Comprehensive bed bug legislation has been introduced in the House (HR 967). The measure directs the Department of Agriculture to: award grants to support research studies on bed bug management and eradication; appoint a bed bug task force that includes representatives of the pest management industry, multifamily housing and hospitality industries as well as public health professionals; and award grants for related research projects. It also seeks to have bed bugs classified as a “vector” (potentially capable of transmitting disease) under existing federal legislation.
As advocated by NAA/NMHC, it addresses the problem of ineffective and possibly dangerous bed bug treatments being marketed to the public by requiring manufacturers who label pesticides as controlling a public health pest to submit data proving the product’s efficacy. It would prohibit the sale of products that fail to prove their claims.
The measure directs the Agriculture Department to coordinate with the EPA to expedite approval of pesticides identified through the research grants that the bill funds. It also funds demonstration projects for certain housing authorities to supplement ongoing bed bug prevention and mitigation activities.
The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Jeanne Schmidt (R-OH), has also called upon EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson to immediately permit the use of the insecticide Propoxur to treat bed bug infestations. (Propoxur is not registered for use as a bed bug treatment, and EPA previously rejected an emergency petition by Ohio for such use.) Her request came in the wake of a tragic fire in a Cincinnati duplex where a heater was used to treat a bed bug infestation. Heat-based treatments are increasingly common given the lack of effective chemical treatments.