The fix is in. And they’re hoping you don’t notice.
On July 23, 2025, the House Appropriations Committee quietly advanced two of the most industry-serving provisions in recent memory: Section 453, which would grant lawsuit immunity to pesticide manufacturers, and Section 507, which would allow the continued dumping of PFAS-contaminated sewage sludge on farmland—reclassifying it as “fertilizer.”
There were no roll calls. No debate on the record. Just a voice vote—a procedural trick to keep constituents in the dark.
“Nobody knows how their representatives voted,” Breeauna Sagdal posted after the markup. They passed both 453 and 507 when no one was looking.
The Poison Papers
Section 453 blocks federal funds from being used to update pesticide labels unless those changes align with the EPA’s current risk assessments. On the surface, it sounds like bureaucratic housekeeping. In reality, it’s a legal firewall: if the EPA hasn’t updated the label, you can’t sue the manufacturer—even if the product causes cancer, birth defects, or neurological harm.
Groups like Beyond Pesticides warn this would gut the ability of farmers and consumers to seek justice. Victims of Roundup, Paraquat, or Dicamba? Sorry. Corporate immunity is now budget language.
Meanwhile, Section 507 locks in a decades-old loophole that allows biosolids—i.e., sewage sludge laced with PFAS and heavy metals—to be spread on farmland under the EPA’s “fertilizer” classification. Even as evidence mounts that these so-called biosolids are contaminating groundwater and entering food systems, Congress is moving to ensure they keep flowing. The EPA itself admits biosolids may contain “pathogens, organic chemicals, and heavy metals,” but the agency has failed to update safety thresholds or enforce transparency.
Despite growing evidence of PFAS contamination, the EPA has failed to regulate sewage sludge—prompting PEER to sue for violating the Clean Water Act.
The Industry Behind the Curtain
These provisions didn’t come out of nowhere. They were inserted quietly, after months of pressure from chemical industry lobbyists, most notably Bayer, Corteva, and the biosolids disposal lobby.
In the 2024 election cycle, Bayer spent over $8.4 million lobbying Congress, while its PAC continued contributions to members of both parties. Bayer’s top legal priority? Limiting its exposure to glyphosate and Dicamba lawsuits. And now, thanks to Section 453, they’re getting that wish.
The voice vote that advanced these measures was not a mistake. It was a tactic. They know these riders wouldn’t survive a floor debate. The goal is to bury them in a 200-page budget and call it a day.
The Senate Steps Back
On July 24, the Senate Appropriations Committee released their version of the same bill—without Section 453 or 507. Their summary focused on tribal health, clean water infrastructure, and conservation—not corporate immunity or sludge loopholes.
That divergence sets up a high-stakes conference committee fight. If the full House votes to approve its version with Sections 453 and 507 still intact, they become part of the chamber’s official negotiating position—making it far more likely that they survive reconciliation and land on the President’s desk.
You can track the bill’s status at Congress.gov. As of July 25, neither chamber has passed the full bill, but both have locked in their committee versions. That means the next House vote is critical.
A Familiar Smell
This isn’t the first time Congress has tried to bury liability shields in must-pass budget bills. But advocates are calling this one the most blatant yet.
Moms Across America calls Section 453 “a betrayal of every parent who wants to keep their children safe.” The Weston A. Price Foundation said that “language of the bill is carefully crafted to avoid directly calling this “immunity”—but the effect is the same:”
And according to OpenSecrets, Rep. Glenn Thompson—the top Republican on the House Agriculture Committee—received more than $340,000 from crop and pesticide-linked interests in the 2023–24 cycle. No evidence links him directly to Sections 453 or 507, but the overlap is hard to ignore.
Final Word
They’re legalizing poison and banning the lawsuits that could stop it. And they did it without a single name on the record.
This isn’t a budget—it’s a chemical cover-up. And if the full House passes it, those clauses go to conference. From there, they’re one handshake away from becoming law.
The clock is ticking. And the sludge is already spreading.
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Full Committee Markup of FY26 Interior and Environment Bill:
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