Industry Group Debates Guidelines for Responsible Lawn Care

SAN ANTONIO, Texas – Government officials, green industry representatives and environmentalists have gathered in San Antonio, Texas, to deliberate draft guidelines for environmentally responsible lawn care and landscaping.

Under the auspices of the Utah-based Center for Resource Management (CRM), workshop participants are recommending ways to remove controversial passages and inherent bias from the document, and to tailor it to the unique needs of U.S. regions. The guidelines were developed by a 17-member steering committee comprised of 2 Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) officials, 2 U.S. Department of Agriculture (USCA) officials, 2 Chemical Risk Management (CRM) officials and representatives of industry, environmental, landscaping and consulting groups.

Participants have focused on slimming down the 28-page document, which had been considered too long and detailed for the average consumer. While there was general support for landscape practices that incorporate native or adaptive plants and wildlife preservation, participants noted anti-turf sentiment in the document and warned the steering committee not to discriminate against lawns.

March 22 talks were marked by a fair amount of consensus, however two or three environmentalists insisted that the guidelines should alert consumers to health risks associated with pesticides and the threat they pose to non-target organisms.

The steering committee will incorporate comments from this week’s meeting into a second draft, which it will circulate for review.