NY Neighbor Notification Law Overturned in Nassau County

"I was surprised that this ruling came when it did," declared Larry Wilson, government affairs chairperson for the New York State Turf and Landscape Association and chairperson of the industry coalition that led the fight against the law. " We were expecting it to be summer before we heard anything."

Justice Stephen A. Bucaria ruled that the Nassau County legislature did not follow procedure under the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA), which requires a full environmental impact study to be completed before legislation of this type can be adopted. The legislature did not perform this study before adopting the law.

The law, which was passed by the state legislature in August 2000, requires commercial pesticide applicators to give a 48-hour written notice to neighbors within 150 feet of a property where certain pesticides will be applied. The legislature left it up to each individual county to decide if it would adopt the law, but required that the law be adopted as is. To date, Suffolk, Nassau, Westchester and Albany counties have adopted the law, which went into effect on March 1, 2001.

Daniel Van Starrenburg, president and CEO of Nature's Trees Inc., the plaintiff in the case, remarked that he is pleased with the outcome of the case.

"I'm pleased that the judge, who knew he was dealing with a very political piece of legislation, had the courage to decide the case on the merit of the law and agreed that the SEQRA process was a requirement for the county to adopt the law," Van Starrenburg stressed.

Even though LCOs can consider Wednesday's decision to be a victory, Van Starrenburg and Wilson emphasized that the case is far from over. The County can choose to appeal the decision or they can petition the state legislature for an exemption from complying with the SEQRA requirement, Wilson explained.

"That would open up the entire debate again and is a pretty extreme measure," Wilson said about the exemption.

The other option is to complete the environmental impact study, which could take quite a bit of time.

John Zaher, spokesman for the Nassau County Executive's Office responded to the judges decision stating that "the county attorney's office is reviewing the decision to determine if it is appropriate to appeal."

No matter how the county decides to proceed, it's clear that the law won't be taking effect this year and it's possible that it won't go into effect in 2002. "Our attorney estimates that it's doubtful that this law will surface again or take effect before January 2003," Wilson stated.

DECISIONS PENDING. Judges in Albany, Suffolk and Westchester Counties are still considering the arguments in those cases, although Wilson believes that because the law was overturned in Nassau County, it should be overturned in at least Albany and Suffolk Counties as well.

"There is a possibility that the law will be upheld, but in light of what happened in Nassau County, it would be pretty strange if the law would stand," he remarked.

Wilson explained that in Westchester county, the arguments made by the county were a little different than those made in Albany, Suffolk and Nassau Counties, so it is possible that the law could stand there.

Beyond these four counties, Wilson related that there are hearings popping up all over the state regarding the neighbor notification law. However, he commented that in Rockland County, as soon as the legislators found out about the lawsuits in the other four counties, the public meeting was scratched and the issue was tabled.

"I firmly believe that the legislators in those counties (where hearings are being held) have no idea that this is going on," Wilson maintained. 

MISSED OPPORTUNITIES. Although he is happy with the outcome of this case, Van Starrenburg warned that the industry is missing an important opportunity to resolve these issues once and for all.

"I see that this is the beginning of an effort that needs to be made to bring the different groups together to come up with solutions," he asserted. "It's an opportunity for our industry to get more organized and present a more uniform voice in the community."

Van Starrenburg added that when the two sides of an issue never get a chance to sit down and talk about the issue at hand, the result is legislation like the neighbor notification law, which isn't viable and would be difficult to enforce and implement.

"There is now an opportunity for New York to work closely with organizations that are concerned about pesticide use and find a way to come to an agreement about how pesticides can be used safely," he stated.

The author is the Internet Project Manager for Lawn & Landscape Online.