.J. 272 .

Official Summary Text

A bill for an act prohibiting a pesticide containing paraquat, making penalties applicable, and including effective date provisions.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text
Senate

File

2316

-

Introduced

SENATE

FILE

2316

BY

STAED

A

BILL

FOR

An

Act

prohibiting

a

pesticide

containing

paraquat,

making

1

penalties

applicable,

and

including

effective

date

2

provisions.

3

BE

IT

ENACTED

BY

THE

GENERAL

ASSEMBLY

OF

THE

STATE

OF

IOWA:

4

TLSB

5541XS

(5)

91

da/js

S.F.

2316

Section

1.

Section

206.2,

Code

2026,

is

amended

by

adding

1

the

following

new

subsections:

2

NEW

SUBSECTION

.

18A.

“Paraquat”

means

any

pesticide

3

containing

paraquat

dichloride

or

any

other

chemical

form

of

4

paraquat.

5

NEW

SUBSECTION

.

32.

“Work

group”

means

the

environmental

6

research

and

sustainable

farming

advisory

work

group

7

established

pursuant

to

section

206.33C.

8

Sec.

2.

NEW

SECTION

.

206.33A

Paraquat

——

prohibition.

9

1.

Except

as

provided

in

subsection

2,

a

person

shall

not

10

offer

for

sale,

sell,

purchase,

apply,

or

use

a

pesticide

11

containing

paraquat.

12

2.

The

department

or

the

department

of

natural

resources

may

13

approve

the

use

of

paraquat

for

research

purposes

only,

if

the

14

use

is

conducted

under

strict

safety

and

reporting

protocols

as

15

provided

by

the

department

overseeing

the

research.

16

Sec.

3.

NEW

SECTION

.

206.33B

Paraquat

——

reporting

17

requirements

on

current

use.

18

1.

By

December

31,

2026,

any

person

that

currently

offers

19

for

sale,

sells,

purchases,

applies,

or

uses

a

pesticide

20

containing

paraquat

in

this

state

must

submit

a

report

to

the

21

department

and

the

department

of

natural

resources

detailing

22

all

of

the

following:

23

a.

The

quantity

of

paraquat

used,

sold,

or

distributed

in

24

the

preceding

year.

25

b.

The

geographic

areas

of

use.

26

c.

The

types

of

crops

or

applications

for

which

paraquat

is

27

used.

28

2.

The

department

shall

compile

the

reports

submitted

to

the

29

department

pursuant

to

subsection

1

into

a

statewide

paraquat

30

use

report.

The

report

shall

be

published

and

maintained

on

31

the

department’s

internet

site.

32

3.

This

section

is

repealed

July

1,

2032.

33

Sec.

4.

NEW

SECTION

.

206.33C

Paraquat

——

environmental

34

research

and

sustainable

farming

advisory

work

group

——

35

-1-

LSB

5541XS

(5)

91

da/js

1/

5

S.F.

2316

establishment

and

membership.

1

1.

An

environmental

research

and

sustainable

farming

2

advisory

work

group

is

established.

3

2.

The

work

group

shall

include

all

of

the

following

voting

4

members:

5

a.

The

secretary

of

agriculture

or

the

secretary’s

designee.

6

b.

The

director

of

the

department

of

natural

resources

or

7

a

designee.

8

c.

The

following

members

appointed

by

the

governor:

9

(1)

Not

more

than

five

individuals,

each

of

whom

is

an

10

academic

researcher

with

expertise

in

toxicology,

environmental

11

science,

or

sustainable

agriculture.

12

(2)

Not

more

than

five

individuals,

each

of

whom

represents

13

farmers

or

agricultural

industry

organizations.

14

(3)

Not

more

than

five

individuals,

each

of

whom

represents

15

a

public

health

and

environmental

advocacy

organization.

16

3.

All

members

of

the

work

group

are

voting

members.

17

4.

