Republicans on a congressional conference committee killed legislation on Friday that sought to protect public school students and staff from pesticides. The School Environment Protection Act would have required schools to notify parents when pesticides were being sprayed, and directed states to develop pest-management plans that considered alternatives to toxic sprays. All Democrats on the conference committee supported the legislation, but House Republicans on the committee voted it down, claiming that implementing the act would have been a bureaucratic hassle. Sen. Robert Torricelli (D-N.J.), who sponsored the legislation, said there was no explanation for the defeat “except the influence of the chemical industry itself.”
