New Law Bans Lawn Pesticides in Montgomery County, Md.

Last October, Montgomery County, Md., passed a law banning the cosmetic use of pesticides on private and county-owned lawns, playgrounds and the grounds of child-care facilities, becoming one of the few jurisdictions in the nation to have such restrictions.

The law also prohibits the use of neonicotinoid insecticides on county-owned property. The ordinance takes effect on July 1, 2016, for county property and Jan. 1, 2018, for private property, and applies to the use of both professional and consumer products.

While exemptions for certain use patterns exist — for instance, pesticides can be applied around or near foundations to control indoor pests — most lawn care professionals will be limited to using products approved by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Organic Program or that are considered 25(b) minimum risk products by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

WHAT’S THE BIG DEAL? Pest management professionals who don’t offer lawn care may think the law doesn’t affect them, but this is a false assumption long term, said Karen Reardon, vice president of public affairs at Responsible Industry for a Sound Environment (RISE), the industry group that led efforts to oppose Bill 52-14.

“We caution against the feel of a short-lived victory if you’re exempt because it’s just that: very short lived,” explained Reardon. “Once these types of laws are in place, activists don’t stop. They look for the next use pattern or the next active ingredient” to target. The focus on lawn pesticides, considered “easy, low-hanging fruit” by activists, is only the beginning, she said.

And while some PMPs may view the law as being not-so-bad for business, these ordinances do heighten consumer misconceptions that properly applied, EPA-registered pesticides are harmful. “This type of legislation just feeds into that fear” despite the lack of scientific evidence and ultimately makes pest control more expensive, said Brian Schoonmaker, executive vice president and legislative chair of the Maryland State Pest Control Association and president of Capitol Pest in Bethesda. “All these laws do is pass on the added costs to the consumer at great cost to them and no benefit,” he said.

EXPECT FIGHTS TO CONTINUE. Emboldened by its Montgomery County win, the local activist group Safe Grow Montgomery is eyeing more and bigger prizes. Industry professionals are concerned the ordinance might get picked up by other counties and cities. Safe Grow Montgomery is now advocating for pesticide-free school yards, day-care grounds and athletic fields at the state level. And state legislators introduced a modified bill in January that restricts neonicotinoid use to protect pollinators. (A 2015 bill didn’t gain traction.)

“We know the activists are empowered right now and feel like they can’t be stopped,” said Mark Schlossberg, president of the Maryland Association of Green Industries and of Pro-Lawn-Plus in Baltimore. They know “they can’t get everything they want all at once so they do it in steps,” he said.

“The divide-and-conquer strategy can be very successful for supporters of these prohibitions,” explained Reardon. The first bill to ban lawn pesticides was passed in Washington, D.C., in 2012. The spirit of that bill moved to the community of Takoma Park, Md., and was passed after three tries. Some members of the Montgomery County Council live in Takoma Park, “so the idea got legs and moved to the county level,” said Reardon.

ALL FOR ONE. That’s why industry unity is so important — especially in Maryland, which has implied but not statutory pesticide preemption.

Forty-one states have preemption laws that recognize the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act as the law of the land and make state regulatory agencies the rule-makers at the state level, preventing local governments from passing their own pesticide regulations on private property.

That’s not the case in Maryland, which gives activists room to maneuver. According to the Montgomery County law, the council was “compelled to act to protect the health of children, families, pets and the environment” in the “absence of adequate regulation at the federal or State level.”

Not having preemption “is a huge problem for our state. We’re always fighting these kinds of battles,” said Schoonmaker.

In Montgomery County, RISE spent nearly two years organizing “the largest grassroots effort in our 25 years,” said Reardon. Lawn care, retail DIY, golf, agriculture, structural pest control and other industries worked together to oppose the bill. On any given day in 2015 up until the vote on Oct. 6, “we had 400 people actively engaged with us and most of them were asked to do something almost every day,” she said.

As a result, amendments to the bill were added, such as an exemption for vector control. Without this, mosquito work in the county would have been prohibited.

Still, if more pest management professionals had participated in the hearings, “maybe we could have defeated this thing,” said Schoonmaker.

The biggest challenge, he said, is “getting our industry to care” and to show up to meetings with legislators and local officials. “Some of these bills that should never get passed will at some point get passed because we don’t have enough people standing up and saying anything about it,” he cautioned.

NEXT STEPS. For now, RISE is exploring next steps. This may include launching a legal challenge to the Montgomery County law. Reardon also urged PMPs to “stay unified with lawn care and to be supportive of continued product use for everybody.”

And start building relationships with state legislators and local politicians “so they know who you are before a problem arises,” advised Schlossberg, who’s been active in state politics for 30 years. Lawn care professionals didn’t have relationships with Montgomery County council members before this issue came up, but the activists did, he said.

“To show up at the local or county level and take the short view or be ready and willing to see another user category disadvantaged has long-term consequences,” Reardon added.

The author is a frequent contributor to PCT magazine.