Steve Burns
WMAL.com
WASHINGTON – (WMAL) The Montgomery County Council has decided to appeal a judge’s ruling that struck down its law banning residential use of lawn pesticides. The law would have made Montgomery County the first jurisdiction in the country to enact a full ban of pesticides, but it got caught up in court and was eventually overturned by Judge Terrence McGann, who ruled that state law preempted local law.
“Judge McGann’s decision sets a worrisome precedent that local government cannot act to protect its citizens,” Councilmember George Leventhal, the original bill’s sponsor, told WMAL. “The Council wants to defend its ability to protect the health and safety of our citizens.”
The bill was passed on a 6-3 vote in 2015, and was set to go into effect in January. Despite the non-unanimous vote, Leventhal said the Council was unanimous in its desire to appeal the ruling.
McGann made clear in his ruling that he believed the county law made something illegal that was explicitly legal under state law.
“…The ordinance prohibits and frustrates activity that is intended to be permitted by state law, which conflicts with and is thus preempted by state law,” McGann wrote. “The county’s ordinance flouts decades of state primacy in ensuring safe and proper pesticide use, undermines the state’s system of comprehensive and uniform product approval and regulation, and prohibits products and conduct that have been affirmatively approved and licensed by the state.”
Leventhal rejected that notion, instead characterizing the county’s law as one that expands upon state law.
“What our attorneys have argued is that the state law does not prevent the county from going further than state law goes,” he said.
John Austin, a co-owner of Green Gardens landscaping, was surprised upon learning of the appeal plans.
“I think that’s quite foolish,” he told WMAL. “I think the judge made it pretty clear that they had overreached. He was quite specific. He debunked every one of their arguments.”
Austin said he already had plenty of rules and regulations to deal with from the state.
“Oh my God. You wouldn’t believe the oversight that we have,” he said. “The Department of Agriculture looks at our records every year. I’m required to go to renewed training every year.”
Plus, Austin said, he’s already careful with the pesticides he uses.
“We’re very cautious about this sort of activity. We only use what we need to use,” he said. “I don’t like my guys using toxins that are going to harm them.”
Copyright 2017 by WMAL.com. All Rights Reserved. (PHOTO: Montgomery County Govt.)
