Erie County, N.Y., residents can expect a heads-up the next time a lawn care professional visits their neighbors with the sprayer filled with bug-killing products.
In a 14-3 vote, the County Legislature approved a law Thursday that opts into the state's mandatory pesticide notification law. The new law gives all residents the legal right to 48-hour advance notification of any adjacent commercial pesticide spraying.
The action caps years of heated discussion over the rights of residents to protect their family's health vs. the financial burden to lawn care providers, who could face criminal sanctions if they fail to provide advance notice of pesticide spraying.
Among the law's requirements:
Over the past few years, both Democratic and Republican legislators have expressed mixed feelings about the law.
Former Democratic Legislator Crystal Peoples, now an assemblywomen, introduced a law in 2002 that is nearly identical to the one the Legislature approved Thursday, but it never had enough votes to pass.
Instead, the county administration adopted a compromise measure last spring that established a voluntary registry for any resident interested in being notified of nearby pesticide spraying. Lawn care providers signed on to the program but were overwhelmed when more than 12,000 residents asked to be alerted to pesticide spraying.
A study by Goldhaber Research Associates showed that three-fourths of all residents who signed up for the program never received advance notice before pesticides were applied to their neighbor's property.
“We tried the experiment, and it didn't work,” said County Executive Joel A. Giambra.
Legislator Barry Weinstein, R-Amherst, estimated the cost to the county to be $10,000 to $15,000 in part-time labor costs at the Health Department. But Health Department administrators said they weren't aware the law was being passed Thursday and still need to develop a plan for enforcement.
Because of the reluctance of some legislators to back the measure, it includes a sunset provision that allows the law to expire in a year if it does not meet expectations.
Three legislators voted against the law: Mark Schroeder, D-Buffalo; Gregory Falkner, R-West Seneca; and Jeanne Z. Chase, R-Evans. Schroeder said the law wasn't strong enough and didn't go far enough; Falkner said the law was discriminatory because it didn't hold homeowners to the same standard as lawn care providers.
“I feel this is a penalty against local small businesses,” he said.
Source: The Buffalo News