A

vacancy

of

a

member

on

the

work

group

shall

be

filled

18

in

the

same

manner

as

the

original

appointment.

19

5.

This

section

is

repealed

July

1,

2032.

20

Sec.

5.

NEW

SECTION

.

206.33D

Paraquat

——

work

group

——

21

administration.

22

1.

The

work

group

shall

be

housed

in

the

department

of

23

agriculture

and

land

stewardship.

The

department

shall

provide

24

the

work

group

with

facilities,

materials,

and

administrative

25

support.

26

2.

The

work

group

shall

hold

its

first

meeting

not

later

27

than

July

1,

2026.

Meetings

of

the

work

group

may

be

convened

28

by

the

chairperson

of

the

work

group

or

by

a

majority

of

work

29

group

voting

members.

However,

the

first

meeting

of

the

work

30

group

shall

be

convened

by

the

governor.

31

3.

The

work

group

shall

elect

a

chairperson

and

vice

32

chairperson

from

the

membership

of

the

work

group.

33

4.

A

majority

of

the

members

of

the

work

group

constitutes

a

34

quorum.

Any

action

taken

by

the

work

group

must

be

adopted

by

35

-2-

LSB

5541XS

(5)

91

da/js

2/

5

S.F.

2316

the

affirmative

vote

of

a

majority

of

its

membership.

A

task

1

force

member’s

designee

may

vote

on

work

group

matters

in

the

2

absence

of

the

member.

3

5.

Private

members

of

the

task

force

shall

not

receive

a

per

4

diem

but

shall

be

reimbursed

by

the

department

of

agriculture

5

and

land

stewardship

for

actual

expenses.

6

6.

This

section

is

repealed

July

1,

2032.

7

Sec.

6.

NEW

SECTION

.

206.33E

Paraquat

——

environmental

8

research

and

sustainable

farming

advisory

work

group

——

duties.

9

1.

The

work

group

shall

do

all

of

the

following:

10

a.

Review

the

environmental

and

public

health

impacts

11

of

paraquat

and

other

hazardous

pesticides

that

may

cause

12

neurological

diseases.

13

b.

Identify

best

practices

and

opportunities

for

sustainable

14

and

safer

alternatives

in

agriculture.

15

2.

The

work

group

shall

submit

an

annual

report

to

the

16

governor

and

general

assembly

not

later

than

December

31,

2027,

17

and

by

that

date

each

subsequent

year

until

the

work

group

18

submits

a

final

report

by

December

31,

2031.

19

3.

Each

report

shall

include

all

of

the

following:

20

a.

Findings

and

recommendations

for

ongoing

environmental

21

research

and

potential

funding

mechanisms.

22

b.

Recommendations

for

future

legislative

or

policy

actions

23

to

support

sustainable

agriculture

and

public

health.

24

4.

This

section

is

repealed

July

1,

2032.

25

Sec.

7.

EFFECTIVE

DATE.

The

following,

being

deemed

of

26

immediate

importance,

take

effect

upon

enactment:

27

1.

The

section

of

this

Act

amending

section

206.2.

28

2.

The

sections

of

this

Act

enacting

sections

206.33B,

29

206.33C,

206.33D,

and

206.33E.

30

Sec.

8.

EFFECTIVE

DATE.

The

following

takes

effect

January

31

1,

2027:

32

The

section

of

this

Act

enacting

section

206.33A.

33

EXPLANATION

34

The

inclusion

of

this

explanation

does

not

constitute

agreement

with

35

-3-

LSB

5541XS

(5)

91

da/js

3/

5

S.F.

2316

the

explanation’s

substance

by

the

members

of

the

general

assembly.

1

BACKGROUND.

State

law

regulates

the

offer

for

sale,

2

distribution,

purchase,

and

use

of

pesticides

as

administered

3

and

enforced

by

the

department

of

agriculture

and

land

4

stewardship

(DALS)

(Code

chapter

206).

