URBAN PESTICIDE BOARD

A.5299 (Wright, et al.)
S.1560 (Marcellino, et al.)

Summary
This bill would amend the Environmental Conservation Law to create an urban pesticide board to examine and make recommendations regarding pesticide use patterns in urban areas, and to require that all certified pesticide applicators demonstrate knowledge of pest management techniques that do not rely on pesticide use.

Explanation

Several years of pesticide reporting data are available under the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s pesticide reporting program. Contrary to what most people expect when they think about areas of heavy pesticide use, in New York State urban counties topped the state for the amount of pesticides used.  This is not the pattern evidenced nationwide, where, according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, approximately 77% of the total pesticides used are for agricultural purposes.

In addition to representing a dramatic risk – the majority of pesticides reported in urban areas are neurotoxic insecticides – this pattern represents an opportunity, because so many alternatives exist for these kinds of pest management needs. Alternatives are frequently more successful than pesticide use, because they do not just treat symptoms alone but instead address the root causes of infestations. By formally examining pesticide use in urban areas and making recommendations for alternatives, this bill would set in motion a process whereby the very real risks of pesticide use in urban areas can be abated and better pest management achieved overall.

By also requiring pesticide applicators demonstrate proficiency in non-toxic methods of pest management, this bill ensures a supply of pest control operators capable of performing this kind of alternative work.  It would also ensure a supply of personnel for the burgeoning number of customers outside of urban areas who are demanding safer pest control services. Although the bill calls for the board to issue an interim report in January 2008, we assume a date change will made before that bill is taken up for a vote.

Environmental Advocates of New York supports this bill.