Citizens Campaign for the Environment

CAMPAIGNS

Pesticide Neighbor Notification

Click here to read about our Dutchess County Campaign

Click here to read about our Erie County Campaign

Click here to read about our Monroe County victory

Click here to read about our Onondaga County Campaign

Each year, hundreds of thousands of pounds of pesticides are used on residential lawns in counties in New York State, mostly for aesthetic purposes. However, peer reviewed science continues to uncover the links between pesticide exposure and serious human health problems. These include acute impacts, such as headaches, dizziness, nausea, seizures and respiratory problems; and long-term damage, such as neurological impairment, hormone disruption, reproductive disorders and cancer. Fetuses, infants and children, the elderly and people with compromised immune systems are especially vulnerable to these risks.

Advanced Notice Can Lower the Risk of Exposure
Even when families recognize this risk and choose to either refrain from using these dangerous chemicals or use safer organic alternatives, the risk of exposure to pesticides still remains. When commercial applicators spray pesticides, the chemicals frequently drift onto adjacent properties, potentially putting neighbors’ health, as well as their pets and property, at risk to pesticide exposure. CCE believes that the public should have advanced notice when pesticide applicators are coming to spray toxic pesticides near their homes. Advanced notice allows the public to take precautions to avoid exposure, such as keeping children and pets inside, closing windows and covering vegetable gardens and grills.

The New York State Pesticide Neighbor Notification Law
The NYS Pesticide Neighbor Notification Law is a common-sense measure that gives the public the right to know when toxic pesticides are sprayed on abutting properties. The state law allows counties to opt-in to the law if they so choose. Once a county opts-in, the law requires that

Pesticide applicators give residents 48-hour written notice before spraying harmful pesticides on abutting properties within 150 feet.
Pesticide retailers post signage near pesticides that lets their customers know that they are required to post warning signs on their lawns when applying pesticides themselves.

Additional Benefits of the Law
The Neighbor Notification Law does not prohibit applicators from providing their services; it requires them to give advance notice when spraying the most dangerous chemicals. They are not required to give notice when spraying non-toxic or least-toxic pesticides, as well as granular pesticides, which do not drift. This is an incentive for pesticide companies to use the safer alternatives, which ultimately benefits public health and the environment.

Has Your County Passed the Pesticide Neighbor Notification Law?
To date Suffolk, Nassau, Westchester, Rockland, Albany, Tompkins, Erie, Monroe, and Ulster counties, as well as the five Burroughs of NYC, have opted into the New York State Pesticide Neighbor Notification Law.

The Dutchess County Campaign
The Dutchess County Legislature is considering requiring advance notification to adjacent properties prior to commercial applicators spraying toxic pesticides. CCE has found overwhelming support in favor of the bill’s passage, including over 2,800 citizens signing a petition in support of adopting Pesticide Neighbor Notification.

What you can do:

1. Please email Honorable William R. Steinhaus, County Executive, at countyexec@co.dutchess.ny.us, and your County Legislator. Tell them:

Your name, town, and zip code;
We should have the right to know when harmful pesticides are sprayed near our homes so that we can take precautions to protect our families, pets, property, and ourselves from exposure ;
You support Pesticide Neighbor Notification in Dutchess County!

Don’t know who your county legislator is or their e-mail address? Visit www.co.dutchess.ny.us/CountyGov/Departments/Legislature/CLlegislators.htm for the list and links to district maps.

Please send a copy of any response you receive to CCE’s White Plains office – it helps us track progress on the issue. Thanks!

2. Speak out at an official public hearing:

Tuesday, October 28
7:00pm
Cornell Cooperative Extension
2715 Route 44
Millbrook, NY

Wednesday, October 29
7:00pm
Rhinebeck Village Hall
76 East Market St
Rhinebeck, NY

Wednesday, November 12
7:00pm
Beacon City Hall
Corner of 9D and Main St
Beacon, NY

The Erie County Victory

Thanks to our members and coalition partners, CCE has conducted successful grassroots campaigns to enact the PNN law in Erie County. After years of debate, and successfully implementing a temporary PNN law in 2004 and 2006, the Erie County Legislature has determined that Erie residents should be afforded the right to know when dangerous chemicals are sprayed near their homes on a permanent basis! On November 29, 2006, the Erie County Legislature passed a permanent Pesticide Neighbor Notification Law by a unanimous decision of 15 – 0! The law will go into effect permanently on January 1, 2008!

