In the near future, I plan to introduce legislation to allow municipalities to make their own decisions about pesticide use in dense residential, non-agricultural areas.

Under current law, the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture has exclusive jurisdiction over the regulation of pesticide use in the state. Only the department may decide which chemicals are safe to use, how they are to be used, and how to deal with improper pesticide sales, uses, or other violations of Pennsylvania’s Pesticide Control Act. This centralized approach has made sense for many reasons, not the least of which include providing certainty and uniformity to all Pennsylvania farmers and agribusiness engaged in our agricultural economy.

However, the department’s resources are limited, and their staff devoted to investigating complaints of improper pesticide use across the state cannot devote their time to many minor cases.  As more Pennsylvanians embrace biodiversity, pollinator protection, and other garden and landscape practices that exclude or reduce chemical controls, there are increasingly disputes between property owners over pesticide use, runoff, and drifting between properties.

In more suburban and urban neighborhoods like those in my district, it is common for commercial mosquito control companies to sign up property owners for biweekly application of pesticide spraying. While this may be beneficial to one homeowner, the pesticides often drift to other properties and can harm the health of pesticide-sensitive residents in addition to causing harm to their yards, gardens, and wildlife.

Local disputes over pesticide use and drift in dense residential neighborhoods should not be taking up the time and resource of a state agency in Harrisburg. Neighbors should be able to resolve these incidents locally, and municipal governments are better suited than the department to do just that.

My legislation would allow municipalities to pass ordinances about commercial pesticide application in dense residential, non-agricultural areas, as long as they meet or exceed department regulations.

All communities have their own norms and cultures, especially when it comes to land use. Please join me in letting municipalities settle their own neighborhood issues over pesticides and set their own standards on their use.
 

Statutes/Laws affected:
Printer's No. 1895: P.L.90, No.24