House Democrats are crying foul over Republicans incorporating into the Interior and U.S. EPA appropriations bill a measure that would exempt pesticide users who spray over water from obtaining a permit under the Clean Water Act.

Democrats, led by Rep. Tim Bishop of New York, are seeking to strike the language -- which already passed the House as a stand-alone bill in March -- from the 2012 appropriations package currently under debate.

They also are arguing that Republicans are in violation of House rules for tacking the measure onto the spending bill, claiming that the Appropriations Committee doesn't have jurisdiction over the issue and that updates to current law cannot be done in appropriations bills. The pesticides measure would amend the Clean Water Act.

Yesterday, Bishop blasted the legislation, calling it "a blatant special interest policy earmark."

The bill, he said in a statement, "is nothing more than another Republican effort to remove the referees from the game and put special interests in charge. ... The businesses and economies that rely on the clean water will suffer."

At issue is H.R. 872, a controversial measure that would undo a 2009 federal appeals court ruling in National Cotton Council vs. EPA that said EPA's current regulations for pesticide users are insufficient for protecting waterways from pesticide contamination. The court mandated EPA begin issuing permits for pesticide users to spray over water and the agency currently has an Oct. 31 deadline to begin handing out the permits (Greenwire, March 29).

The legislation would amend the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) so EPA could not require additional permits for pesticide used under the Clean Water Act. It would also amend the water law to prohibit issuing permits for pesticide use.

After approving the stand-alone bill on a 292-130 vote that earned the backing of 57 Democrats, House Republicans, frustrated by inaction in the Senate, tacked it onto the appropriations measure in hopes of getting it through the upper chamber (E&E Daily, July 8).

But Bishop plans to offer an amendment removing the language. On the floor this week, he criticized the House Rules Committee for not striking the provision.

"I am deeply disappointed that the Rules Committee has blatantly ignored the rules of the House by eliminating the ability of members to raise a point of order against provisions of an appropriations bill that changes existing law," he said.

Bishop also called the move "legislatively redundant," since the House has already passed H.R. 872.

It remains unclear if Bishop's amendment will get a vote. If it does, it appears unlikely to pass.

House Agriculture Chairman Frank Lucas (R-Okla.) acknowledged that the appropriations bill is not a natural fit for H.R. 872.

"This is not my favorite vehicle as a way to address it," he said. "But sometimes, in the rarest of circumstances, you need to use the appropriations process to make the necessary policy changes."

The National Cotton Council decision has been controversial since it was issued. Farm state legislators said it would put an additional economic strain on farmers, who have already been hit hard by the recession. EPA also immediately came out against it, arguing their existing regulations sufficiently protect waterways.

Environmentalists, on the other hand, have long said EPA is not doing enough to guard against pesticide contamination. They applauded the court ruling and have been critical of H.R. 872.

House Republicans emphasized that the bill has already passed the chamber with bipartisan support and this is an effort to move the legislation as the Oct. 31 deadline approaches.

"The House is taking this action because this is important language that should be enacted into law," said Rep. Bob Gibbs (R-Ohio), the original sponsor of the pesticides bill.

While Lucas hopes the measure stays in the House appropriations bill, he wondered whether the Senate would move spending legislation.

"My question is, will the Senate be able to finish their appropriations process?" Lucas said. "Will we have the regular conference agenda on all the appropriation bills? Or will we end up with some kind of [continuing resolution] at the end of the year? Right now the Senate is having trouble passing anything."

The Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee has approved the pesticides measure, but progress came to a standstill when Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) put a hold on it. After the Agriculture panel passed the legislation, Senate Environment and Public Works Chairwoman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) told E&E Daily, "We're not ready to pass a bill like that or anything close to it."

Reporter Manuel Quinones contributed.