Dear Mr. Fanzone : Thank you for contacting me to express your concerns about the decline in honey bee colonies. I appreciate the time you took to write and welcome this opportunity to respond. In the United States, honey bees pollinate crops valued at more than $14 billion annually, contributing to the production of a wide range of fruits, vegetables, tree nuts, forage and field crops, and other specialty crops. Bees are remarkable and irreplaceable, and the continued decline of bee colonies is of great concern to me. You may be interested to know that I have made funding for ongoing pollinator health programs at the U.S. Department of Agriculture a top priority during the appropriations process. As a senior member of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture and Related Agencies, I worked to ensure that the Fiscal Year 2014 Senate Agriculture Appropriations bill (S. 1244) included the funding necessary to enable Federal agencies to continue coordinating programs and grants for the purpose of researching pollinator populations, including research and organic data analysis on Colony Collapse Disorder and Plant Protection Methods Development. S. 1244 is currently awaiting consideration by the full Senate and must be reconciled with the companion House legislation. For your reference, I have also attached a letter I signed with seven of my Senate colleagues, requesting that the Subcommittee allocate $20 million for pollinator research projects during Fiscal Year 2012, as authorized in the 2008 Farm Bill. This funding has been spread over a number of Fiscal Years and continues at the Agricultural Research Service, the Economic Research Service, and the Natural Resources Conservation Service. Furthermore, the Environmental Protection Agencys (EPA) Pesticide Program has been working with its national and international partners to protect pollinators through regulatory, voluntary, and research programs. In 2009, the EPA established a Pollinator Protection Team (PPT) that is tasked with exploring ways to reduce the potential risks of pesticides to pollinators. As you may know, on July 16, 2013, Representative John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) introduced the Saving Americas Pollinators Act of 2013 (H.R. 2692). This bill would prohibit the use of a class of pesticides, known as neonicotinoids , until the EPA can verify that the neoniciotinoid will not cause adverse effects on pollinators. As you noted, three new studies have named neonicotinoids as a possible cause for CCD. H.R. 2692 is currently pending in the House Agriculture Committee. Please know that I remain committed to ensuring that appropriate federal resources are dedicated to maintaining bee health. I will keep your thoughts in mind as the Senate continues to address Colony Collapse Disorder. Again, thank you for writing to me. If you have any additional comments or questions, please feel free to contact my Washington, D.C. office at (202) 224-3841. Best regards. Sincerely yours, Dianne Feinstein United States Senator
Posted on: Tue, 03 Jun 2014 11:58:44 +0000
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