For the past six-and-a-half months, the neighbor notification law has been a fact of life for contractors in Westchester County, N.Y. While other counties are still grappling with the decision to adopt the law, contractors in Westchester County have been trying to strike a balance between complying with the law and educating their clients about the law's requirements.
| Tracking the Neighbor Notification Law |
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"Compliance has been easy from my standpoint," explained Joe Yedowitz, CLP, owner/president, Emil Yedowitz Landscaping, Yonkers, N.Y. "But, I think it depends on how prepared you were."
In August 2000, state legislators passed the pre-notification law, which requires 48-hour written notification to all residents within 150 feet of a planned pesticide application. Legislators also left it up to each county's legislature to decide if it wanted to adopt the law. To date, five countines in New York have opted in.
Before the law went into effect in Westchester County on March 1, 2001, Yedowitz hired a consultant to complete a tax map search on all of his clients. For $10 a property, the consultant drove to each client's home, mapped out 150 feet and recorded each neighbor's address within that area. Yedowitz entered that list into his computer and made address labels for each residence. When a spray job is scheduled for a particular property, Yedowitz calls up the addresses within 150 yards and prints a notification for that residence.
"This law has increased costs and has been a burden both administratively and financially," Yedowitz declared. "My costs to the client went up 20 percent because of this law."
In addition to the added administrative work and incurring costs related to compliance, Yedowitz explained that most people are angered after receiving a notification.
"When neighbors find out they're just being notified as a requirement of state law, they're not thrilled," he remarked. "They think they have options and get more irate when they find out that they can't stop me from spraying."
Contrary to Yedowitz's experience with the law, officials at the county's Department of Health believe that compliance with and enforcement of the law is proceeding along smoothly.
"I don't believe the opponents' fears [regarding the law's enforcement or compliance] have been realized," declared Mary Landrigin, department spokesperson. "We are attempting to provide all the training and information necessary so applicators will know what to do to deal with this issue."
Landrigin related that the department conducts training sessions and provides training material through the county budget. She added that enforcement has not been a burden to the department and stated that the department only had to expand on existing programs rather than designing and implementing new programs when the law was adopted.
Further, she related that the department has played an active role in educating the community about the law and how it affects residents' day-to-day life.
"This is an opportunity for everyone to be aware that pesticide reduction is a good move," she said.
Although the transition to a notification system was fairly easy for Yedowitz, he claims to have never received any information from the county regarding training classes. He further asserts that consumers still don't understand what pesticides are and that this law only reinforces misconceptions about their use.
"We do a lot of spot spraying and we will notify just to cover ourselves," Yedowitz explained. "Neighbors think they're getting blanketed with harsh chemicals when they might be getting a quart of solution applied to a target with no drift.
"The bottom line," he continued, "is that the law hasn't stopped anyone from spraying and it's done nothing but increase costs to the consumer."
The author is the Internet Editor for Lawn & Landscape Online.