(DTN) -- A federal requirement for permits to spray pesticides on water to combat mosquitos would be eliminated under legislation proposed by U.S. House of Representative lawmakers. The legislation is likely to fail, however, as the Obama administration Monday said in a statement it opposes the bill, rebranded last week as the "Zika Vector Control Act."
The bill comes as the president has criticized Congress for now passing funding to prevent more Zika cases in the U.S. Congress and the president have been battling over funding since the beginning of the year.
So House leaders repurposed the "Reducing Regulatory Burdens Act" into the Zika Vector Control Act without changing anything in the original bill. The legislation, which has bounced around Congress for years, would eliminate the federal requirements to get a permit to spray pesticides on or near water. This is something agricultural groups have wanted for years.
The Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act requires spray applicators to obtain Clean Water Act permits to spray on water to combat mosquitos. Ag interests opposed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rule because of concerns about the costs to comply and that the requirement would make it difficult to address immediate mosquito concerns.
The Zika bill may come to the House floor for a vote this week. It likely is doomed to the veto pen as the Obama administration said in a statement Monday it does not support the legislation, saying it would "weaken" the Clean Water Act, and noting it was just rebranded.