Sunday, February 22, 2004

Farmworker Pesticide Info Bill Advances in Fla. House Florida's House Commerce Committee this week approved a the bill reinstating laws requiring employers to provide concise information upon request to farmworkers or their representatives on the types, symptoms and long-term health effects of pesticides and other dangerous chemicals they are exposed to in the fields. "Farmworker Advocates Want Pesticide Exposure Notification Laws Reinstated," Naples Daily News, Feb. 21, 2004, by Michael Peltier. Story. 4:25:51 PM

Fla. Legislature Weighs Pesticide Info for Workers "Protection for Farm Workers: State Should Require That Data on Pesticide Safety Be Provided" (editorial), Sarasota Herald-Tribune, Feb. 22, 2004. "Last year, the Legislature rejected a bill that would have given workers illustrated, bilingual safety sheets describing the pesticides in use around them and what to do to protect themselves from harm. Similar information was available to workers in the 1990s, but a law requiring distribution of the sheets expired six years ago." "State Rep. Frank Peterman, a Democrat ...  has taken up the battle again. He's joined by Rep. David Rivera, R-Miami ... .The two will have to overcome opposition from industry lobbyists, who contend that the bill could make farm owners vulnerable to lawsuits from advocacy groups acting on behalf of migrant workers." Full story. 1:33:57 PM

Homeland Security Dept. Issues Infrastructure Info Security Rule The Department of Homeland Security on Feb. 20, 2004, put into effect its program for secrecy about "critical infrastructure" information submitted voluntarily by industry and others. The move was done by issuance of an "interim rule," meaning that the program would begin immediately, but that further public input is being solicited before the rule is finalized -- an indicator of potential controversy. The interim rule took effect Feb. 20. The deadline for comments on the interim rule is May 20, 2004. In a key concession, the interim rule dropped an originally proposed provision that would have extended the shroud of secrecy to information submitted to other agencies besides DHS. On other points, however, DHS did not concede much to commenters. For example, it refused to change its definitions of "critical infrastructure" and "critical infrastructure information," which some commenters had complained were too vague or broad. Full Story. 12:26:00 PM

Did Defense Dept. Suppress Climate Security Report? "Now the Pentagon Tells Bush: Climate Change Will Destroy Us," The Observer (London),Feb. 22, 2004, by Mark Townsend and Paul Harris (New York). "A secret report, suppressed by US defence chiefs and obtained by The Observer, warns that major European cities will be sunk beneath rising seas as Britain is plunged into a 'Siberian' climate by 2020. Nuclear conflict, mega-droughts, famine and widespread rioting will erupt across the world." Story. 12:11:14 PM

Did WHO Bury Depleted Uranium Study? "WHO ‘Suppressed’ Scientific Study into Depleted Uranium Cancer Fears in Iraq," Sunday Herald  (Scotland), Feb. 22, 2004, by Rob Edwards. "Radiation experts warn in unpublished report that DU weapons used by Allies in Gulf war pose long-term health risk," Story. 11:58:41 AM