The new Monroe County 48 Hour Neighborhood Notification Law

The Neighbor Notification Law, Rule and Regulation - NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation

News on the 48 Hour Neighborhood Notification Law

Resources for the Notification Law

NYS Counties that have adopted the Notification Law

Get all the information about the rules and regulation for Monroe County's 48 Hour Neighborhood Notification Law from the Monroe County's Public Health Dept. Public Health | Monroe County, NY  The Monroe County Pesticide Neighbor Notification Law became effective January 1, 2006. It requires various groups applying pesticides to provide certain types of notification to neighbors. This Web story provides the highlights that each group is required to follow. There are a number of guidance materials attached in Related Links & Documents that provide very detailed information about how to comply with the law. Failure to comply with the law can result in fines. -from Monroe County --read more: Pesticide notification assisted - Applicators can use county's new online system — For Monroe County lawn care companies, complying with the new pesticide neighbor notification law may be as simple as pointing and clicking. County Executive Maggie Brooks announced a new searchable online system that uses county Geographic Information Systems data to identify neighbors of a given address. To learn more Even homeowners must comply with the new pesticide notification law. They are required to place signs on their lawn when applying any chemical pesticide (including granular) to more than 100 square feet of property. (If a commercial applicator is used, the company will take care of the notifications.) For more about the law or to download signs, go to www.monroecounty.gov  and click on "Public Health." - (March 16, 2006) Democrat and Chronicle

  Go Organic: Grassroots Environmental Education - A Non-Profit Environmental Education Organization -  learn about the dangers of treating lawns with pesticides--and some organic alternatives.  Read Grassroots Environmental Education's "Tips for a Natural Lawn."    For a quick review, check out: Lawn Pesticides: An Unacceptable Risk or (color version)

(A Guide for Homeowners Purchasing Pest Control Services for Their Lawns) - New York State law requires that a written contract be signed before pesticides are applied by a lawn care company to a residential property. This contract is a legally enforceable agreement between you and your lawn care company or pesticide applicator. It specifies what products and services will be provided and how much you will have to pay for them. --from Office of New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer "All New Yorkers should consider Integrated Pest Management (IPM) as an alternative to pesticides. IPM is an extremely effective approach that uses mechanical, physical, biological and, as a last resort, chemical methods to control pests and maintain a healthy lawn. Many lawn care companies provide this service, or you can do it yourself. For more i n f o r m a t ion about I PM, s e e : www.oag.state.ny.us/environment/ipm3fold.html.  New York State’s “Neighbor Notification” Law, a separate statute, authorizes counties and New York City to adopt local laws that require commercial pesticide applicators to provide 48 hours’ advance notice to occupants of neighboring dwellings with property lines within 150 feet of the application. Such local laws have now been adopted in New York City and the counties of Albany, Monroe, Nassau, Rockland, Suffolk, Tomkins, and Westchester. If you live in any of those areas, be sure that your contractor provides the required notice."

News on this the Neighborhood Notification Law:

• Lawn care law largely ignored — Many Monroe County homeowners are not complying with the county's new pesticide neighbor notification law, officials say. Under the law, homeowners who apply weed-killers and insecticides to lawn and garden areas larger than 100 square feet must post small signs informing neighbors that chemicals have been applied. In addition, the law requires retailers to post signs next to pesticides explaining the law to their customers. (April 15, 2006) Daily Messenger
• WXXI: County Issues Reminder on Pesticide Law (2006-04-12)- ROCHESTER, NY (2006-04-12) With the lawn care season arriving, Monroe County's Health Department has mailed out information packages to retailers who sell pesticides. The mailings are to remind people about the new neighbor notification law. It requires commercial pesticide applicators and homeowners who apply their own bug or weed killers to post signs on their property, alerting neighbors that chemicals have been used. wxxi NewsRoom
• Pesticide notification assisted - Applicators can use county's new online system — For Monroe County lawn care companies, complying with the new pesticide neighbor notification law may be as simple as pointing and clicking. County Executive Maggie Brooks announced a new searchable online system that uses county Geographic Information Systems data to identify neighbors of a given address. To learn more Even homeowners must comply with the new pesticide notification law. They are required to place signs on their lawn when applying any chemical pesticide (including granular) to more than 100 square feet of property. (If a commercial applicator is used, the company will take care of the notifications.) For more about the law or to download signs, go to www.monroecounty.gov  and click on "Public Health." - (March 16, 2006) Democrat and Chronicle
•  Spring to bring pest notes - While local lawn care companies plan to send pesticide notices, larger firms might skirt law - — You may soon be one of the hundreds of Monroe County residents who receive a letter of notice that your neighbors are planning to treat their lawns, gardens or fields with pesticides this spring. Monroe County last year approved legislation requiring, among other changes, that all neighbors be notified at least 48 hours in advance that pesticides will be commercially sprayed near their homes. The law took effect Jan. 1. (March 6, 2006) Democrat and Chronicle
• What's a little pesticide between neighbors? Well, chemicals don't respect property lines. At issue is whether Ontario County should pass a law requiring notification when sprays are used. CANANDAIGUA - Kimberly and Bryan Babcock don't care if dandelions fill their lawn or beetles crave their vegetable garden. But they do care if their 4-year-old son, Ben, plays near places treated with pesticides.  ( June 19, 2005) Daily Messenger
•  Bill on pesticide alerts OK'd - Monroe legislators put county in line with state notification law - After months of public debate on science, privacy and public health, on Tuesday night Monroe County adopted a controversial state law that restricts pesticide use. According to the Neighbor Notification Law, companies that use liquid pesticides will be required to give their client's neighbors 48 hours of notice by mail each time they spray. It's a state law that passed five years ago in Albany, with an opt-in provision for counties. Monroe is the 13th county to pass the measure. In April, it was adopted by the five boroughs of New York City, which are technically counties. (June 15, 2005) Democrat & Chronicle
•  13WHAM-TV || Rochester - Pesticide Notification Law Passes Monroe County Legislature (Rochester, NY) 06/15/05 -- Starting next year, the rules will change for Monroe County residents who use pesticides on their lawns. On Tuesday night, the county legislature voted 21-8 in favor of the 48-hour notification law. The law requires lawn care companies to notify neighbors before using pesticides within 150 feet of their home. That notification must come in writing at least two days before application. 13WHAM-TV || Rochester
•   WXXI: County Pesticide Notification Law Passes (2005-06-15) ROCHESTER, NY (2005-06-15) Monroe County lawmakers Tuesday night approved a measure which would require lawn-care companies to notify neighbors of their clients before spraying liquid pesticides. The 48-hour Neighbor Notification Law is a state law that counties have the option of adopting. wxxi NewsRoom
•  Pesticide Notification Law Okayed -Monroe County legislators have approved a controversial law that requires lawn care companies to provide 48-hours notice to neighbors when a company goes to spray pesticides at a person's home. Lawn care companies have lobbied against the move, which some other counties have also adopted.http://www.wham1180.com
•  Pesticide notification law voted in - Pesticide applicators in Monroe County will now have to give neighbors of affected properties a 48-hour notice, when they intend to use liquid pesticides. The legislation actually exists as state law, with counties having the choice to "opt in" to it. WROC TV NEWS 8 NOW ROCHESTER NEW YORK
•  Pesticide appliers fight law - Lawn care companies push for registry instead of notification. On Tuesday, three separate events in Rochester underscored a months-long local battle over a proposed law that would restrict commercial pesticide use in Monroe County. Lawmakers are deliberating a notification law that passed in 2000 in Albany, and has an opt-in provision for counties. (May 11, 2005) Democrat & Chronicle
•  Deal on proposed pesticide law flops - Third public hearing next week on neighbor notification bill -— A compromise on a controversial pesticide notification bill failed this week, ensuring that a bitter months-long debate will go into its third public hearing Tuesday. The bill, introduced in January by County Executive Maggie Brooks, has drawn hundreds of people to legislature meetings since March. It pits certified pesticide applicators against people who say the chemicals are a health threat.  (May 4, 2005) Democrat & Chronicle
• Lawn sprays evoke passion -(March 14, 2005)  Pesticide applicators fight county neighbor-notification bill - The Neighbor Notification Law would require commercial pesticide applicators to give 48 hours' written notice to neighbors within 150 feet of their clients before any pesticides are sprayed.  Schied suggested that a coalition made up of industry, agency and academic representatives, along with concerned citizens, look for "the best option" for notification — maybe even create "a model for the state." To the lawn care industry, that means a voluntary registration program, for those neighbors who want to be notified. Skeptics disagree. "Only under the force of law will residents have a real health choice," said Frank Regan, co-chairman of the Sierra Club, Rochester Regional Group, who has studied the pesticide issue for a decade. In the seven other counties with the law, he said, not one lawn care company has gone out of business and the related expenses of county health departments have been minimal. "This law is not the monster characterized by the lawn care industry," said Regan. "The costs are modest, and the public benefits are large."--Democrat & Chronicle
•  Pesticide plan stirs call for review - 62 people offer views on neighbor notification proposal. (March 9, 2005) — Rochester-area lawn care professionals Tuesday night called on Monroe County lawmakers to conduct a "thorough, authoritative" study on the environmental effects of a proposed law that would further restrict the use of pesticides. Democrat and Chronicle
• Pesticide warning bill clears 1st hurdle - Committee votes 5-2 to send measure to County Legislature - (March 3, 2005) — A proposed Monroe County law that would increase the regulation of residential pesticide use passed its first procedural hurdle Wednesday. After testimony from 42 speakers, the county's environment and public works committee voted 5 to 2 to allow the measure to be considered by the full legislature next week. Democrat and Chronicle  
• County starts work on pesticide bill - (January 28, 2005) — Lawyers for Monroe County started work Thursday on drafting a proposed law that would require residential pesticide applicators to give neighbors 48 hours notice before spraying. It would make Monroe only the eighth county among the state's 62 counties to opt into New York's Neighborhood Notification law, passed in 2000. The bill will be introduced as early as next month, said Larry Staub, spokesman for county executive Maggie Brooks. (January 30, 2005) . Democrat and Chronicle
• Monroe may be 1st GOP county to OK pesticide bill (February 24, 2005) — In a surprise announcement during a community forum yesterday evening, Monroe County Legislature majority leader Bill Smith, R-Pittsford, predicted that a controversial pesticide notification bill will pass "with a broad majority" this year. What's next The proposed bill, called a "referral," will be discussed at 4 p.m. March 2 by Monroe County's Environment and Public Works Committee. If the referral passes, it will be on the agenda at 6 p.m. March 8, during the full meeting of the county legislature. A public hearing will precede a vote. http://www.democratandchronicle.com/

Information on the Notification Law:

• The Law works, A Report on the Implementation of Pesticide Neighbor Notification in NY: Six Counties' Experience --from the Office of New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer
• Neighbor Notification Law Fact Sheet -- from the New York State Home Page
• Citizens' Guide to Pesticide Notification Laws in New York State --from the Office of New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer
• Pesticide Neighbor Notification --from Citizens Campaign for the Environment -  Find about about the Erie County victory. Citizens Campaign for the Environment "ErieCounty passed the Pesticide Neighbor Notification law in December 2003 after acknowledging the failure of a Voluntary Pesticide Registry program. During the 2003 summer, nearly 12,000 Erie County residents signed up to be notified when pesticides were sprayed near their homes."