Proposed Pesticide and Fertilizer Regulation Ordinance to be Reintroduced at April 24 Council Meeting
Falmouth’s Conservation Commission has proposed a Pesticide and Fertilizer Regulation Ordinance to regulate, and sometimes prohibit, the use and sale* of outdoor pesticides and fertilizers in the community. The Ordinance was introduced at the April 8 Town Council meeting at which a special public comment opportunity was held. As a result of this meeting, the Town Council decided to hold a re-introduction of the proposed ordinance at its next meeting on Wednesday, April 24, 2024 at 7:00 pm. Members of the public may attend in person or via Zoom. The agenda and Zoom link will be posted here by 4:00pm on Thursday, April 18.
Two versions of the proposed ordinance will be introduced at the April 24 meeting. The first version is unchanged from what was made available at the April 8 Council meeting. The second version eliminates the ban on the sale of prohibited pesticides. It also attempts to clarify the definition of water body and eliminates the term watercourse from the ordinance to avoid confusion between that term and water body. Additionally, there has been some confusion about exemptions within the proposed ordinance. The second version attempts to clarify what applications and materials are exempt from the ordinance prohibitions. Section 21-6 lists all of the exemptions. One area of concern raised by many residents and survey respondents is the protection of property from mosquitoes and ticks. Treating for pests of significant public health importance, such as ticks, mosquitoes, and browntail moth, is an exempt application.
The first version of the ordinance (unchanged) can be viewed here. The second version (amended) can be viewed here.
The Council is seeking broad public feedback on this issue through a survey. The survey deadline has been extended to May 13 which is the anticipated public hearing date for this proposed ordinance. Complete the survey here. If you already took the survey and would like to provide comments on the amended version of the ordinance, email Maggie Fleming, Assistant Town Manager at mfleming@falmouthme.org.
*The first version of the ordinance prohibits the sale of any synthetic or non-synthetic substance listed as prohibited on the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances (the “National List”). The second version of the ordinance eliminates this prohibition.