A

pesticide

is

broadly

5

defined

to

include

a

substance

used

to

control

insects,

6

rodents,

nematodes,

fungi,

and

weeds

(Code

section

206.2).

7

The

Code

chapter

includes

provisions

that

prohibit

specific

8

chemicals

to

be

contained

in

pesticides

such

as

chlordane

(Code

9

section

206.32)

and

daminozide

(Code

section

206.33).

10

BILL’S

PROVISIONS

——

PARAQUAT

PROHIBITION.

This

bill

11

prohibits

a

person

from

offering

for

sale,

selling,

purchasing,

12

applying,

or

using

a

pesticide

containing

paraquat.

DALS

or

13

the

department

of

natural

resources

(DNR)

may

approve

the

use

14

of

paraquat

for

research

purposes

only,

if

the

use

is

conducted

15

under

strict

safety

and

reporting

protocols.

16

BILL’S

PROVISIONS

——

PARAQUAT

——

REPORTING

REQUIREMENTS

17

REGARDING

PARAQUAT

IN

CURRENT

USE.

The

bill

requires

that

18

by

December

31,

2026,

any

person

that

currently

offers

for

19

sale,

sells,

purchases,

applies,

or

uses

a

pesticide

containing

20

paraquat

in

this

state

must

submit

a

report

to

DALS

and

21

DNR

regarding

the

distribution,

application,

and

use

of

the

22

chemical.

DALS

must

to

consolidate

and

publish

the

reported

23

information

on

its

internet

site.

24

BILL’S

PROVISIONS

——

PARAQUAT

——

ENVIRONMENTAL

RESEARCH

AND

25

SUSTAINABLE

FARMING

ADVISORY

WORK

GROUP.

The

bill

establishes

26

an

environmental

research

and

sustainable

farming

advisory

work

27

group

(work

group).

The

work

group

is

housed

in

DALS,

which

28

must

provide

the

work

group

with

administrative

support.

The

29

work

group

includes

the

secretary

of

agriculture

or

a

designee,

30

the

director

of

DNR

or

a

designee,

and

individuals

appointed

by

31

the

governor

who

are

(1)

academic

researchers

with

expertise

in

32

toxicology,

environmental

science,

or

sustainable

agriculture,

33

(2)

individuals

representing

farmers

and

agricultural

industry

34

organizations,

and

(3)

individuals

representing

public

health

35

-4-

LSB

5541XS

(5)

91

da/js

4/

5

S.F.

2316

and

environmental

advocacy

organizations.

The

work

group

1

must

(1)

review

the

environmental

and

public

health

impacts

2

of

paraquat

and

other

hazardous

pesticides

that

may

cause

3

neurological

diseases

and

(2)

identify

best

practices

and

4

opportunities

for

sustainable

and

safer

alternatives

in

5

agriculture.

Beginning

not

later

than

December

31,

2027,

the

6

work

group

must

submit

an

annual

report,

including

findings

and

7

recommendations,

to

the

governor

and

general

assembly

for

the

8

next

five

years.

9

APPLICABLE

PENALTIES.

Generally,

a

person

who

violates

a

10

provision

of

Code

chapter

206

is

subject

to

a

civil

penalty

11

of

not

more

than

$500

(Code

section

206.19).

A

person

who

12

violates

a

provision

of

that

Code

chapter

is

also

guilty

13

of

a

serious

misdemeanor

(Code

section

206.22).

A

serious

14

misdemeanor

is

punishable

by

confinement

for

no

more

than

one

15

year

and

a

fine

of

at

least

$430

but

not

more

than

$2,560.

16

EFFECTIVE

DATES.

The

bill

takes

effect

upon

enactment

17

except

for

the

provision

that

prohibits

a

person

from

offering

18

for

sale,

selling,

purchasing,

applying,

or

using

a

pesticide

19

containing

paraquat.

That

provision

takes

effect

January

1,

20

2027.

21

-5-

LSB

5541XS

(5)

91

da/js

5/

5