N.Y. PCOs To Follow New School Pesticide Use Regulation Starting July 1
The notification law requires commercial lawn care applicators to give 48 hours advance notice to anyone who lives within 150 feet of a spray site. ... It requires public and parochial school officials and day care center managers to provide notification 48 hours prior to any pesticide application to parents and staff of the facilities.
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Subject: PCTONLINE.COM -Pest Control Technology Magazine Comments On New N.Y. Regulations
Date: Sun, 18 Mar 2001 16:02:16 -0500
From: Stephen Tvedten <steve@getipm.com>
Organization: Get Set Inc. (www.getipm.com)
To: Paul Helliker <phelliker@cdpr.ca.gov>
Director, State of
California, Department of Pesticide Regulation
cc: Christine Whitman whitman.christine@epa.gov
Dear Mr. Helliker: I thought you might like to read an article entitled: N.Y. PCOs To Follow New School Pesticide Use Regulation Starting July 1 By Amanda Paskiet
Starting July 1, 2001, PCOs who service school accounts in
New York will have a new regulation to follow as part of the "Neighbor
Notification" law (See story, http://www.pctonline.com/news/news.asp?ID=496)
that went into effect March 1.
The notification law requires commercial lawn care
applicators to give 48 hours advance notice to anyone who lives within 150 feet
of a spray site. The part of the notification law that is of interest to
structural PCOs is chapter 285, section 409-H. It requires public and parochial
school officials and day care center managers to provide notification 48 hours
prior to any pesticide application to parents and staff of the facilities.
Unlike the rest of the notification law, which allowed
individual counties to decide whether or not to adopt the law, Section 409-H is
a statewide regulation and will be implemented by the New York State Health
Commissioner, Dr. Antonia C. Novello, on July 1, 2001. It poses strict
regulations on the pest control products that require notification in schools
and day care facilities, the proper protocol for notification, as well as a list
of situations and products that are exempt from the law.
While the law requires that school officials give the
notification, Gene Harrington, manager of government affairs, National Pest
Management Association (NPMA), advised New York PCOs to become knowledgeable
about the law. "Because I expect that schools and day care facilities will
urge PCOs to use exempted products, such as boric acid, baits and anti-microbials,
so they won't need to go through the notification process," he said.
Another way for schools and day care facilities to avoid
the cumbersome notification process is to schedule their pest control services
during school breaks, when children are away from the facilities more than 72
hours, Harrington said.
Questions have arisen in the industry about whether PCOs
will be swamped with callbacks and retreatments because the facility didn't want
to go through the proper notification protocol that would allow them to use the
most effective and fastest methods.
"It's hard to tell just yet," said Harrington.
"Obviously, it's causing PCOs to rely on some tools more than others, but
whether or not that will impact pest control remains to be seen."
Harrington said that schools and day care facilities want
to create an incentive for PCOs to use the least toxic and least invasive
methods of pest control. "This is a trend going on around the country right
now and is something NPMA has been supportive of in the past," he said.
To view chapter 285, section 409-H of the New York
"Neighbor Notification" law that pertains to school pest management,
click here:
http://www.pctonline.com/features/feature.asp?ID=120
Well Mr. Helliker, I would like to mention that in order to avoid the "cumbersome notification process", your dangerous, volatile, "registered" POISONS can STILL be applied in schools and day care facilities, if the POISON applicators schedule their pest control services during school breaks, when children are away from the facilities more than 72 hours. I remember when chlordane was allowed to remain on the market as a "registered" termiticide because it was felt that such below ground use would preclude human exposure. Subsequently it was found there simply was no way to apply chlordane and avoid human exposure. There already have been studies in Israel that prove people whose apartments have been sprayed with organophosphates are still excreting the metabolites 4-5 months after the application of this type of "registered" POISON.
I also strongly disagree
that the fastest and most effective pest control methodology is the continued
use of any of your "registered" POISONS!
What can be faster and/or more effective than simply vacumming up the
pest? I have consistently proven
that I have obtained safer and far more effective pest control using only
(unregistered) alternatives. But,
this article is a start and it is now becoming obvious (even to the POISON
"industry") that the public wants the least toxic and least invasive
type of pest control possible. When
will it be "obvious to the "regulatory comunity"that it should be
"legal" to use safe and far more effective (unregistered)
alternatives to actually solve pest problems?
I now have about 2300 safe and far more effective alternatives to your
"registered" POISONS.