Click here to view comments submitted by CCE to the Erie County Executive on permanent adoption of Pesticide Neighbor Notification, December 14, 2006 (PDF format)

Click here to view comments submitted by CCE to the Erie County Legislature on permanent adoption of Pesticide Neighbor Notification, November 21, 2006 (PDF format)

Click here to view CCE's April 13, 2004 press release on pesticide retailers' compliance with the Pesticide Neighbor Notification Law

Click here to view CCE's March 31, 2004 press release on the release of a Pesticide Neighbor Notification Law public service announcement

Click here to view CCE's March 19, 2004 the Pesticide Neighbor Notification Law in Erie County

The Monroe County Victory
On March 2, 2005, the Environment and Public Works Committee of the Monroe County Legislature voted the referral out of committee by a margin of 5-2! CCE conducted an aggressive grassroots campaign to ensure that the full legislature would pass the Pesticide Neighbor Notification Law. On June 14, 2005, the Monroe County Legislature passed the law 21-8! The law will now go into effect on January 1, 2006.

Click here to view comments submitted by CCE to the Monroe County Legislature on Pesticide Neighbor Notification, March 2, 2005

Click here to view CCE’s June 13, 2005 press release on the Pesticide Neighbor Notification Law in Monroe County

Onondaga County Campaign for Pesticide Neighbor Notification
Onondaga County considered requiring advance notification to adjacent properties prior to spraying toxic pesticides. On April 19, 2006, the Health Committee of the Onondaga County Legislature began re-considering adopting Pesticide Neighbor Notification. Despite overwhelming public support, including over 4,000 citizens signing a petition in support of adopting Pesticide Neighbor Notification, the County Legislature voted 11-7 to reject adopting Pesticide Neighbor Notification on June 6, 2006.

This defeat, while frustrating, is not the end. Your calls and letters help educate your legislators about the risks posed by pesticides. With three quarters of all New Yorkers already enjoying advanced notification before the most toxic pesticides are sprayed, it is only a matter of time and political will before Onondaga County residents are granted this right by our County Legislature.

What you can do:
Please take a moment to thank your legislator if they voted in favor of adopting Pesticide Neighbor Notification. If you legislator voted against the measure, feel free to share your disappointment. You can call and leave a message for your legislator at (315) 435-2070. If you prefer, you can write a letter to your legislator at:

Onondaga County Court House, Room 407
401 Montgomery Street
Syracuse, New York 13202
or fax it to: (315) 435-8434
To access the district map or your legislator’s email and direct address, please visit: www.ongov.net/Legislature/members.html

Those voting “Yes” include:
8. Hon. James Corbett (R-Syracuse
9. Hon. Mark Stancyzk (D-Syracuse)
13. Hon. Robert Warner (R-Baldwinsville)
15. Hon. Bill Kinne (D-Syracuse)
16. Sam Laguzza (D-Syracuse)
17. Hon. Ed Ryan (D-Syracuse)
19. Hon. Lovie Winslow (D-Syracuse)

Those absent include:
18. Hon. Althea Chaplin (D-Syracuse)

Those voting “No” include:
1. Hon. Sandra Baker (R-Baldwinsville)
2. Hon. Bernard Kraft (R-Liverpool)
3. Hon. William Meyer (R-Cicero)
4. Hon. James Farrell (R-Liverpool)
5. Hon. Kathy Rapp (R-Liverpool)
6. Hon. Jim Rhinehart (R-Skaneateles)
7. Hon. James DiBlasi (R-Syracuse)
10. Hon. Kevin Holmquist (R-East Syracuse)
11. Hon. Martha Mulroy (R-Syracuse)
12. Hon. Dale Sweetland (R-Fabius)
14. Hon. T.Brendan Whelan (R-North Syracuse)

During the debate, misinformation about pesticide use practices tainted the legislature's decision process. The NYS Department of Environmental Conservation has clarified this issue.

Click here to read CCE's 2002-2006 Pesticide Report (PDF format)

Click here to view memo submitted by CCE, Audubon New York, Sierra Club, and People’s Environmental Network of New York to the Health Committee on April 11, 2006

Click here for more information on pesticides and to download the flyer CCE is distributing, Lawn Pesticides - An Unacceptable Risk

Updated by epepper 10/27/08