Spreading of pesticides near homes:10 NGOs seize the Council of State urgently

In recent days, the NGO France Nature Environnement has multiplied press releases to warn of the increase in environmental damage. With 9 other NGOs, it seized the Council of State concerning the spreading of pesticides near homes.

Until June, spraying pesticides near homes made easier

In February 2020, a collective of 9 NGOs had already filed an appeal before the Council of State against the decree defining the protective distances for spreading, judged ridiculously weak with regard to the health hazard posed by pesticides.

Today, a collective of 10 NGOs is filing a new appeal. She criticizes the government for taking advantage of the coronavirus epidemic to force through projects, as well as a halving of safety distances for spreading.

It is a press release from the Ministry of Agriculture dated March 30, 2020 which has finished setting fire to the powder. The NGO group was already exasperated by the signing of the technical instruction of February 3, 2020 aimed at "strengthening the protection of residents likely to be exposed to plant protection products" .

An instruction taken jointly by the Ministry of Ecological and Inclusive Transition, the Ministry of Solidarity and Health, the Ministry of Agriculture and Food and by the Ministry of Economy and Finance.

Under cover of “protection of residents” , the instruction authorizes derogations making it possible to override the consultation process and in addition to the obligation to respect zones without treatment in the absence of charters.

According to the FNE, the government would take advantage of the confinement to pass projects in force

In its press release of April 23, France Nature Environnement protests. According to the NGO, the government limits itself to online public consultations to be able to validate projects with little consensus:

• the construction of a road in the Allier, “a 25-year-old project that suddenly becomes urgent”,
• an oil-fired power plant in the mangroves of Guyana.
• the decision of the Ministry of Agriculture to authorize farmers to apply pesticides even closer to homes, without waiting for consultation,
• the installation of new telephone relay antennas, without consultation, with the possibility of perpetuating them thereafter, facilitated by an “emergency” order.

What are the associations of the collective?

Here are the associations that are part of the group that filed an appeal with the Council of State:

• Pesticide Doctors Alert
• Collective of victims of pesticides in the west
• Collective of victims of HdF pesticides
• Collective vigilance gmo 16
• France Nature Environment
• Future Generations
• Bird Protection League
• Solidarity
• UFC-Que Choisir
• Water and Rivers of Brittany

Sources:

France Nature Environment (Founded in 1968, France Nature Environnement is the French federation of associations for the protection of nature and the environment, spokesperson for 3,500 associations.)

The full appeal file on the website of the NGO Générations Futures

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