Georgia Governor Signs Bill Granting Immunity for Harms Caused by Pesticides and Fertilizers
Updated
Georgia Governor Brian Kemp signed SB144 into law, which has also been referred to as an immunity bill for agrochemical businesses that sell pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers. The bill states, “a manufacturer cannot be held liable for failing to warn consumers of health risks above those required by the United States Environmental Protection Agency.” The Georgia legislature passed the bill and was awaiting Kemp’s signature, which he finalized on Monday.
Georgia became the second state in the nation to provide manufacturer immunity for harm caused by pesticides after North Dakota signed a similar bill into law last month. Bayer has been handling tens of thousands of lawsuits related to cancer allegedly caused by Roundup, a product that Bayer owns after the agrochemical corporation purchased Monsanto in 2018. In April, The HighWire reported about Bayer’s recent court loss in which the company is required to pay over $2 billion for causing a man’s non-Hodgkin lymphoma, but the high payout amount is expected to be appealed. This case was conducted in a Georgia courtroom.
The EPA is still awaiting a court decision regarding its most recent evaluation of glyphosate’s effect on human health. The EPA currently states, “No risks of concern to human health from current uses of glyphosate.” The EPA website also states, “No evidence that glyphosate causes cancer in humans.”
Meanwhile, the passage of SB144 in Georgia means a farmer cannot sue Bayer for harms allegedly caused by Roundup because the product contains the label required by the EPA. The label states, “Keep Out of Reach of Children CAUTION See [back/ side] [panel/ booklet/ label] for [additional] first aid and precautionary statements. Alternative Text: [See container label for [complete] use directions, first aid and precautionary statements.]”
Bayer issued a statement applauding the Governor for signing the legislation. The statement said, “The signing of SB 144 by Governor Kemp demonstrates that Georgia stands with its farmers, who work tirelessly to produce safe and affordable food for communities throughout the state. We thank Governor Kemp and the legislators, farmers and ag groups that supported this important piece of legislation.”
The company’s statement added that the cost of groceries could increase if “vital tools” like glyphosate are removed from the market. CEO Bill Anderson recently warned that the company would have to make a decision within months to determine if they will continue selling Roundup’s glyphosate formula in the United States.
The HighWire reported last month about a study that shows genetically-modified seeds have increased the use of pesticides and other chemical inputs rather than decreasing, which Bayer still claims. When Bayer makes this claim, it references a study that they funded. Monsanto conducted the same manipulation of studies and scientific research before the Bayer acquisition to claim the product is safe when used for its intended purpose.
President Donald Trump nominated Dr. Casey Means as the U.S. Surgeon General this week. In March, she said “What people don’t understand is that the companies making most of the poisonous agrochemicals used in the United States are NOT U.S.-based companies—they are Chinese, German, and Swiss-owned companies (Bayer, ChemChina-Syngenta, BASF) lobbying in the U.S. to have unfettered access to poison our soil and people for profit.”
The Pesticide Action & Agroecology Network (PAN) said these bills provide pesticide companies a “license to deceive.” PAN’s blog post references Bayer’s “intentional deception” that has led to the nearly 100,000 lawsuits against Roundup. The blog states, “One key finding was that the surfactants (non-active ingredients) were guilty of causing illness. Through the litigative process, it was discovered that Monsanto knew of the problem and even changed the formulation in the European Union, but they failed to make the change in the United States.”
After the bill passed the legislature, a wave of opponents urged Governor Kemp to veto the bill. Will Harris, the owner of a Georgia farm called White Oak Pastures, said, “Chemical companies and legislators are claiming that this bill is pro-farmer, because it protects farmer access to pesticides. This claim is false — farmers deserve to have the right to sue chemical manufacturers when their land, property, or family is injured by chemicals.”
Pesticide companies claim that the EPA evaluation of the chemical for safety and the approved warning label should be sufficient to protect the manufacturer from liability. The companies also claim that without providing this protection, they will be unable to continue selling the product, hurting farmers and grocery store prices.
The HighWire has reported on the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act (NCVIA), which offers vaccine manufacturers unprecedented liability immunity. Attorney Aaron Siri has argued that this incentivizes companies to conduct only the bare minimum regarding safety testing to get the product on the market.
While Roundup continues to battle lawsuits throughout the country for harms allegedly caused by glyphosate, they have developed alternative formulations of the product. The HighWire reported about a Friends of the Earth analysis, which found the glyphosate-free version of Roundup to be 45 times more toxic.
Bayer laid off 2,000 employees, including the crop science division, in the first quarter of 2025. Bayer spent $2.95 million on lobbying in the first quarter of 2025, the highest quarterly lobbying expenditure for the company since 2018. The company spent $8.47 million in 2024 as it advocates for similar manufacturer-immunity bills across the country.