Steve Burns
WMAL.com
ROCKVILLE – (WMAL) Montgomery County Councilmember Roger Berliner proposed a new bill aimed at curbing, but not entirely eliminating, pesticide use in private and public property in the county.
“My legislation would call for setting a target of reducing pesticide use by 50% over the next three years,” Berliner said. “I feel like going from where we are today, where we haven’t even enforced the regulations we have on the books, to a ban, is just too much.”
A bill taken up last spring that would ban all use of pesticides in the county stalled prior to the Council’s summer vacation. It will be one of the first issues the Council looks at as it reconvenes later this month.
“I’ve recommended a phased approach, short of a ban,” Berliner said. “There have been enough studies that have said there are strong associations, not causal links, but strong associations,” between pesticides and poor health, Berliner said. His bill also calls for residents who still want to use pesticides to sign a waiver “that shows that you’re aware of the risks, that you’re aware of the alternatives.”
“I also take seriously what our State Attorney General has said to us, which is that a ban is likely to be unlawful under state law,” Berliner said. He mentioned a ban would be a first-in-the-nation move, but his phased approach would also create the strictest pesticide rules in the country.
“To pass something that is very divisive, that is probably unlawful, in which there are conflicting health issues, feels too much to me and bad government.”
Copyright 2015 by WMAL.com. All Rights Reserved. (PHOTO: Wikipedia)
