What's happening
This bill requires New York schools to adopt integrated pest management plans that limit pesticide use and prioritize non-chemical pest control methods.
Why it matters
Requires schools to create and publicly review Integrated Pest Management (IPM) plans. , ensuring community input and transparency about how pests are managed in school facilities.
Limits preventive pesticide use. , only allowing chemical applications in response to verifiable pest problems—this reduces unnecessary exposure to potentially harmful chemicals for children and staff.
Mandates that only certified commercial pesticide applicators may apply pesticides in schools. , increasing professional oversight and prohibiting the use of less-trained personnel for these tasks.
Strengthens notification and public access to information about pesticide use. , including visible postings before and after applications, easy access to pesticide labels, and a designated contact for inquiries—empowering parents, staff, and students to be informed about chemical use in their environment.
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Who cares
School districts and BOCES
They would need school-board-approved pest management plans subject to public review, annual implementation evaluations and plan updates every three years.
School facilities managers
They would have to prioritize nonchemical pest controls, use least-toxic pesticides only as a last resort and prohibit preventive applications without verifiable pest problems.
Pesticide applicators and pest-control companies
School pesticide applications would have to be performed by certified commercial applicators, not workers operating under their direct supervision.
Students, parents, teachers and school staff
They would gain public access to pest management information, posted pesticide notices and labels, and notification markers for applications on school grounds.
Headline styles
Limit Pesticides in Schools
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
1 Co-sponsor
1 Multi-sponsor
History
- Referred to education
- Referred to education
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
4527
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
February 4, 2019
Introduced by M. of A. ENGLEBRIGHT, GALEF -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. COLTON -- read once and referred to the Committee on Education
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to integrated pest management requirements for schools
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Legislative intent. The legislature finds and declares that it shall be the policy of the state of New York to provide every child with an environmentally safe and healthy learning environment in which to grow, learn and mature into productive and healthy adults. To ensure that schools provide this setting for our children, the legislature finds that pesticide use in school facilities must be reduced or avoided in order to protect children's environmental health and safety. Children are uniquely vulnerable to and may be severely affected by exposure to chemicals such as pesticides. By establishing integrated pest management strategies that primarily rely on non-chemical pest control, exposures to children from toxic pesticides can be eliminated or reduced to less hazardous levels.
§ 2. The education law is amended by adding a new section 409-m to read as follows:
§ 409-m. Integrated pest management requirements for schools. 1. For purposes of this section, the following terms are defined:
(a) "School" means all facilities for grades kindergarten through twelve operated by any school district, including any city school district with a population over one hundred twenty-five thousand, or any board of cooperative educational services.
(b) "Integrated pest management" and "IPM" mean a decision-making process for pest control that utilizes regular monitoring to determine if and when controls are needed; employs physical, mechanical, cultural, biological and educational tactics to control conditions that promote pest infestations and to keep pest populations at tolerable damage or
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD08815-01-9
A. 4527 2
annoyance levels; and only as a last resort, utilizes least-toxic pesticide controls. The overall goal of IPM is to eliminate the unnecessary use of pesticides and reduce the use of all pesticides.
(c) "Facilities" means school buildings, land and other appurtenances of a school district or board of cooperative educational services.
2. To ensure that schools are safe and healthy environments for students, teachers and other staff and occupants, certain requirements shall be placed on pesticide use in these facilities.
(a) All schools shall have pest management plans for all pest control activities, which have been subject to public review and approved by the school board. Such plans shall utilize IPM techniques to manage and control pests and problems. All IPM plans shall include a provision for public access to all information about the implementation of the plan. School districts may create advisory committees to assist in the development of the IPM plans, and to monitor the implementation of such plans. No school shall conduct or have conducted any pesticide application to school facilities which is preventive in nature and which does not respond to verifiable pest problems.
(b) Schools shall be responsible for providing an annual evaluation of the implementation of their IPM plans to the school board. Every school shall update its IPM plan once every three years. Such information shall be publicly available.
(c) Every school shall have its pesticide applications conducted by a certified commercial pesticide applicator. Pesticide applications by persons working under the direct supervision of a certified pesticide applicator shall be prohibited.
(d) A notice of the pesticide application and a copy of the pesticide label, shall be prominently posted in a common area of a building which is to receive a pesticide application. The common area shall be readily accessible to all occupants of the building. The notice and pesticide label shall remain posted for at least forty-eight hours following the pesticide application. Such notice shall include, at a minimum, the name and telephone number of a school employee or contact person who shall provide detailed information on the pesticide applications. A copy of the pesticide label must be made available to any person requesting such label within twenty-four hours of such requests.
(e) When pesticides are applied to school grounds, turf, trees or shrubs, visual notification markers, as provided in section 33-1003 of the environmental conservation law, shall be posted at least every fifty feet with at least one marker on each side of the application area.
§ 3. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after it shall have become a law.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
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