EPA pesticide bill rebranded for Zika fails to pass the House

A bill to loosen environmental regulations in the name of combating the Zika virus failed to pass the House on Tuesday.

House GOP leaders brought up the measure under a fast-track process typically reserved for noncontroversial legislation that requires a two-thirds majority for passage. But widespread opposition from Democrats prevented the legislation from clearing the necessary threshold. The bill failed, 262-159.

Republicans opted to consider the legislation during the same week they plan to vote on a bill redirecting $622 million toward fighting the Zika outbreak. 

{mosads}Tuesday’s bill was previously named the Reducing Regulatory Burdens Act until late last week, when its title was changed to the Zika Vector Control Act. 

The measure, which was introduced last year by Rep. Bob Gibbs (R-Ohio), would prohibit the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from requiring permits to spray federally approved pesticides into new bodies of water.

Such a proposal, Republicans argued, was fitting for efforts to kill mosquitoes responsible for spreading Zika. The virus has been linked to causing severe birth defects in newborns, particularly microcephaly, if women are infected while pregnant.

“Congress cannot let this bureaucratic nonsense stand in the way of potentially preventing a public health crisis like the spread of the Zika virus,” Gibbs said during floor debate.

Democrats dismissed the rebranded environmental regulation bill as an “opportunistic” way to advance GOP efforts to rein in the EPA. 

“This has nothing to do with Zika. It has to do with whether or not someone is going to misapply a pesticide that will get in your drinking water,” said Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.).

Moreover, Democrats say the House GOP’s bill to provide funds for Zika prevention efforts falls far short of the Obama administration’s original request of $1.9 billion. The Senate is on track to approve a $1.1 billion measure on Tuesday.

It’s not the first time Gibbs’s bill has failed to pass under the fast-track measure. It similarly did not secure the necessary two-thirds threshold in July 2014. House GOP leaders later brought the measure back up for a vote under a process requiring only a simple majority, which then led to passage. 

However, the Senate never took it up two years ago.

— Timothy Cama contributed.