The House passed a pesticide reform bill on Tuesday that Republicans had rebranded as a response to the Zika virus threat.
The bill passed, 258-156, after failing a week earlier.
The bill, now called the Zika Vector Control Act, had previously been called the Reducing Regulatory Burdens Act. The bill targets Environmental Protection Agency regulations so that the Clean Water Act permitting process can be rushed to get chemical pesticides into the field.
Democrats say the bill is a ruse to use the Zika problem to undermine environmental regulations in favor of the chemical industry.
Rep. Bob Gibbs, R-Ohio, lead sponsor of the bill, argued that the measure does nothing to discourage the EPA from enforcing the law and would not allow the unfettered use of potentially dangerous pesticides.
“Not passing this bill will unnecessarily expose Americans to Zika,” he tweeted prior to Tuesday’s vote.
The Zika virus, carried by two types of mosquitoes, normally causes a mild reaction, but health officials have found a link between it and a birth defect called microcephaly.
